We’ve spent a decade talking about purpose, belonging and engagement and yet people are feeling increasingly invisible at work. In a fragmented world it’s appearing that mattering might be the missing piece.
When we look at some of the biggest issues impacting workplaces: burnout, loneliness, job satisfaction and mental wellbeing, it appears mattering matters and could be the answer to many of our modern workplace challenges.
“Mattering at work” is fast becoming a core pillar of workplace wellbeing. We’ve spoken at length in workplaces of the importance of belonging (I fit in), but mattering goes one step further (I make a difference). People can be included, well-paid, successful but still feel irrelevant.
Quiet quitting has been linked to a lack of mattering and it makes sense: “Why would I go above and beyond if I don’t feel I matter?” We’ve also been taught to link our sense of worth and mattering to how busy we are. Leaving us feeling like I only matter if I overwork and outperform everyone around me, a recipe for burnout.
If you’ve ever worked for a boss who knows nothing about you, never says thanks or treats you like a resource not a human, you’ll know what I mean.
Why mattering could solve the workplace loneliness epidemic
In an age of polarisation and division, we’re increasingly disconnected from each other. Overlay this with hybrid and remote working, and we don’t spend as much time together as we used to. Especially those important connection moments outside of meeting time to connect and bond.
It’s resulting in an increase in workplace loneliness and less connected teams, could mattering also be the answer here? According to the global data, roughly 1 in 5 workers say they feel lonely often.
Loneliness is not about being alone. It’s feeling unseen, unsupported, or irrelevant - even around others. It’s too simple to say the rise of remote work has caused loneliness but rather remote work exposes whether connection ever existed in the first place and this connection so often comes from mattering.
Burnout is not just caused by overwork
What if the real issue in our workplaces today isn’t just burnout, but a crisis of mattering? People don’t just want to belong at work, they want to feel essential. It’s all about us feeling valued, “I’m seen and I make a difference”.
We so often think about the burnout risk being workload related – I’m working too hard for too long. And whilst that’s most common form, burnout can also come from loneliness, lack of autonomy, reward and purpose – enter mattering.
Why does mattering matter?
We’ve seen a dramatic shift in ways of working over the last two decades. Modern work says: deliver, perform and optimise but doesn’t always make room for connection, relating and belonging – the things that contribute to mattering. The result is our people can feel valued for their output not for who they are – a mattering crisis.
The World Economic Forum say that people who feel their work matters have higher wellbeing, are more likely to perform at a top level and are less likely to quit. It’s also been linked to reduction in loneliness and better mental health.
Gordon Flett suggests mattering impacts our self-esteem, perfectionism, anxiety and can even contribute to depression in his 2018 book The Psychology of Mattering.
For our organisations, it’s linked to job satisfaction, increased engagement and more productivity. It’s not just good for the individual, the business benefits too when people matter.
Mattering is crucial because it provides the “why” that fuels us. The working world is fragmented in terms of where work occurs and who does it, but also in terms of time, levels of effort and direction. Priorities and resources shift and projects are shelved – often suddenly. We experience more discontinuity and it’s easy to lose the thread of what we are working on. Mattering provides us with the motivation to endure the stress of ambiguity, volatility and disruption in a fragmented world.
Do I matter?
So how do I know if this is impacting me right now at work? Here’s some red flags for low mattering:
being ignored in meetings
work going unnoticed
no clear impact of your role
constant comparison / proving
You might like to go one step further and ask yourself these questions to test your mattering:
Where do I feel most seen at work?
Where do I feel invisible?
What do people rely on me for?
Is my sense of value tied only to output?
It turns out that mattering matters more than a pay rise, it can also impact our sense of job satisfaction, our wellbeing, make us less lonely and keep burnout at bay – now I reckon that matters.