Team Health Check Action Guide

QUESTION 8
The purpose or mission of the organisation is clearly defined and fulfilment of my job counts towards achieving it.

Watch a brief video that walks you through Gallup’s take on their version of this question.

Great managers help people see not only the purpose of their work, but also how each person’s work influences and relates to the purpose of the organisation and its outcomes. Reminding employees of the big-picture effect of what they do each day is important, whether it is how their work influences the customer, safety or the public.

Key Insights

  1. The need that sits behind this question is ”Help me see my importance”

  2. This question moves engagement from individual and team into the relationship with the environment in which they work.  It means there are no pass through roles on our way to achieving this and team member's contributions are noticed/missed when they are not there

  3. Mission needs to be a living breathing expression and has a direct tie into senior leadership to set the example.  If treated casually it will be seen as a "fun exercise"

  4. Mission comes to life through story telling.  Important that stories of success become part of every forum.  Be intentional, frequent, and make connections to performance and actions

  5. Strengths work best within the framework of a mission

  6. Star employees will be attracted to an organisation with a clear mission and purpose

  7. There are three groups (a) Just doing their job.  Taking the shortest route to get paid (b) See their work as a career.  Still see it as a give and take relationship (c) Their work is their calling

  8. There are three things that need to be in place for a connection to mission to work (a) A clear purpose.  How do we live and deliver the work around here (b) A culture that supports the mission.  Engagement to help extend beyond work to rule (c) The external brand.  How we known by others outside the team and organisations

Team Activity to Unpack

  1. Ask each team member to write the organisation's mission statement on paper.  Then distribute a copy of the organisation's official mission statement.  Facilitate a discussion using these questions:

  • Was it hard or easy to write down our organisation's mission statement?

  • How did you feel when you saw the official mission statement in front of you?

  • What parts of the mission are you most excited about personally?

  • What do we do as a team in our daily work to contribute to the fulfilment of the mission?

Ask each team member either at a team meeting or in a progress review "When did they feel proudest to work for your organisation?"  When collecting the stories listen for what they saw and heard, focus on the emotion, how did they feel as a result. Make sure to talk in the first person and specific with mentioning names of people.

Additional Questions to Ask

  1. What is our team's role in fulfilling the organisation's mission?

  2. What is most important to us as a team?

  3. How does our team affect other teams?

  4. How do we collectively affect each other?

  5. What can we do to add value to our internal and external customer experiences?

  6. What more could we do to fulfil our department's mission?

Suggestions for Action

  1. In one to one meetings with team members, share the importance of their role to the department and to the company

  2. Involve team members in writing a department or workgroup mission statement

  3. Recognise team members' talents and indicate how they contribute to the organisation's mission

  4. Share stories about individuals who went beyond the call of duty in performing their jobs to liven the connection between mission and role