Know your company's raison d'etre

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In his latest book, Think Bigger, Sir Michael Hill exhorts people to have a 30-year goal. He says "a 30-year goal forces you to get very serious about what you really, really want to achieve in life - your very own vision of why you exist".

Dr Neal Knight-Turvey, research director for employee-engagement survey specialists JRA, believes that many organisations would benefit from heeding Sir Michael's advice.

"A lot of organisations seem to struggle with the concept of establishing a meaningful and inspirational long-term raison d'etre, and without one, building employee engagement is undoubtedly more difficult," says Knight-Turvey.

"Our data shows year-in and year-out that one of the top key drivers of employee engagement is employees having a personal belief in what the organisation is trying to accomplish."

Nowhere is this demonstrated more powerfully than by South Taranaki District Council, one of the finalists from the 2010 JRA Best Workplaces Survey. Council CEO Craig Stevenson says: "I believe one of the reasons we performed well in last year's survey is because of our vision to be New Zealand's most 'can do' council, something we all live and breathe every day and for a very good reason - it's inspiring, it's real and, most importantly, it's focused on our customers - the communities of South Taranaki." Stemming from this vision are some compelling organisational values which guide the day-to-day behaviours of council employees.

"Explicit values like courageous leadership, working with passion and pride, a spirit of oneness and industry-leading customer service are all things you'll see being demonstrated by our employees on a daily basis," says Stevenson.

"These behaviours are lived out authentically because our employees really believe in where we are going as a council and in what we are trying to achieve." Follow the advice Stevenson gives to his employees: "Go hard or go home."

JRA is running the 2011 JRA Best Workplaces Survey in association with The New Zealand Herald and sponsored by the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce, KiwiBank, Department of Labour and Haines Attract. The survey runs from June 1 to August 31 and registrations are now being taken.

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