Adopt a Mission That Matters

At eRep, we often discuss the value of employee engagement. An engaged employee can outperform their co-workers with up to 200% more productivity. Our Performance Fuel application is centered around the formula of Purpose + Clarity + Feedback, with Purpose being defined as letting employees know that what they do matters and will be appreciated.

Operational success is more than the sum of the individual contributions, however. The overall mission needs to matter or the engagement of the people on the team will be wasted.

A sense of purpose needs to exist at the highest levels, from the top down.

To be truly successful, the organization must adopt a mission that matters.

Who's Your Master?

It has been said that the pursuit of money is the root of all evil. This doesn't mean that profit in itself is bad. The scriptural admonition is all about priorities. Who's your master? Is it the almighty dollar? Or is your mission — the fundamental reason you're in business — more about doing something that actually matters in the world?

We have reminded our readers, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." This philosophy can be applied at the organizational level, too. If your master is the almighty dollar, your mission will flex and bend to whatever it takes to get it. That flexing may be imperceptible but its effects will eventually be felt and the evidence won't be kind. Employees will be disengaged and the employees who stay won't be in it for the right reasons. Customers will find other vendors with a mission they can connect to and respect.

If your primary focus is the money and not the mission, profit (and potentially a lot more) will ultimately suffer in the end.

A Mission of Purpose

Hire the best people you can by using the best psychometric assessment on the market today, the Core Values Index. Put the right people into the right seats. Fuel their performance by giving them a sense of purpose. Let them know that what they do matters and will be appreciated.

Start with the attitude of performance and purpose at the very top.

Above all, let every individual in your organization know that the mission they fight for matters. Let them know that the work will be appreciated by your customers for the right reasons, and not merely to make a buck.

Adopt a mission of purpose, a mission that matters, and the profit will come.