Can work be meaningful?

BBC Radio 4's recent programme ‘Does work have to be miserable’ identified meaningful work as one of the five key contributors to making people happy in the workplace.  A measure of mundaneness is perhaps inevitable, but if a role does not provide an overall sense of meaning and purpose then it will be pretty difficult for anyone to thrive whilst doing it.  
 
Profit, of course, provides one kind of purpose; no company will survive for long unless it is profit-making. However profit is not the kind of purpose that creates meaning for large sections of the workforce.  I know many people who have left their places of work because they feel making money for shareholders is not something that motivates them.  For them, the key to having a meaningful purpose is for it to be external to the company and about the benefit others gain.

CPJ Field, one of the companies we work with, articulates their purpose as ‘Caring for the living and the dead’ and this sense of purpose is strongly articulated by their leaders.  Having a sense of purpose in our work creates a platform for thriving but this will be heightened if there is some synergy between our own sense of purpose in life and the purpose for which the company exists.  That is the sweet spot we should be aiming for, not just for ourselves, but for those whom we lead.