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Former Member
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Why. Possibly the most profound, curious little question behind everything we do in life. But in our endless quest for answers, have we stopped asking “why” we do our jobs and whether the 30% of our lives spent working actually makes us happy?

If you graduated from college with loans to pay, chances are you took almost any job that helped dent your debts. But if 5, 10 or more years have passed and you’re working in a career of your choosing, can you honestly say you love your current role? If you’re shaking your head from side-to-side to indicate “Not so much”, do you think your employer cares about your job happiness even a tiny bit? 


Take heart. Many companies are starting to realize that your level of engagement at work affects their bottom-line. Science says it – your happiness at work and a company culture glued together with purpose equates to more profits, better brand value, and even happier customers. Observers go further, predicting that in the purpose-driven future of work, the only companies that will survive will be those willing to do something creative like pay you to volunteer to fight hunger and AIDS in Africa, offer an outlet for your creativity and chosen lifestyle, and perhaps reward you for bringing these types of life lessons back to your job. The bottom line: without celebrating and nurturing the human side of work and injecting purpose into the very DNA of the organization, your company might one day fall by the wayside and perish.


Since life’s too short to work without a purpose, listen to what our prolific purpose and happiness experts have to say: Jenn Lim, CEO of Delivering Happiness; Aaron Hurst, CEO of Imperative; and Alyse Wyler, Senior Director of Marketing at SAP. Click here to listen to the full podcast.


Top memorable insights from this episode:

  1. If you are not able to be ‘present’ where you are, you will never be able to be happy with yourself. “Wherever you go, there you are” (Buddhist saying) – is the first important step to finding happiness wherever you are. Happiness is about appreciating others, stretching what you're able to do in the present, not just about the big wins...wherever you are. –Aaron Hurst @Aaron_Hursthttp://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0e/b2/a9/0eb2a9f69333ab619664a6d46734f3aa.jpg
  2. When you have purpose at work, you experience this “flow” – [work is so great that] you lose track of time. You're so into something that you get lost in it. Organizations with this flow - this high level of engagement - continue to outperform the total stock market index and posted total shareholder returns 22% higher than average. -Alyse Wyler @AlyseWyler
  3. The thought is, if everyone wants to change the world somehow, first start with yourself, change the workplace, then together we can change the world. Start with the three keys to happiness: Commitment, Core Values, and Vision - focus on employee happiness first. –Jenn Lim @DHmovementCEO
  4. Doing just “what you love" is actually horrible advice (according to the paper this morning). Purpose should be a good proportion [overlapping] what you love, what you're good at and what pays well. Then it’s a win. -Alyse Wyler @AlyseWyler
  5. Many people have causes, but no purpose. And vice-versa. We need to let go of causes to be the sources of purpose. Purpose is a journey, not a revelation. It's about doing something greater than yourself and for others. –Aaron Hurst @Aaron_Hurst
  6. Next evolution of the global economy: Companies that embrace purpose will thrive. Ones that don't will be left behind like the auto companies who weren't on-board with the information economy. –Aaron Hurst @Aaron_Hurst

Top #CrystalBall Predictions for 2020:

  1. More startups that will come out exploring more of our ‘weird-selves’. Companies will hire more for purpose. -Alyse Wyler @AlyseWyler
  2. Information and technology are a great driver of economic growth. The future: companies that will find a way to fundamentally integrate purpose into their innovation will win. It's up to the HR Community to decide which fate they want. –Aaron Hurst @Aaron_Hurst
  3. If you had asked me this 4 years ago, before the book [Delivering Happiness] came out, I would never have guessed where we’d be. What I saw was this tipping point for happiness being taken seriously around the globe...to nudge the world to a happier place. 3,300 cities now, if we were to connect all the dots, and by 2020 our purpose will have paid off and changed the world. –Jenn Lim @DHmovementCEO

The next episode of HR Trends with Game-Changers Radio explores Up-Skilling for Marketing in the Cloud: Are You Ready? with a panel of HR thought leaders and experts. Stay tuned and please follow us on Twitter at #SAPRadio @bizbreakradio @mikegmontalban.