📌 Key takeaways
- Meaning: the key driver of motivation: Dan Ariely’s Lego experiment shows that work perceived as meaningless leads to a drop in motivation of around –30%, regardless of pay.
- A major economic challenge: only 8% of French employees say they are engaged, according to Gallup 2025, making meaning at work a strategic lever for businesses.
- The central role of management: clear objectives, explaining the ‘why’, recognition and highlighting successes all strengthen commitment and collective pride.
- Autonomy and dialogue for lasting commitment: establishing a culture of feedback and offering supervised autonomy help to maintain a sense of purpose over the long term.
Are you familiar with Dan Ariely’s Lego experiment?
Students are paid to build Lego figures. In the first group, their creations are carefully preserved: they build 10 in a row. In the second group, their creations are dismantled before their eyes as they build them. The result? They stop at 7.
Boom: a 30% drop in motivation. Not because of the salary (which was the same). Just because it makes no sense to see your work destroyed or ignored.
This anecdote perfectly illustrates the current challenge facing HR. In a context where French employee engagement is reaching critical levels (only 8% according to the latest Gallup 2025 study), the question of meaning is no longer philosophical, it is economic.
If your teams feel like they’re “doing stuff and hoping it will be useful,” don’t be surprised if the atmosphere is gloomy. So how can you rekindle the flame without organizing yet another “pool party” seminar?
Here are seven simple, proven ideas to restore meaning to everyday life.
1. Set clear goals
Let’s stop with vague or cryptic objectives such as “maximize scalable cross-functional synergy.” Meaning begins with clarity. Employees need to know exactly what is expected of them. The equation is simple: “I know where we’re going” is always better than “I do random tasks.”
2. Start with the “Why”
This is Simon Sinek’s golden rule (Start with Why). A brief should not resemble a shopping list. Before sending the Excel spreadsheet or to-do list, take two minutes to explain the purpose: “We are doing this to help this client…” or “This project will enable us to…” Add meaning before adding workload.
3. Celebrate successes (all successes)
The brain loves micro-recognition. Don’t wait for the annual review to say well done. A project completed, a customer helped, a crisis managed? Celebrate it. A sincere thank you is worth a thousand motivational speeches. It is immediate proof that the work done has value.
4. Remember collective victories
“Meaning” is also the story we tell ourselves as a team. Don’t let your successes get archived in a dusty Drive folder. Take the time to regularly remind yourself of past victories: “Remember when we pulled off that impossible launch?” This creates a foundation of shared pride, which is essential for collective momentum.
5. Open the dialogue
Forget about the suggestion box gathering dust in the cafeteria. Meaning comes from exchange. Establish a culture of regular and authentic feedback, even when it’s a little uncomfortable. Note: Receiving feedback or managing differing opinions requires a certain amount of resilience. This is where the emotional agility of your managers (which we discussed in our previous article) becomes a decisive asset.
6. Offer supervised independence
Trust is the fuel of meaning. But be careful, trust is not “Go ahead and figure it out for yourself.” It’s more like, “I’ll let you do it, I trust you, but I’m here if you need me.” It’s the perfect balance between freedom of action and a safety net. Control is not the enemy of trust if it is benevolent; it simply prevents feelings of abandonment.
7. Repeat, over and over again
The meaning of your work is not a divine revelation that you receive once a year at a seminar. It is a ritual. A compass. It’s like a good song: you have to play it on repeat so that it sticks in people’s minds and sets the pace. As a leader, your role is to be the “Guardian of Meaning” and to remind everyone of it at every team meeting.
In summary
Work can be a source of pride and energy… or just a series of dull tasks. The difference often lies in management’s ability to explain the “why.”
Sometimes, all it takes is a word, a glance, or a well-timed reminder to change everything.
