I answered a question on Quora this week: How do we get employees to recognize that there is just one team?
When employees feel disconnected from the purpose of the company then they will look to fulfill their belonging needs at their department’s level, or even outside the company.
Conversely, for the employees to feel part of the BIG TEAM, they first have to feel connected to the purpose of the organization MORE, than to the purpose of their own department.
Connect Employees to Company Purpose
This is most easily achieved by engaging the employees in the process of articulating this purpose. At a minimum, the leadership should talk and act to support the company’s purpose and model the behavior expected from the employees to live up to the organization’s cause.
It is a human desire to be part of something noble. Younger generations who have not grown up deprived and are higher up on Maslow’s Pyramid, the needs of belonging and making the world a better place are strong motivators. Good leaders are aware of these desires and will do their best to harvest it for the good of the company and its stakeholders.
If you are looking for a practical and powerful blueprint to align your employees around a common cause, check out the Summit OS® Tool: Your Company Why™. It will give you clear guidance on how to engage your leadership team in articulating and institutionalizing the behaviors that allow your best performers to be successful. (These behaviors, with the help of EOS’s People Analyzer tool, will allow you to promote a healthy culture across the company.) It will also help you define your business’ cause or purpose and set an energizing long-term goal for your people to rally around with excitement—one that aligns with your Summit Vision™.
