Engaging employees who care about the world: From what I need to who I am

Abstract

Growing numbers of people seek “something more” from their jobs. They want to do something meaningful at work and be part of a company that cares for society. How to engage them? Shift from simply meeting employees’ needs to affirming and enriching their identities. This paper presents a rationale for this shift and illustrates how employers can engage employees by focusing on their: 1) personal identity, 2) social identity (gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation), 3) roles (at work, home, and in life) and 4) life purposes – their sense of self and place in the larger world that they live in.