If your employees only show up to work to punch a clock and collect a paycheck, they’re not doing you or your company any favors, and worse, it represents a missed opportunity on your part.  You should strive to instill your employees with a sense of Purpose that extends well beyond simply punching the clock.

Employees that are empowered with purpose are more driven and productive.  They simply care more, and that can’t help but have a positive impact on your bottom line.  The good news is, instilling your employees with a sense of purpose is a lot easier than you might think.  After all, your company already has a purpose in the form of its mission statement.

That purpose is also intimately connected to whatever product or service you sell and the ways in which it adds value to your Community.  That’s the best and most logical place to start but here’s the interesting thing:  The more attention you pay to the notion of purpose, the bigger the potential impact.

If, for example, you actively search for local causes in your community to get behind and hold fundraising drives and encourage a spirit of volunteerism, not only will you enhance your firm’s reputation in your community, you’ll also strengthen the sense of purpose among your employees.

Some companies go even further than this, allowing their employees to take time off to volunteer for causes that are aligned with your company’s values.  A few rarified companies even pay their employees to volunteer their time to such causes. 

That is perhaps the ultimate expression of a purpose-driven company and that approach tends to have the greatest overall impact, but even if you can’t afford to go that far, it still pays handsome dividends to go as far down that road as you can and watch the productivity of your employees soar.

It’s effective because your employees increasingly come to see themselves as much more than cogs in a wheel and more as members of a tight-knit team of people who not only add value via their contributions from a corporate standpoint, but also add value by performing acts of service in the community at large.

This creates a cycle of virtue inside your company that not only completely transforms your corporate culture, but continually ratchets up your stock in the community where your business is based. 

At that point, far from simply punching a clock and collecting a paycheck, your employees are connected to an ever-expanding, ever-strengthening web of commitment with your company at its heart, adding value to the community you serve in a variety of ways. 

Not just with the sale of products and services but with a genuine commitment to the community itself.  That’s powerful.  That’s empowering, and it makes your company a joy to work for.  Your turnover rates will decrease, employee productivity and profits will soar, and your company will be seen as a well-respected, integral part of the community.  That’s win-win.