"The Purpose Effect is a three-way relationship between an individual’s personal sense of purpose in life, the organization’s purpose and a person’s purpose in their role at work."
- The Purpose Effect, page 4
"The Purpose Effect results in a higher calling, where individuals and organizations seek to improve society to benefit all stakeholders."- The Purpose Effect, page 7
Certainly, there’s evidence that purpose drives engagement. Deloitte’s research in this area shows, “in those organizations where individuals felt a high level of purpose, 73 percent of the workforce indicated they were fully engaged whereas in organizations devoid of purpose, only 23 percent felt the same.”
More importantly though, where stronger engagement that is anchored in purpose exists, stronger individual and organizational outcomes will occur. As Pontefract notes, “the authenticity that is rooted in such clarity of purpose in work motivates team members to greater effort and contributions.” When we believe we are working for deeper, more meaningful outcomes, we are willing to put in much more effort. Having worked in and with purpose-driven organizations, I know this feeling is unparalleled and drives a different level of output.
We can’t ignore the benefits of purpose to ourselves, our organizations and the communities we serve. We just need to figure out how to get more of it.
"The more alignment there is – the more a team member believes in the organization’s purpose and its relationship to their personal purpose alongside the role they occupy – the greater likelihood there is for an individual to reach the purpose mindset and thus the sweet spot. If this happens on a continuous basis, both the organization and the team member will have created The Purpose Effect."- The Purpose Effect, page 134
It’s the alignment of key factors of purpose that get us to the level of feeling a deeper sense of purpose, a higher calling. Pontefract calls this “the sweet spot”, where purpose is realized in the alignment of three factors:
Personal purpose: “What motivates someone in life; their ‘why’ … values, experience and beliefs inform personal decisions and actions”
Organizational purpose: “Why the organization exists … principles, ethics and culture inform its ways of operating”
Role purpose: “Why a role exists in the organization … an organization establishes a variety of roles to support its mission.”
When individuals understand their own purpose and feel a sense of purpose in their role and overall in their organization, that alignment is the sweet spot that drives benefits from The Purpose Effect.
From a company perspective, Pontefract defines the work towards purpose that organizations need to perform as “Good DEEDS”, which includes:
However, despite a company’s best efforts to deliver Good DEEDS, poor leadership can get in the way of achieving The Purpose Effect.
"…if a leader does not choose to create a trusting environment – one where team members might achieve purpose in their role and a sense of value while working – it is possible cognitive dissonance will overpower and the three categories of purpose might never align."- The Purpose Effect, page 71
Many companies struggle with a disconnect between the “message from the top” and what people experience day-to-day. The same risk exists with the pursuit of purpose-focused work. Despite the best efforts to pursue purpose within an organization, there can be a difference between what employees hear about purpose and what they experience.
Pontefract points to issues with leadership as a key impact that can prevent the Purpose Effect from being realized. Failing to provide fair pay practices, politics and power struggles, and unfair performance management practices such as stack ranking are just a few examples of the ways leaders can impact an employee’s interest and ability to pursue their best work. When those issues exist, purpose and a drive for a higher level of performance never have a chance.
It’s great to have this book to add to the conversation about deeper ways to improve the poor levels of employee engagement that exist in organizations today. Too often, we only hear about the “corporate ROI” from working to improve engagement, and fail to talk about the personal impact to people from working in environments that force them to leave their passion and values at the door. With The Purpose Effect, we can add a new dynamic to move the conversation forward about the shared ownership for engagement.
Dan Pontefract is the author of Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization. He also holds the role of Head of Learning & Collaboration at TELUS where he is responsible for the overarching leadership development, learning and collaboration strategy for the company. He has driven a philosophical and cultural shift in the way TELUS views and experiences learning called “Learning 2.0”; the shift to a social, informal and formal learning and collaboration model for all 40,000+ team members, bringing TELUS to the forefront of learning leadership. In parallel to these actions, Dan championed the introduction of the TELUS Leadership Philosophy (TLP), an open and collaborative-based leadership framework for all TELUS team members, alongside a litany of social collaboration technologies.
