Toward the meaningful workplace

 

Meaningful workplaces are built by companies that aim to produce a more meaningful outcome from, and for, their people.

To become meaningful, these companies adopt a new stance vis-à-vis their relationship with their employees. They strive to reduce the distance that’s been imposed through organization structures and prevailing attitudes. They seek stronger emotional connections up and down and across their enterprise. They see their task as making their company fit for the future by making it fit for humans.

They create a meaningful workplace “master plan” that defines their compelling reason for being, identifies how they want to leave people feeling and states how they wish the company and its employees will behave.

They use the resulting master plan to create a common ground of understanding, respect and ambition. The master plan then serves as the foundation for other initiatives designed to realize a business’s ambition, feelings and behavior, including: “macro plans” that adapt the company’s structure, policies and procedures; “mini plans” that engage groups of employees; and “micro plans” that engage employees individually.

These initiatives inspire employees to align their intent, attitudes, behaviors and actions to the meaningful outcome the business seeks. As this kicks into action, and becomes increasingly contagious within the workplace, the work experience fundamentally changes for the better, from top to bottom, across silos, disciplines, borders, and cultures.