Episode: 633

Episode Title: How Your Work Benefits Others

To stay engaged at work, employees need to know how their work benefits others.  Let’s talk about what this means, next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 633 show:

You’re now in The Perna Syndicate—welcome! A new study by The Workforce Institute at UKG found that 64% of workers would change jobs right now, 45% wouldn’t wish their job on their worst enemy, and 46% wouldn’t recommend their company to any young person they cared about. 

When I connected with workforce expert Chris Mullen to talk about these findings, he agreed they were scary. But he also shared six ways that employers can overcome these negative feelings and keep their people from wanting to quit. Today, we’ll look at the first two. 

Number one: Give employees an idea of how their work benefits others. It’s not enough to say “we make such-and-such product or offer such-and-such service.” Employees want to feel that what they’re doing makes the world a better place in some way. This should be talked about during onboarding, regular one-on-one check-ins, and performance reviews.

Number two: Give employees time to understand why they work. Of course, we all work for money to improve our lives, but there are so many additional reasons that play into each person’s individual mindset. 

Employees who know their own why will have a better understanding of how their professional and personal lives contribute to each other. Work is no longer siloed and separate from the rest of life, so if it’s going to work, it all has to work together.

Tomorrow: Each employee has their personal “why,” but companies also need to provide meaning that is bigger than any one individual. We’ll cover that and more on the next episode of The Perna Syndicate. See you then!