We’re told Millennials want to feel connected to a greater good or to their company’s values. That’s not new. What seems to be new is that, somehow, the onus is now on the employer to ensure that employees actually feel this connection. For decades, my peers and I have enjoyed learning about and embracing the parts we play in a company’s success or in furthering a company’s mission. But the accountability for finding purpose seems to have shifted from the employee to the employer. Maybe the “show-me-my-purpose” shift is the result of a workforce filling with people who grew up receiving participation trophies and watching reality TV shows in which everyone could be a star. I don’t know.
Here’s what I do know: I genuinely want people to know that they are part of a company mission – and I am desperate for feedback if we ever fail to hold true to our values or communicate our mission. But it is not my responsibility as an employer to ensure that everyone senses their intimate connection to the mission. We train, we teach, we reward, we empower. That, my Millennial friends, is where our responsibility to make you feel part of something ends.
Let’s imagine an oncology practice’s billing coordinator who is a couple years out of college with an accounting degree. He wants to do purpose-driven work. Occasionally, he feels like a cog in the wheel, but he knows he’s the face of the practice, so he puts forth a good attitude when calling insurance companies or doubling as receptionist. The resulting smiles from patients or pleasant interactions with insurance representatives are gratifying. No; he is not curing cancer. But through his job, he keeps the practice’s wheels turning, enabling others to focus on their expertise and healing care.
This fictional scenario reminds me of an actual one. Last year, as part of a massive IT transformation effort at one of my larger healthcare clients, I was deeply affected by pictures displayed throughout the company’s offices of people who had received life-saving chemotherapy delivered by my client’s technology. This particular client embodies a culture in which everyone from the person who changes lightbulbs or monitors security overnight to the person who enters data into spreadsheets all week should know that they support an environment where scientists, engineers, and physicians deliver life-saving treatments. All of this was articulated in a training session the company hosted.
Yet, even in a place where this philosophy is so deeply ingrained, many of the session’s participants made statements like, “I don’t understand how I impact the customer; I just respond to internal tickets,” or, “I manage the network; I don’t cure cancer.” No amount of the facilitator’s words, time, or energy, nor the constant viewing of picture-clad walls, could sway the person who failed to feel the glory.
Every business requires people of all skill levels to contribute to its machine. We’re not all curing cancer. Maybe you work for Vivo, where your role was to provide our cancer-curing client with the people who build their IT systems that enable chemotherapy centers worldwide to deliver care to patients. YOU must search within yourself to understand your purpose. YOU must also know what it is you are seeking. Is it connection? Is it a trophy? Is it a selfie in front of a burning building showing you as the hero? Only you can know.
Everyone may know Louis Pasteur’s name, but the person who invented the syringe is pretty darned important to the mission.
The above is the second in a series of posts inspired by my experience and a rant by someone on LinkedIn identifying as a Millennial. The rant aimed to educate employers about what Millennials want. It reminded me that it’s time to revisit the difference between wants and needs. Stay tuned for part 3.
