Meaningful Work Shows The Power Of Purpose

Forbes

10-04-2025

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For decades, employee engagement ratings have been anemic. The cost is diminished production, risk of burnout, increased turnover rates, and a long list of other factors that are bad for people and bad for business.
Disengagement? That's when employees don't see a clear connection between their daily tasks and organizational goals with which they can comfortably identify.
What they need is meaningful work.
That's certainly the view of Wes Adams and Tamara Myles. They're the author of Meaningful Work: How to Ignite Passion and Performance in Every Employee. Adams is CEO of SV Consulting Group, partnering with Fortune 500s and scaling companies to develop high-impact leaders. Myles is an entrepreneur specializing in the science of human flourishing at work. She helps leaders and organizations like Microsoft, KPMG, and MassMutual unlock the power of meaningful work to drive performance, innovation, and resilience. Both Adams and Myles are researchers at the University of Pennsylvania where they focus on leadership practices and organizational structures that help employees thrive.
In a nutshell, what exactly is 'meaningful work' and how is it related to productivity and employee engagement?
Wes Adams
Adams says meaningful work comes from three main sources that he and Myles call the Three C's—Community, Contribution, and Challenge.
'Community is the belief that you belong in your organization, that you can show up authentically and bring your full self and full ideas to the table,' he says. 'Contribution is understanding how your work positively impacts others. That could be customers and clients, or it could also be understanding how your work ladders up to a larger organizational goal. It could also come from receiving positive feedback from your team. Finally, Challenge is the opportunity to learn and grow and expand your capabilities.'
Adams says he and Myles have learned that 'meaningful work is the upstream factor that drives all of the outcomes that we want—individually, things like job satisfaction, well-being, and engagement, and also organizationally, things like productivity, performance, innovation, and even bottom-line revenue. These are all outcomes of the belief that our work matters.'
What are the most common misconceptions about meaningful work?
'One of the biggest misconceptions about meaning at work is that you have to be working at a nonprofit or in healthcare or another helping profession for it to be meaningful,' Myles says. 'That's not the case. We've encountered janitors who find incredible meaning in their work, hairstylists who see themselves as 'Day makers,' and software engineers who are able to connect their coding work to the positive impact it has on customers. Moments of meaning can happen in every job, every day, especially with the guidance of a great leader. Your job doesn't have to be your life's calling for your work to feel worthwhile.'
Tamara Myles
What can leaders do to create an environment where employees can thrive with meaningful work?
'Our research shows that about half of meaning at work is directly tied to what leaders do, or fail to do,' Myles says. 'That means leaders have a huge responsibility, but also an incredible opportunity, to impact each employee's sense of meaning at work and, through that, drive all of the outcomes that we all want. We've identified specific leadership practices and organizational structures that create more meaning at work across each of the Three C's.'
She says one practice that stands out is simply asking what's going on in someone's life, and then really engaging with them when they answer. 'In our research, we asked employees whether they agreed with the statement, 'My leader cares about what's happening in my life outside of work.' Those who agreed with this statement were much more likely to say their work was meaningful.'
Myles says this is especially important when in a hybrid or remote environment where people must intentionally make time to build authentic relationships.
In a hybrid and remote work environment, how can leaders maintain emphasis on values and behaviors that promote meaningful work?
Adams says role modeling organizational values—walking the talk—is a critical part of meaning at work. 'It's foundational. The quickest way to destroy meaning is for leaders to say one thing and do another.'
In hybrid and remote work environments, Adams says, it's more difficult to model values because people don't just bump into each other in the hallway. 'We don't have the same visibility that we do in an in-person environment, and that means leaders have to work extra hard to visibly demonstrate values,' he says. 'They have to intentionally communicate them and highlight the reasoning behind the decisions they make and the actions they take.'
The authors have a framework called the SPOTlighting model (Situation, Priorities, Outcomes, Talkback) that leaders can use to highlight how organizational values drive their decisions and also create space for the team to discuss them.
While emphasizing high performance, how can leaders help employees avoid burnout?
Myles says there are two big factors that lead to burnout. One of them is having too much work and not enough support. 'It's important for leaders to have high expectations of people, to believe they can learn and grow and to give them challenging assignments so they can stretch their capabilities,' she says. 'At the same time, it's critical for leaders to support people through that growth process.'
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She says good leaders don't just push people out of the nest and hope they fly. 'We want to give them the support they need to achieve the stretch goals we've set for them.' She tells about one of their mentors 'who uses the metaphor of a leader having one hand on your back pushing you forward and the other under your arm helping you navigate the tough terrain.'
Myles says a second factor that leads to burnout is a lack of contribution. 'We don't burn out from working hard, we burn out from working hard without understanding how our work matters. It's critical for leaders to show people how the work they do every day ladders up to something bigger—how they contribute to a larger organizational goal or how they are having a positive impact on colleagues or customers. Making sure to give positive feedback, share appreciation, and regularly recognize people for their contributions along the way keeps people fueled.'
Myles cites recent research from Gallup and WorkHuman showing that one thank you once a week is enough to cut disengagement and burnout in half. 'But fewer than 40% of employees believe they're appropriately recognized for their work,' she says 'That's a huge area of opportunity.'
What are some tips for employees who need to have straightforward conversations with their managers to initiate positive change?
'If you'd like to suggest a change to your manager, I recommend starting with a shared goal,' Adams says. 'Often that can be delivering on organizational priorities, 'Hey, I really care about meeting our sales numbers this quarter. I know you do, too, and here's something I think would contribute to doing that more effectively.' Or, 'Here's an idea I'd love to talk to you about. What do you think?' If you're able to frame your idea or your positive change around something that matters to all parties, you have a much better chance of moving it forward.'
What's the future of meaningful work?
'There's an undeniable movement for meaning,' Myles says. 'People are no longer interested in purely transactional jobs that they feel don't matter. They want to work at organizations where they feel valued, where the work they're doing adds value, and where they have the opportunity to learn and grow. If you want to attract, retain, and engage high-performing talent, you must' create an environment where work is meaningful.'