If you’re the kind of person who wants what you do every day to matter, you’re not alone – 70% of respondents to a 2020 survey said their personal sense of purpose is largely defined by their work.
And while you can do a lot to make sure your work means more than making money, your employer might not necessarily support you in that endeavor. Even worse, they might say all the right things about purpose-driven work without actually following through. This, according to Andreana Drencheva and Elisa Alt of King’s College London, is called “purpose-washing.”
Similar to “greenwashing” – that great enemy of ESG initiatives – this is when a company promises that your work will mean more than profit maximization but then doesn’t live up to its pledge. In this piece for The Conversation U.K.'s Quarter Life series, we asked Drencheva and Alt to explain how to know if your company will support your quest for meaningful work.
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Pauline McCallion
Senior Business Editor, The Conversation U.K.
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Andreana Drencheva, King's College London; Elisa Alt, King's College London
Watch out for ‘purpose-washing’: when companies promise more than profit maximisation but fail to deliver.
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