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It’s time to reframe how we look at work and see it through the lens of creativity. Because if we try to motivate our employees, once we understand that much of our work is about creativity, passion becomes much more important. The most creative artists are deeply passionate about their craft. And the most successful employees are normally those with a similar passion for their work.
Employees who are passionate about their work transform from a group of people trying to complete a list of tasks into more productive, creative and happier professionals. This, in turn, leads to a better product, happier customers and more sales.
Related: How to keep employees passionate about their work
Start by driving with passion
Company culture comes from the top, so it’s really important to hire leaders who openly show passion and become role models in their daily work. Managers who are enthusiastic, communicate transparently, and actively engage with and support their team’s ideas will help them understand the true value of their work and how it helps end users. This can then inspire similar passion across the organization.
When team members see real passion in their management, they feel more connected to their work and motivated to contribute their best. Passion is contagious.
How to bring passion into the world of work
Steve Jobs once said that the only way to do great work is to love what you do. That’s all well and good, but as leaders it’s up to us to create a work environment where people have the space to love what they do and then do their best work. But how do you motivate your team and inspire passion? This is the million dollar question. Here are three methods I use to bring passion into the workplace:
1. Focus on passion from day one:
When you hire new employees, don’t just tell them about your products and services. Immerse them in your company culture. They can’t feel passionate about what they’re doing if they don’t feel a deep connection to the organization, its goals, and how their role will impact. Excite them. Inspire them. Make sure they fully understand what is expected of them and how they fit into the big picture.
2. Connect everyone to the bigger picture:
By being transparent about the company’s business goals and sharing information, you connect your employees with the bigger picture. Your ultimate goal should be to make them feel like an inseparable part in achieving the company’s goals, which will allow them to do their best work. They should easily understand the steps they need to take to achieve their goals and should not have to invest unnecessary energy in irrelevant tasks.
3. Put the right person in the right job and set the right expectations:
Employees who are professionally suited to the work they do are naturally more passionate about what they do. While it seems obvious to assign projects to people with the right skills, a lack of resources or an inability to fully understand the task can lead to a mismatch – and that’s a great way to kill passion and increase frustration. On the other hand, when projects are built around motivated people, with realistic and shared expectations, the sky is the limit.
Related: 7 Steps to Building an Inspired Team That Gets Amazing Results
Because matter?
Passionate employees have a direct positive impact on a company’s success. Engaged employees have a positive influence on everyone around them. Two teams with exactly the same skills can achieve completely different results, driven by the level of their energy and enthusiasm.
The data confirms it. A large Gallup study involving more than a million employees found that more engaged teams can outperform less engaged teams by more than 20%. A separate study by Deloitte found a direct connection between passion for work, better innovation and customer satisfaction.
This extends outside of work too. In the teams I work with there are people who make music, record podcasts, write blogs; others who love hiking, surfing and climbing. We use these personal passions to recharge and enter our work with renewed energy.
But there’s more: when people have time to develop their own personal projects, their creativity is enriched by encouraging them to think differently than they would in their daily work. It opens their minds to new ideas and approaches that they bring to work, helping them approach their tasks with a more creative and passionate mindset.
Therefore, cultivating passion in the workplace makes employees work harder to find solutions to challenging problems and achieve better results. In turn, I believe passionate employees lead to passionate customers. Your team’s passion shows up in your marketing materials, is felt in interactions with your sales and support teams, and drives a better product. As I said before, passion is contagious, and great experiences with your brand will turn your customers into passionate advocates on your behalf.
By giving your employees the freedom to think outside the box, implement innovative initiatives, and find creative solutions to problems, you’re fueling their passion for your business. When they see their ideas turned into actions and have a real impact, their passion and creativity will only increase. And your customers will feel the difference.
Related: 8 Ways to Motivate Employees on an Unstoppable Team