People working for a purpose
This is the first article in our ‘What’s the problem?’ series that explores problems and challenges faced by purpose-driven organisations. Purpose-driven organisations include any start-ups, small businesses, not-for-profits, NGOs, social enterprises, charities and foundations that are working towards making positive social and environmental impact.
Motivated, passionate and committed: the most important asset for any purpose-driven organisation is its people. Those drawn towards for-purpose work have a range of unique strengths, but also unique vulnerabilities. By nurturing their workers’ strengths and supporting them in growth areas, for-purpose organisations can bring out the best in the people who drive them forward.
At Understorey we conduct interviews and look extensively at existing research on the personality characteristics, motives, and values of people who work in for-purpose organisations (1). These people include volunteers, overseas development workers, social entrepreneurs, nonprofit workers, and humanitarian workers. The common findings across these sectors have allowed us to create a “prototype” of a for-purpose worker.
Introducing the for-purpose worker
For-purpose people are generally passionate and care deeply about a cause, with high expectations towards themselves. Their perspective on work differs from conventional notions of achievement and authority-seeking, and they often feel ‘different’ from public or for-profit workers in their values and priorities.
These characteristics of for-purpose workers make them a real asset, and creates a valuable pool of talent from which the sector can draw. For-purpose organisations derive huge benefits from these young, driven people attracted to their mission. Research supports this, showing that without such individuals, it is much harder for purpose-driven work to succeed (2).
Vulnerabilities: The other side of the coin
Now, while this all sounds rosy, there is a flip side to having a talent pool of workers with this profile. For example, an open mindset is linked to increased career exploration and a comparative willingness to change jobs. This open mindset also makes it easier for these workers to slide from positive to negative workplace behaviour. And as workers driven by passion and commitment to their work, for-purpose workers commonly experience burnout.
Even if none of these behaviours arise, the stress from being disillusioned, underpaid or overworked lead to many negative health and relational outcomes, curbing these workers’ ability to contribute. Some continue to work for their organisations, going through the motions while mentally checked out. Others try again with a new organisation, only to repeat the cycle anew. Others, disillusioned, leave for-purpose organisations altogether.
Sandy's Story
We can imagine the difficulties facing the for-purpose worker by following the story of Sandrine (Sandy to her friends) through her career at BetterWorld, a for-purpose organisation. Once again, we rely on research (3) and interviews to help us create this hypothetical scenario.
Sandy, just out of university, has managed to score a job working for BetterWorld! She is delighted and feels lucky to be able to earn money while contributing to a just cause. She willingly accepts a lower salary than her equally qualified peers, a common outcome for open and agreeable people, especially at the start of their careers. This is no problem for Sandy, as she is proud to work for an organisation with such a noble cause.
Sandy works extremely hard on various tasks, despite having the nagging, unsettling feeling that she could always be doing more. Her personal drive, the heavy workload and BetterWorld’s "work hard" culture means that she works a couple of hours longer than her mates, every day.
A few months pass and Sandy starts to suffer for various reasons. It’s hard to tell for sure - she may have a bad manager, there may be unfair compensation practices, or little chance to grow professionally - or she may have just come to realise that work in a for-purpose organisation isn’t always as glamorous and noble as she thought.
Sandy’s answer to these problems is to work harder.
However, doubt starts to creep in. The difficulties she is having make Sandy more aware of being consistently underpaid. And work occupies such a central place in her life that she doesn’t have the chance to create strong support structures outside of work to help her through. Sandy limps through another six months at BetterWorld, and when she finally hits her limit and burns out she leaves disillusioned, exhausted, and unsupported.
This all-too-common story of idealism, passion and burnout has rarely been addressed. In fact, it is often seen as natural. Because there are so many willing to take Sandy's place, Sandy can be quickly forgotten. Who’s next?
For Sandy
While you’ll find examples of Sandy’s in public and for-profit organisations, it is clear that for-purpose work attracts a significant number of these passionate, motivated people. The clear question that then emerges from this is: how can we support them? What can for-purpose organisations do to protect our workers from Sandy's fate?
Understorey believes that in order to support the many people who work for for-purpose organisations, we need practices and ideas that are grounded in, and based upon, an understanding of for-profit workers themselves. We need to recognise the risks inherent in employing these talented, motivated people, play to their strengths, and support their weaknesses through good organisational practices. We must ensure that they feel aligned with the organisation’s overriding purpose and goals, while still having the freedom to develop as individuals.
Too often, the tools we use to manage our for-purpose workers are borrowed from the for-profit sector. As these fail to address the unique personality traits of those drawn to for-purpose work, these interventions can have negligible or even negative effects. Or, worse still - we fail to even realise that there is a problem.
However, we believe that Sandy's story represents the struggles of countless youth in for-purpose organisations, and explains the inexplicably high rates of turnover, burnout, and disillusionment.
Understorey envisions a world where purpose-driven organisations achieve and exceed their goals for social and environmental impact.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help, or just chat about some of the challenges you and/or your organisation may be facing, feel free to contact us at hello@understorey.co or through our contact form.
