Having a positive impact is a key feature of our best experiences. The majority of best experience stories involve the idea of ‘making a difference’ somehow. This of course links to the concept of meaning, but it is different: it is more visible and external to the individual.
When we have a positive impact and make a difference, it stimulates a rush of positive emotions, we feel good about that experience. When we experience positive emotions, our serotonin and dopamine levels rise. These are neurotransmitters (chemicals released by nerve cells, to send signals to other nerve cells). These chemicals make us feel good, and enhance our ability to learn and absorb information. Having an impact also teaches our brains that our actions matter.
The way in which we have a positive impact in the workplace is personal and unique to each of us as individuals. To better understand this, it is helpful to look at Hertzberg’s theory of motivation. Hertzberg differentiates between what he calls hygiene factors and motivation factors. Hygiene factors are those elements of a job, or indeed your experience at work, which are necessary foundations for satisfaction. Examples of hygiene factors include pay, physical working environment, and fringe benefits perceived to be part of the job you do. The absence of hygiene factors is linked to dissatisfaction at work, but the inclusion of hygiene factors tends to result in satisfaction – but this is not the same as being motivated at work. Hygiene factors do not motivate. Motivation factors are much more innate, including elements such as achievement, growth, responsibility and meaning.
It’s no surprise that motivation factors are those we hear when people share their best experience stories. It is these motivation factors which illicit a positive emotion, and are the foundation for positive experiences and engagement. It is of course possible to be motivated at work but dissatisfied – although probably not for long!
The opportunity to have a positive impact at work definitely comes under the banner of a motivator factor. The opportunity for your EX to set your organisation apart from your competitors lies in firstly uncovering motivation factors which matter to your people, and then designing experiences which facilitate them. We know from our research that impact will feature as a motivator factor, but the way this shows up will be different for different people. For some it might be helping out a colleague, for others it might be making a tangible difference to the success of a project, or maybe making a positive difference to your customers.
So how do you go about designing experiences which give your people the opportunity to have a positive impact?
- First up, you need to understand what making a difference, or having a positive impact, looks like for your people. Ask them to share stories about times when they have experienced this. What are the common themes and how can you use these insights to help you design future experiences?
- Don’t forget about the power of personal accountability. When asking people to share stories about those times when they had a positive impact at work, encourage them to reflect on what made this possible. More often than not there will be much that is within their gift to control, or influence, to help them experience positive impact again.
- Call out the positive impact your people have. It is easy to move quickly onto the next thing and bypass reflection, or feedback that ensures people understand the difference they have made. Build in time to ensure you capture this and share it, either at an individual level, or at a team or organisational level.
- Consider how you create time to reflect on the impact individuals and teams have had in an ongoing way. This gives your people permission to consider their impact and then experience the positive emotions which go hand in hand with knowing you have made a positive difference in some way.
We all feel good when we know that we have had a positive impact at work, and this will most likely show up when we talk about our best experiences at work. We want to know that we are making a difference in some way, and of course this not only benefits our overall engagement but is great for our organisations, customers and colleagues too.
