Make Room for Meaning

If you were to describe what Mars Drinks, a company based in West Chester, PA, does, you might say it supplies single-serving coffee, tea, and hot chocolate delivery systems to other workplaces. But the people who work there say the company’s purpose goes well beyond that.

“Our purpose is to create great tasting moments at work,” says Tracey Wood, Global VP, People and Organization for Mars Drinks. “If you and I were to meet for a talk and we decided to have a coffee, it signals something more than just drinking a cup of coffee.  It signals that we are going to have a conversation. We are going to connect.”

More than just a nice-sounding sentiment, a sense of purpose has an impact on the bottom line. People who find meaning in their work are more satisfied, productive, engaged, and connected to the customer, and less likely to leave the company.¹ Research sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of the U.S. and carried out by economists found that intrinsic motivators, i.e., a sense of purpose and meaning, actually lead to better business results for knowledge work than incentives like bonuses.

Which is why Mars Drinks works hard to ensure that all its employees share its purpose. “Our associates know that they ultimately impact someone else’s work experience. That’s why we are here,” Wood explains.

It’s easy to espouse a purpose; companies do it all the time. But when a company’s purpose is only communicated and not experienced, no one is fooled for long and customers and employees drift away.

Companies can help people experience purpose in a variety of ways, including volunteering and education. In 2015, Ben & Jerry’s franchise owners volunteered at New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity as part of their planning meeting as one way of fulfilling their purpose to “use [the] company in innovative ways to make the world a better place.”  And Patagonia, which uses the business to address the environmental crisis, launched a coast-to-coast Worn Wear Mobile Tour, repairing broken zippers and mending rips and giving fix-it-yourself tutorials. The purpose was to encourage customers to reduce consumption by making their clothing last.

Companies can also convey purpose within their own four walls, typically by putting a mission statement on the wall, displaying items that connect employees directly to customers, or displaying work in process so people see how what they do contributes to the end result.

Perhaps the most overlooked way of communicating purpose, however, is through the layout and design of the office. “Space is a powerful way to help fulfill a sense of purpose,” says Tracy Brower, Herman Miller’s director of Human Dynamics + Work. “When space offers the opportunity to connect with and work easily with other team members, alignment and purpose are more likely to thrive,” because it provides additional opportunities to see how their work fits.

When space doesn’t support purpose, business results can suffer. “If there are too many visual barriers in the space, or if there is a lack of space to connect formally and informally, it can interfere with alignment and purpose, and you won’t see the same results in performance, productivity, shareholder value, or customer satisfaction,” Brower says.

Herman Miller’s Living Office approach to office design starts by addressing basic human needs (purpose, belonging, achievement, autonomy, status, and security), and by understanding the purpose of each space. Because it is based around people and purpose, Living Office is uniquely suited to helping people connect to what matters every day.

CULTURE THAT’S “CAUGHT, NOT TAUGHT”
Differentiators are hard to come by these days, and culture is one of the few remaining. While competitors may be able to copy products or poach employees, corporate culture is not easily replicated, and that makes it a competitive advantage.³ “An effective culture…shapes how employees think and act; it outlasts an individual leader; it increases productivity and performance,” ⁴ says Dave Ulrich, a partner at RBL Group and a professor at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. With its emphasis on purpose, Living Office strengthens and reflects a company’s culture.

Living Office is the three-dimensional expression of Mars Drinks’ culture, which rests on its five principles (quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, and freedom). Walls are used sparingly and most of them are transparent, allowing people a clear line of sight to each other and to the outdoors through much of the space. Comfortable lounge seating lends itself to connecting and collaborating; when people need to focus, they can move to smaller, private areas.

This transparency and open layout with lots of choices make it easy for people to collaborate, share best practices, and tell the stories that are a big part of the company’s corporate culture. The environment drives collaboration, participation, the sharing of knowledge, and productivity, ensuring that culture is “caught, not just taught.”

“We want our associates to look, watch, and talk,” says Mars Drinks President Xavier Unkovic—to walk over and talk to a colleague instead of sending an email, for example. That’s good for camaraderie and increases associates’ sense that everyone is in it together. Social science calls this the “mere exposure effect.” Basically, the more we see people, the more inclined we are to like them, even if we don’t interact with them.

But exposure to others does more than make people like each other. According to a study conducted by Herman Miller, people working in spaces that made it easy to regularly see and be around leaders felt more aligned with the organization’s mission.⁵ In that kind of environment, leaders are able to help employees see how their day-to-day objectives are connected with those of the organization.

“People get a sense of purpose when leaders are visible and accessible and when the leaders reinforce the importance of the individuals’ work and connection to that of the team and the organization,” says Brower, who oversaw the study.