Help Your Employees Find Purpose-Or Watch Them Leave | McKinsey Insights

A few weeks ago, I made a post about an IBM Business Value Report that noted how workers who voluntarily left their organization during the pandemic cited lack of purposeful and meaningful work as a top reason. And as workers continue to reevaluate their lives and work, this trend has implications for a firm’s talent management strategy and company performance. This McKinsey article provides insights into the role that work can play in individual purpose, what employees want from employers and how those needs are being met, and how firms can address these areas. One finding is that 70 percent of the surveyed employees said their work primarily defines their sense of purpose. And while 85 percent of executives and upper management said that their work fulfills their purpose, only 15 percent of frontline managers and frontline employees agreed–presenting firms with a significant opportunity. One suggestion is for leaders to create psychological safety so that workers are more forthcoming about what they want in their work. “When employees in our survey said they experienced little psychological safety, they stood a 0.5 percent chance of saying their purpose was fulfilled at work.”