To motivate staff, encourage them to seek a higher purpose in work and life

If you want to motivate staff, get them to think about the “higher purpose”.

In some industries this is more obvious than others. In insurance, the industry I work in, I see it among executives who genuinely care about ensuring peoples’ futures are secure with regards to savings, health and retirement.

Among the business and technology experts I work with, I see it when staff are inspired about digital transformations such as connecting wearable devices to health insurers and working with peer-to-peer payments providers who are reducing costs for remittances.

The connection to a higher purpose is of course even more obvious for doctors, nurses and teachers. But trying to motivate staff to think about a higher purpose can apply to most businesses. The line worker on a manufacturing floor isn’t just piling widgets but rather part of a bigger effort to make a product that may make a customer’s life easier. Employees should also be motivated to work towards making their own company run more smoothly. When workers lose sight of their connectivity and involvement in the bigger picture they lose sight of their importance, and in due course can lose incentive.

It’s up to management to inspire that higher aspiration, to connect employees with the value of their work. When people feel they are providing a service to society, their customers and community, they are more inclined to step up and care about cost-controls, quality and innovation. It becomes a positive reinforcing cycle.