Jobs are more than a paycheck, and every employee brings their own gifts, motivations, and purpose into the workplace.
As Dr. Angela Jackson said on a recent episode of the Drucker Institute podcast “Doing the Right Things Well,” every person also comes into the workplace with a purpose, whether that is to provide a better future for their families, to contribute meaningfully to their employer’s mission, or both and other objectives.
When employers tap into these ambitions, it benefits workers — and the business itself.
Jackson is the research director at the Future Forward Institute, a lecturer at Harvard University, and author of The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom-Line Success. With podcast host and Drucker Institute Executive Director Michael Kelly, she explores how the best employers in the country tap into their employees’ natural motivation and develop them so they can thrive at work.
“When companies say people are the most valuable resource, I say show me your balance sheet,” said Jackson. “How are you investing in actual training and development? How are you building … a deep talent bench, not just trying to go out and buy the best talent, how are you building your own talent. … Because we know when companies do this their employees stay longer, they have higher engagement.”
“Doing the Right Things Well” is a first-of-its-kind series inspired by the ideas of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management. Each year, the Drucker Institute releases an annual ranking of the United States’ best managed companies. The most recent list, featured in The Wall Street Journal, highlights how the listed firms empower employers to solve problems from the bottom up.
The podcast features leaders from the list that are changing the future of work.
Kelly also recently spoke with Accenture Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Jill Kramer about how employers can drive purpose and engagement at work. Like Jackson, Kramer articulated how investing in employee training and lifelong learning benefits a company’s bottom line and helps employees understand their purpose and value.
“That’s how we keep our people at the cutting edge, which means they’re doing the best work for our clients,” explained Kramer. “But also personally, they know we all know we’re being kept at the cutting edge of the most relevant skills at this point in time.”
Watch more episodes and read CKF’s summary of the first two episodes.