Finding Fulfillment: Creating Meaning in the Midst of Uncertainty

BY Carrie Snider | April 03, 2024

No longer does the workforce subscribe to the idea that their job is just a paycheck, or that they’ll loyally stay for years no matter how they’re treated. What do modern employees want more than anything? Meaning.

Yet, here’s the challenge: everyone interprets meaning differently. According to Jennifer Feri, VP of HR at VMware, a panelist at From Day One’s Live Silicon Valley event, some seek opportunities for growth, while some prioritize flexibility, and still others aspire to be actively involved in decision-making processes. In short, they want to be treated like humans.

“No person wants to come into or work at a workplace where they’re thought of as a widget, a number, or a transaction. Forget it,” said Feri. Feri joined a panel of four other industry colleagues in a session moderated by Michal Lev-Ram, editor-at-large of Fortune.

The question is, how can organizations bring meaning to what they do? For Feri, meaning was best illustrated by her boss, who knew what she needed and delivered it in a meaningful way. When Feri wasn’t promoted to VP, she was crushed, but her boss helped pick her up off the ground. 

“She knew how important it was to me. She knew what my skill set was. And she knew where I needed to develop,” Feri said. “She took an approach that is completely human centered and individualized to me. She made sure that she put me on projects and initiatives that not only helped me build my executive skills, but it helped highlight them for others.” 

The promotion came, and Feri’s boss waited until she was on vacation to tell her, because she knew Feri would want to celebrate the news with her family around her. “That is human-centered leadership,” Feri said.

People Over Profit

Of course, companies need to make a profit to keep running. But should profit come at the expense of people? Not if organizations want to retain talent.

Panelist Melissa Adams, executive vice president of human resources at Duarte spoke about a hard decision their company made that showed employees they cared about them as people. For many years, the company had provided services to an anchor account that brought in millions. However, leaders questioned the true cost of those clients.

“The human toll of running this event was huge,” Adams said. Negative stories abounded from the annual event itself, plus the time leading up to the event. So they made the decision to set a boundary and no longer work with the client. 

The result was less stress, less burnout, and employees who were grateful. “It resonated with our employees,” she said. “They knew that we had their back.” Another result? They made up the revenue in other ways, plus they retained talent in the process.  

“That was a real example of people over profit,” Adams said.

Connect the Meaning

Productivity is something you do, and meaning is something that you feel, says Geoff Boraston, VP of organizational development at Granite Construction. These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive, he added, but you can help to connect the meaning. 

“We used to put out these project information sheets, which were very engineering-esque,” he said. To bring more meaning to the information sheet, instead they focused on how the project was reducing commute time or connecting communities.

The panelists spoke to the topic "Making Work Meaningful in an Uncertain World" 

Realizing where your company’s value lies makes all the difference in bringing meaning to the work, says Boraston. 

“We don’t have proprietary technology, proprietary manufacturing, or any particular intellectual property. We have access to the same labor pools, and the same materials and means and methods as every other company. So our difference, our competitive weapon, is our people.”

Decreasing Burnout

Panelist Christine Schmidt, people analytics evangelist and platform & data go-to-market strategy at Rippling looks forward to going to work on Monday morning. That, she says, is a huge indicator of whether a company has created a meaningful place to work. Because workers don’t feel burned out. 

“Nobody goes into the HR profession to do paperwork,” Schmidt said. “Nobody chose it to do all the compliance stuff, it’s one of the most painful parts of the job. It takes away from the type of work that got you into the profession: the meaning, the development, the connection, the strategic advisory.”

That’s why Rippling seeks to automate and make those processes as pain-free as possible. For example, within 30 seconds of Schmidt accepting her position, she had seven helpful emails explaining benefits enrollment, 401k enrollment, technology, and more. That automation freed up people’s time so they could focus on creating more meaning and connection. 

“If you think about what creates meaning for people, it’s not just, ‘are they going to climb the ladder?’ No,” Schmidt said. “It's about, ‘Are they going to develop as a human? Are they going to develop skills? Are they going to earn the respect of their colleagues, and do they feel like they are contributing in a meaningful way to whatever the organization is doing?’” 

There will always be those “pebbles in your shoes” at work—the things you don’t want to do, she says. But keeping them to a minimum will help decrease burnout and allow time to focus on meaning.

In and Out of Office

There are many approaches to developing meaning, and for panelist Katherine Ovadia, VP, global head of people at One Planet, connecting in and out of the office makes a difference.

“I believe that being in an office really helps build that sense of community,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place to instill feeling good about where you work, about the experience, and about doing it together. It’s a beautiful, connected space.”

But looking outside the office is just as important. At One Planet, they help to foster meaning to employees by facilitating service days and even service trips. For one trip, they sent five employees to the Gambia to work with a women’s organization. “Being able to like to bring that outside world into the company is so important,” Ovadia said.

Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

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