The Covid-19 crisis brought the quest for meaning to a climax, with numerous publications calling on all employees to find meaning in their professional activity, or highlighting the resignation of employees who could no longer find meaning in their jobs.

The health crisis, and the new world that was to follow it, brought a flurry of testimonials from resigning employees in favor of total retraining or a change of company that would be more meaningful...

Faced with the media coverage of this quest, which seems to be the ultimate goal of work, we need to take a step back and avoid turning the search for meaning into an injunction with perverse effects.

In concrete terms, what is meaning?

In psychology, meaning is associated with a personal experience, coherent and aligned with the person living it, so that two colleagues may be doing the same job in the same company, but with a different sense of that job.

So, finding meaning is a personal balance between oneself, one's work and one's values.

Meaning is intimately linked to each individual's sense of usefulness. Sociologists Jérôme FOURQUET, Alain MERGIER and Chloé MORIN conducted a survey[1] of 1,000 French workers on meaning and usefulness at work. According to them, the notion of utility is based on three dimensions: utility for oneself, utility for the company and utility for society.

Their survey shows that 78% of those questioned feel "useful to society and the community", 88% consider their work "useful to their company" and 38% feel more useful to their company than before. We can also add that 70% of French people consider their work to be very important, and 42% feel that their fulfillment comes through work.[2].

On the other hand, one of the major problems is the lack of recognition, as only 44% of French people feel that their work is properly recognized by their employer[3].

In today's fast-paced world, how do you find meaning in your work? Is it necessary to leave the lucrative world to work for an NGO or an SSE company?

Support your teams in their personal development

Although personal, the quest for meaning is a holistic blend of the individual, his or her activity, the corporate project and the recognition accorded to it. So, as a manager, your challenge is not to find meaning in the work of your employees, but to create the conditions that will enable your teams to find meaning in their work, regardless of your sector or the type of organization.

Meaning is not exclusive to the associative world or to impact entrepreneurship. Any organization can (and must) create a framework for fulfillment that will enable every employee to find meaning.

 1: (Re)define your company's organization and project

Businesses are economic players involved in the life of the community. Faced with these uncertain times and their many challenges, it's easy to lose the compass that drives your business. Without it, it's all the easier to get lost and lose the necessary perspective on the conduct of your business, so much so that your corporate project may no longer be recognized by your teams.

How can you keep your employees motivated and motivated when their only reason for working is their financial reward?

To (re)find your project and your "why", you need to organize time for discussion with your teams. Involving them in this process will enable them to be the thinkers and builders of your group project. They will then feel considered and involved in an activity often reserved for management teams.

You could also take advantage of this period to reflect on the positive and negative externalities of your activity on society, and think about how to improve your impact. This will help you attract new talent and, above all, retain it.

Be consistent and sincere! Impact is the fruit of reflection, embodied in concrete, measurable action.

2. Set an example

In order to inspire and lead your colleagues, don't hesitate to show them your own objectives, to reveal part of yourself while giving an insight into the goals pursued by your teams. In this context, it's a good idea to look inward at yourself and your managers, by questioning the management style applied within your organization.

 The aim is to find out whether your management offers your employees the benevolence and space they need to discuss their objectives and their sense of belonging to the group.

 3. Help your teams achieve their goals

63% of Americans surveyed by McKinsey say they want their employer to enable them to achieve a goal in their work[4].

 First and foremost, it's essential to define concrete objectives, adapted to each employee and in agreement with them. For each objective, a follow-up action plan must be drawn up, and a space for expression must be created between the employee and his or her manager.

This advice should be applied alongside a careful management policy on issues such as disconnection, harassment and inclusion.

In the end, supporting employees in their quest for meaning comes down to thinking in terms of human, attentive and individualized management that takes care of its employees, while at the same time supporting a corporate project that can detach itself from the purely accounting vision of the professional world.

#sens #impact #management #leadership

[1] Jérôme FOURQUET, Alain MERGIER, Chloé MORIN "Inutilité ou absence de reconnaissance : de quoi souffrent les salariés Français ?", Fondation Jean Jaurès, 2018 / [2] Davoine, Lucie, and Dominique Méda. "What place does work occupy in the lives of the French compared with Europeans?", Informations sociales, vol. 153 / [3] Jérôme FOURQUET, Alain MERGIER, Chloé MORIN "Inutilité ou absence de reconnaissance : de quoi souffrent les salariés Français?", Fondation Jean Jaurès, 2018 /[4] Naina DHINGRA, Andrew SAMO, Bill SCHANINGER, Matt SCHRIMPER, "Help your employees find purpose-or watch them leave", MacKinsey & Company.