How Your Work Role Fits into the Organisation’s Vision and Mission

Hi there and welcome. I’m Kerstin Jatho, a transformational coach from 4Seeds Consulting. I help organisations and individuals shift from languishing to flourishing. In this audio, I want to share how your work role builds into the organisation’s vision and mission.

Organisations have missions that they want to achieve like big, hairy, audacious strategies that they set out; that they want to attain in the future. And often it’s about creating change or impacting something. It’s like a big vision that they have. The question is, how do you fit into this long-term strategy? How does your daily work fit into that big vision?

You can also ask yourself the opposite question. If my work role didn’t exist, if nobody was doing it, what would I, or how would the organisation or the team be hindered or limited? You’ll quickly find out when you go on leave for a very long time. Then you’ll notice what role you play in the organisation.

So, that’s one strategy of finding out, but it’s not a popular one. So, think of it perhaps in a different way. Look at your role in your organisation like a very crucial piece in a puzzle. Think of a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. It is quite large, if you’ve done one before, and when you step back you’ve got the beautiful image or that picture or that scenery that you’ve built.

It’s just complete with all the puzzle pieces totally aligned; every puzzle piece doing what it needs to do. Now take one out and there’s just a glaring gap in that puzzle. And that is your role. So, if you’re not there, there’s a gap and it will be noticed. So, you are not just a cog in the wheel, not just a number in an organisation, you have a very important role to play.

And if you’re not sure what it is, it’s part of your responsibility to ask and find out. What role do I contribute in this bigger picture? I’m sure your work impacts on somebody else. If you don’t do your task, somebody else can’t complete theirs. And, I’m sure you play a crucial role as a team player in your organisation.

You might be the one who always brings in the harmony, who always tries to sort out conflict. Maybe you’re the strategic thinker. Maybe you’re the one who challenges the status quo. Maybe you’re the one who challenges the risk and looks at the facts and the numbers, or you’re the pragmatic one, always thinking about; how do we actually do that?

These might be seemingly trivial roles to you, and you might say, but they’re so a part of my personality. That doesn’t matter. It’s a crucial role that you play, and you need to understand what your role is. Because if you do, you’ll find way more meaning and purpose in your work, which naturally has a knock-on effect on feeling job satisfaction, engagement, and happiness at work.

And no longer is your work just a job where you clock in at eight o’clock, out at five, and get a salary at the end of the day. It’s really crucial for you to understand the role that you play. And a lot of it also has to do with your mindset of what your work contributes to the organisation.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the story of the janitor at NASA. When asked, what does he do, he actually answered and said, ‘I’m helping put a man on the moon.’ So, he saw his work … and you might think it was a trivial job … he actually saw his work as vital to keeping the team healthy, to help them get to the moon. And that is exactly what you do, regardless how big or how small you think your job is, it plays into the bigger strategy and mission of the organisation.

And as I say, if you’re not sure what it is, it’s having a good conversation with your line manager to find out what it is. I would like to invite you to work out how your work impacts on others if you’re not clear on it. Perhaps ask some of your colleagues: what does my work, or how does my work impact on you? If I’m not there, what does it limit or hinder you from doing? That will definitely open a conversation for you and you can get a better understanding.

Thank you for listening. I look forward to connecting with you in the next audio. Goodbye.

Over to you for sharing your comments and experiences.

Do you feel your work contributes positively to the organisation’s whole vision?