The financial cost of not acting on purpose.
The 2019 Randstad Employer Brand research, identified that ‘Making Work Meaningful‘ was a top priority for employers in providing a great employee experience.
A sense of meaning [purpose] is a proven brand differentiator in the war for talent. And it’s not just about attracting the best and brightest new people, it’s about ensuring your best and brightest people stay.
There is a real financial cost of ignoring your people’s need for meaningful work.
Here’s my calculation for a company of 1000 employees when people leave due to lack of meaning. According to AHRI, 18% of employees will leave their job in 2020. That represents 180 people. At the average Australian salary of $83,000 per person (2018 ABS) and a cost of 40% of salary to replace them (my research showed a minimum cost of 30-50% and up to 150% of salary), that’s a total cost of $5.976 million per year. If we conservatively estimate that 20% of those people are leaving due to lack of meaning, the minimum estimated cost associated with employee attrition for this reason alone, would be $1.195 million a year!
And this only measures the costs associated with employee turnover. There are other costs associated with a lack of meaning including disengagement, absenteeism, poor productivity and the growing problem of mental health issues such as stress, anxiety and depression.
So, what would the real financial cost to your company be of not acting on purpose? What would you be prepared to invest to keep those people seeking meaning? How could you innovate to incorporate purpose into your learning and leadership programs?
Discover how it could work by watching the story of Jane, an advertising executive. Watch here
Keen to measure the cost of not acting on purpose for your company? Contact me for a chat.
Stay-tuned for Part 2: No. Purpose is not the same as mission.
Till then!
About me: I help leaders attract and retain the best people by harnessing the power of deep purpose and storytelling. I do this through The Purpose Project for Companies, a 5-stage customised consultative process for unearthing a new corporate purpose and The Purpose Project Course, a 7-step course to help individuals and teams bring their own why to work.
