Leading With Purpose and Values

In a developing economy like ours, where the bulk of the workforce in NGOs is young, NGOs play a vital role due to their superior ideals and mission-oriented activities. Therefore, they need to create and maintain a great workplace culture to draw in and keep exceptional individuals and keep making a big impact. When seen in the overall context of today, it is clear from the pattern that NGOs in India have constantly been able to give their employees a favorable working environment over the years.

Values – What’s old is new again!

NGOs have not only contributed to the nation through their work, but they have also created and delivered a great work culture to their employees. Today, 87% of these organizations’ employees say, “Taking everything into consideration, I would say this is a great place to work.”

Our research discovered two key factors that help NGOs create a transparent culture and instill pride in their employees: values and purpose.

Values are not a new age phenomenon. But, when it comes to maximizing human potential and succeeding today, what was old is new again—or important in new ways. We’re not talking about slogans on the wall or the hiring page on your company’s website when we talk about values. We’re talking about the principles that govern how your employees collaborate daily.

Leaders also use values to make decisions that cannot be made solely through spreadsheets and data analysis. They are the guiding principles that guide executives’ decisions in complex and difficult situations such as hiring, firing, geographic expansions, doing more for customers, and mergers.
Our research shows that NGOs that have successfully embedded meaningful values within their organizations through their leaders have significantly higher employee retention, advocacy, motivation, and pride than those that have not.

Is just purpose enough?

It is no secret that purpose in the workplace is critical; however, it can only be effective if it is accompanied by clarity. Great things happen in terms of performance and impact when employees have a sense of purpose at work and believe their leaders set a clear direction and expectations.

While everyone wants and needs a sense of purpose at work, millennials are more willing than their boomer counterparts to prioritize purpose over job security or a pay raise. As a result, leaders should spend time and effort explaining their mission and values and how everyone’s work contributes to the organization’s overall impact.

India’s Best NGOs to Work For 2022 ensure that their vision is clearly articulated and that every employee sees meaning in what they do about the organization’s larger vision. They have been able to maximize the potential of their employees by having the right set of values and ensuring that decision-making is in line with those values.

The Great Place to Work® Institute is a global research and consulting authority on workplace culture that assists organizations in identifying, creating, and sustaining a High-Trust, High-Performance culture. The Institute developed its viewpoint by studying great leaders, polling millions of employees, and studying thousands of best workplaces worldwide. Great Place to Work® believes that by fostering trust within the ethos of their culture – referred to as High-Trust, High-Performance CultureTM – all organizations can become great workplaces and thus highly productive organizations. For over three decades, the Institute has conducted pioneering research on the characteristics of great workplaces for businesses, non-profits, and government agencies in over 60 countries.