We’re obsessed with purpose at work. We encourage people to follow their passion and have heard many times that if we find something we love, we’ll never work a day. There’s a lot of pressure and expectation to find the job that ticks the purpose box. Whatever happened to just doing a job?
The idea of having a purpose at work has always felt quite exclusive to me. There are those people who are lucky enough, clever enough, sorted enough to have a purpose, to pursue it and to land their dream job, but let’s face it, they are in the minority. What about all those people who haven’t yet found their purpose? And what about all those people who do jobs (and maybe have no choice in the matter) that aren’t dripping with purpose.
I think it’s helpful to talk about purpose with a big P and purpose with a small p. Some of us are lucky enough to work in jobs where we have purpose with a big P. It might be a charity whose cause you really believe in…or maybe you’re working for an agency which strives to make the world of work better for people. For some people, purpose with a big P matters, for others much less so. And then there is purpose with a small p, that is day to day I can find purpose in the job I do, regardless of the organisation I work for. For example I might be a university lecturer, caring little for the purpose of my institution but finding purpose in teaching and my research.
I often share an example of the time I had a job trimming lettuces when I was a student. This job had zero purpose for me. If a well-meaning head of internal comms had tried to convince me I was helping to put salad on the nation’s tables I would have rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath. And the job itself had zero purpose for me either, in fact I hated it. But, overall I enjoyed my time there and look back on it fondly. I worked hard and I’d say I was engaged. Why? Because of the people I worked with.
This is why I prefer to talk about meaning at work. We can find meaning at work without having either “Purpose” or “purpose”. Meaning feels much more inclusive and accessible than purpose. To find any kind of purpose at work can feel like a lot of pressure, I wonder how many people have spent time with a coach to try to uncover their purpose and go after it? But meaning is something we all have a shot at finding no matter what the job is we do.
Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Yale, has worked within this field for many years. Her research looks at how people find meaning at work. In summary, work is seen as either:
- a job – often motivated extrinsically such as financial rewards, a necessity rather than a choice; not a major positive or priority of life
- a career – where there is an investment in work and a focus on advancement and achievement, more intrinsically motivated
- a calling – whereby work gives life meaning and purpose, contributes to the greater good and draws on an employees own strengths and values; the focus is rewarding work and an end in itself or a means of self-expression
Wrzesniewski has found that you can’t always predict a particular type of job, job title or salary with the categories above. In fact in most professions, orientation is fairly evenly divided – with about a third of workers falling into each category.
But what is really interesting, is that no matter where you sit you can find some meaning in what you do. By enabling employees to get involved with crafting their role to align with their personal values, strengths and interests there is a greater chance of finding meaning at work. The classic example often shared is the cleaner who was able to craft their job to include tending to people’s plants on their desks and in the office. So when I was trimming those lettuces all those years ago, the meaning I got was from the connections I made with those around me. So if you haven’t found your purpose yet don’t worry, you’re not alone – instead, think about how you can get more meaning from whatever it is you do.
