Why ‘purpose’ is no longer just a buzzword

Thursday, just after four. There are two bottles of sparkling wine and a stack of paper cups in the kitchenette because Jana is leaving after five years. On her last day, she didn’t mourn the loss of the hand-roasted coffee from the fully automatic machine, nor the table football, which she never used anyway. During her exit interview, she said quite openly that for months now she hadn’t known why she even got out of bed in the morning. Many teams are familiar with such farewells. And more often than not, when someone in the workforce hands in their notice, it comes as a surprise only to the managers, not to their colleagues.

Stay for the Snacks? 

A fruit basket and a company bike may be nice gestures. Well-thought-out benefits show appreciation, and anyone who cuts them back will soon notice the effect on team morale. After all, your staff naturally appreciate being able to grab a fresh snack or a delicious coffee for free from the kitchen every now and then. But these perks are by no means a reason to look forward to leaving the house in the morning.  

When we talk about meaningful work, however, we are referring precisely to that ‘drive’ that enables us to start work each day with enthusiasm. People want a job where they can see the impact they are making and which helps them grow personally. Of course, this may vary depending on the sector. Researchers working on an effective cancer drug probably see more meaning in their work than people who spend their days in an office creating spreadsheets for large corporations. After all, how your work is perceived by others does play a part in how you see yourself, and perhaps you’ve even asked yourself at a party whether you’d like to explain what you do for a living.

Because your job isn’t about saving lives or ensuring our basic needs are met, but about something far more complex. And that’s precisely the point: those who recognise the changes their own work sets in motion and see it as part of the bigger picture will also find greater fulfilment in it. But that’s easier said than done, which is why we’ve taken a closer look at the issue. 

What the figures reveal about meaning and permanence

The Gallup Engagement Index Germany 2025 paints a sobering picture. Only 10 per cent of employees feel a strong emotional connection to their employer, whilst 77 per cent feel hardly any. Gallup sees this low level of engagement as a direct driver of increased absenteeism and a greater willingness to change jobs. It is interesting, though hardly surprising, to note who the researchers hold responsible: primarily management, rather than the employees themselves. 

A 2018 study by BetterUp Labs shows just how important a sense of purpose is to people. In a survey of 2,285 working people in the US, nine out of ten stated that they would forgo money in favour of work that was consistently meaningful – on average, 23 per cent of their future income. When people find their work highly meaningful, they stay in their jobs for an average of 7.4 months longer. These figures are from the US and cannot be applied directly to the DACH region. Nevertheless, the trend is clear. 

Where a sense of purpose comes from in everyday working life

One motivational event a year and a clever motto on the wall in the foyer do not, in themselves, give meaning to day-to-day work. According to BetterUp, personal growth is the most important source of meaning, closely followed by professional development, a shared team goal and the feeling that one’s work is helping others. Bullying and exclusion, on the other hand, reduce the sense of meaning by 24 per cent. 

In everyday life, this means that a sense of purpose arises mainly at the level of individual tasks. The financial controller who processes the figures every month needs that moment when she realises that her analysis has prevented a bad investment. The student working in customer support needs the email from the customer whose problem he solved on Friday afternoon. Only then does a task become a contribution that makes sense and brings joy.  

How to anchor Meaningful Work in your strategie

‘Purpose’ only becomes more than just a buzzword when it is embedded in your processes and decision-making. Here are four areas you can tackle right now:

1. Share customer feedback and project results with your entire team, not just senior management. A short but fixed slot in team meetings is enough to highlight the impact of the work.
2. In performance reviews, agree on a learning objective with a fixed deadline and its own budget, rather than just talking about ‘prospects’.
3. Let staff help shape their roles to some extent. In research, this is known as ‘job crafting’; in day-to-day practice, it’s often enough simply to ask which tasks someone would like to take on more often.
4. Very important: do not tolerate toxic behaviour. Anyone who excludes colleagues not only loses those directly affected, but also diminishes the sense of purpose felt by everyone else.

However, managers also exert a strong influence through their actions. They translate the company’s objectives into day-to-day practice and explain why a particular task is important right now. That may sound trivial. But in times of stress and routine, this is precisely what tends to fall by the wayside first. 

Meaning needs a place

It’s difficult to get a real sense of the positive impact of one’s own work from a team tile. The moment when the sales manager tells the development team how the customer has reacted to the new feature rarely happens during a scheduled call. It happens by the coffee machine or on the way to lunch. 

An office that acts as a social hub facilitates such conversations. The myhive offices feature lounges and communal areas specifically designed to encourage these kinds of encounters. At community events, you’ll also get the chance to chat with people from other companies. Sometimes, it’s there that you’ll realise for the first time why your work matters to other people. That often has a greater impact than any presentation on the company’s vision.  

Conclusion: Retention begins – and ends – with the ‘why’

Every resignation costs weeks spent searching for and training new staff, not to mention the knowledge that, quite literally, walks out the door with the person who has resigned.  

Meaningful work, on the other hand, requires above all attention: a shared email here, an open conversation about development there. Anyone who firmly embeds this in their strategy and actually puts it into practice in day-to-day life is welcome to keep the fruit basket and the expensive coffee as perks. These simply no longer need to fill a void that material things could never fill in the first place.