How to get your employees excited about your bigger purpose?

“No company, large or small, can succeed over the long run without energized employees who believe in the vision and understand how to achieve it.”

These are the words of Jack Welch, former CEO and Chairman of General Electric. These are also words of wisdom that I, as a business consultant and management coach for many years now, firmly believe in.

Employees are the vehicle of your business. Whether there are 5 of you, 50, or 500, it is all the same – employees are the single most important factor of your success. The best businesses employ the best people who are passionate about and committed to the success of the company.

This is as true in terms of business success such as revenue, brand recognition, and market share, as it is when it comes to a company’s social impact and contribution to the greater good. Those organisations whose employees firmly believe in the mission of the company and feel it is their own are the ones that make an impact.

That being said, employees must understand what you are trying to achieve and share their passion for your purpose to ensure the success of their social or environmental efforts.

But how do you do that? How do you get them excited and fully engaged in the bigger purpose of your business? Here are a few ideas to consider:

Make sure they understand

As you can imagine the most important thing here is that your employees understand what it is that you are striving to do. It’s not enough to hand out flyers saying ‘This month we helped 120 kids in Africa’. You need to explain the whole process and how the separate efforts all come together to lead to this result. Make the social side of your business part of the presentation of your company.

For example, instead of saying “We are a digital marketing company”, say “We are a digital marketing company dedicated to the education of underprivileged groups” and present your company that way even during interviews with prospective employees. You could also hold short 15-minute meetings every month to update your workforce on the progress and discuss the actions taken regarding social impact. It is important to tie it in with the fact that the efforts of everybody make this all possible.

Communicate opportunities for involvement

Many people want to help but don’t know where to start or how to get involved. If you’ve partnered with an organization in your area of impact, they likely offer volunteering programs. If not, another NGO in the same sphere might. Collect information on the different initiatives and communicate it to employees who might want to sign up and get involved on behalf of your organization.

Ask your employees for ideas

Then there are also those employees that have an idea of exactly what could be done and how to do it. They might want to work with the organisation you’ve partnered with by bringing their idea to life or they could put it all together themselves. Allow them to come up with creative, innovative ideas either in terms of the approach or the social groups being impacted. Give them all the freedom with the only requirement being that their ideas should be in keeping with your business’ social engagement focus.

That is to say, if your impact is in the area of education, stick with that and ask them to come up with initiatives related to education. When the ideas come from people, they tend to feel them more personally and hence are more committed to success. You could turn this into a team game. People with similar ideas and understanding could come together to develop an idea. They might even execute it later on—why not?

Give them time, space, freedom

If you want to get people excited and engaged, you need to give them space to contribute in the way they feel they can do their best. Say your social impact was in the domain of healthcare and some of your employees wanted to get involved by spending time with terminally ill kids. Why not give them Friday afternoons off to visit hospitals and do that?

Acknowledge their efforts

Make sure to recognise each team’s or each person’s efforts and the successes that have been achieved. Once a month, take time to discuss what your employees are working on. Review their progress with their initiatives. Ensure these efforts align with your company’s social goals.

People might share their experiences and what they have learned. They could talk about the skills they’ve gained. They might also reflect on whether their work feels fulfilling. Your employees will feel their efforts are recognized. At the same time, they might inspire others to get involved.

Today, people need more than just to make a living, they need to feel that they have a bigger purpose. The 2015 Millennial Impact Report found that 79% of Millennial employees in the US felt their volunteering made a difference. These employees participated in company-sponsored initiatives.

It’s worth mentioning that Millennials are an ever-growing segment of the workforce worldwide. Giving them a purpose is a perk today. However, it will become a necessity in the labor market of tomorrow. It won’t be just any random volunteering initiative. Instead, it will be a well-integrated, planned, and consistent company effort. This approach will ensure they feel it makes an impact.