Is Purpose a Luxury?

Is Purpose a Luxury? Credit: Rich Baker

Personal purpose, professional pressure, and the quiet search for meaning at work.

A little while ago, I had one of those conversations that starts off being about someone else — and ends up following you home.

A colleague was reflecting on her next move. She wasn’t lost, exactly. But nothing felt quite right. So I reached for a tool I’ve used before: ikigai.

If you’ve not come across it, ikigai is a Japanese concept that sits at the intersection of four questions:

• What do you love?

• What are you good at?

• What does the world need?

• What can you be paid for?

The overlap is your purpose. Or, if you’re being practical about it — a direction that feels good and pays the bills.

As we worked through it, she began to light up. Possibilities surfaced. A sense of direction started forming. But what struck me wasn’t her answer. It was the tension just underneath the surface of the conversation.

Because more and more, I hear the same quiet question behind conversations like this: Is purpose something we’re still allowed to want?

Or has it become a luxury — something reserved for people with fewer bills and more options?

The pressure to choose between meaning and money.

Let’s be honest — 2025 hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for reflective career choices for many. Rising costs. Stagnant pay. Roles that expand but with fewer resources. Even the most driven people are doing the maths. And the data backs it up.

According to McKinsey, 70% of employees define their purpose through their work. I would I say I partly fall into that category; being a dad beats everything else but work is certainly very important to me. But two-thirds of people say that purposeful connection is under strain — especially in the face of economic pressure. In a UK survey by Aviva, over half of employees said they’d taken a job purely for financial reasons, even if it didn’t align with their values.

In short: if people aren’t abandoning purpose, maybe they’re just quietly parking it? Until the mortgage is sorted. Until the market improves. Until it feels safe again to care that much.

But purpose isn’t optional.

It might feel like a luxury, but the science says otherwise. People with a strong sense of purpose are:

• Healthier

• More resilient

• Less likely to suffer from depression

• And — in one long-term US study — 46% less likely to die over the following decade.

Dark, yes. But compelling isn’t it?

In the workplace, it’s the same story. A meta-analysis of 71 studies found that employees who find their work meaningful are:

• More engaged

• More productive

• More likely to stay

• Less likely to burn out

Gallup adds that people who strongly connect with their organisation’s purpose are five times more likely to stay long-term. And they’re more likely to recommend their workplace — which, in an age of glassdoor reviews and WhatsApp exit groups, is saying something.

So yes — while purpose might seem optional, the absence of it can quietly cost organisations more than they realise.

When organisational purpose doesn’t land.

The challenge isn’t always a lack of purpose — it’s often a lack of alignment. Only one in three employees say their company’s mission makes their job feel meaningful. The rest? They’re doing the work. But not necessarily believing in it.

And it’s not that they’re disengaged in the classic sense. They’re just disconnected.

They show up. They deliver. But the bright light’s gone a little dim behind the eyes.

We see this when organisational purpose (or values, for that matter) becomes a poster on a wall. Or when a leader talks about purpose with conviction — and then acts in a way that completely contradicts it. That’s the say–do gap in action. The unspoken “do as I say, not as I do” dynamic. And it’s where belief quietly breaks down. Because no matter how compelling the message, people are always watching behaviour.

The disconnect isn’t always deliberate. But it’s deeply felt. And once people stop believing in the purpose, they stop giving you the benefit of the doubt.

What leaders can do.

If you’re leading a team, you can’t manufacture purpose for people. But you can help them find it — or create space to rediscover it. Try;

• Showing the impact. Even in the smallest of tasks, there’s often a human outcome. Help your team see it.

• Making time for reflection. A quiet moment in a team meeting. A story. A well-placed question. Not everything needs to be a TED Talk.

• Giving people some choice. Autonomy matters. Let them shape the work in a way that lets more of their purpose come through.

• Avoiding the buzzword trap. If your company values include “integrity,” “collaboration,” and “value creation,” you might already be in trouble.

And if you’re in internal communications, this is where we really earn our keep.

Because comms people are often the first to notice the drift — between what’s said and what’s felt. And we have more power than we think to course-correct.

• Make purpose tangible. Tell real stories. Show where the values actually live — not just in leadership, but on the floor, in the field, in the daily stuff.

• Equip leaders with the right words. Not scripted lines. Just clarity, conviction, and a bit of human language.

• Create space for reflection. Whether it’s a campaign, a colleague story, or a line in a town hall — give people the chance to reconnect with their ‘why’.

• Hold up the mirror. If the purpose is out of sync with reality, we can help close the gap. Gently, but firmly.

We don’t own the purpose. But we do shape how it shows up — in tone, in timing, and in trust.

A final thought

So — is purpose a luxury?

In some ways, yes. When the cost of living rises and everything feels fragile, choosing meaning over money can seem… idealistic or even foolish.

But in other ways, it’s not a luxury at all. It’s a quiet human need. And it doesn’t have to be grand. For some, purpose is changing lives. For others, it’s building something well. Supporting a team. Solving a problem. Just making something better than it was.

The trick is helping people feel that matters — even when things are tough. Because when people connect to their purpose — when they feel that their work has meaning, even in small ways — they don’t just perform better.

They show up differently.

They stay longer.

They care more.

And if we care about performance, trust, resilience, culture — we should care about that too.

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