Your Development Disconnect Drives High Turnover
Nov 16, 2025
Have you ever had a high performer leave for a lateral position at another company because they saw "better growth opportunities"?
Were you surprised when your most talented employee chose less money elsewhere because they felt stuck in their current role?
You have a purpose misalignment that disconnects individual dreams from organizational goals, and it's hemorrhaging your best talent to competitors who get it.
The Crisis of Disconnection
Think about how deeply this disconnect infiltrates organizations:
- You ask people what they can do for the company without exploring what the company can do for their dreams.
- You create job descriptions instead of growth descriptions.
- You focus on quarterly results while ignoring long-term human development.
- You measure current productivity without investing in future potential.
This utilization mindset assumes work competes with personal goals rather than supporting them. Today's workforce refuses to choose between professional success and personal fulfillment. They demand both, and companies that deliver win the talent war.
Shift from Extraction to Alignment
The traditional employment relationship said, "Give us your time and skills, we'll give you a paycheck."
Purpose-aligned leadership says, "Let work be the vehicle for you to live an exceptional life."
Dane Espegard demonstrated this principle at Cutco when he promised a potential team member, "If you give me two years of your time, I will position you for whatever you want to do next." As he told me on the Work Positive Podcast, "If work can be the vehicle for you to live an exceptional life, you're gonna bring more passion to what you're doing every day."
Research confirms this approach: 70% of employees say their sense of purpose is defined by work, and when purpose aligns with organizational mission, companies see stronger engagement, heightened loyalty, and greater willingness to recommend the organization.
The Dream-Centered Approach
What does purpose alignment look like in practice? Dane asked, "Have you ever made a list of 100, 200 things that you love to do with your life; places you want to travel, adventures, experiences?"
This isn't feel-good fluff. It's strategic performance management grounded in human motivation. When people see work supporting rather than competing with personal goals, performance becomes intrinsic. Organizations implementing dream-centered cultures see 31% lower voluntary turnover rates and 27% improvement in employee referral quality.
The social contract of "job security for loyalty" is dead. The new generation wants to see clear connections between today's work and tomorrow's dreams. Companies that adapt attract the best talent. Those that don't are left with disengaged employees planning exits.
From Job Fit to Dream Fit
Dane's insight about Malk (the dairy alternative company) reveals dream-centered culture in action: "When somebody is onboarded, they have them make a dreams list and then they do incentives related to them accomplishing their dream."
Instead of generic recognition programs, they create individualized incentives based on what each person cares about. As Dane explained, "When an employee joins, it's not about what you can do for the team, it's about how are we going to move you forward while you're here."
This approach requires consistent nurturing. The best organizations understand they're always recruiting their top talent. So instead of checking work progress, dream-centered leaders check on life progress.
Your Align Purposes Challenge
Try these three actions this week:
Discover Personal Dreams: Choose one team member and ask, "If you could design your ideal life three years from now, considering career, relationships, health, and finances, what would that look like?" Listen without immediately connecting responses to work.
Explore Natural Connections: The following week, ask: "As I think about that vision you shared, how might your role here help you develop skills or create opportunities that support those aspirations?"
Create One Alignment: Identify one thing you could adjust about someone's current responsibilities that would better align with where they want to go. Make that change within two weeks.
The Work Positive Bottom Line
The best organizations today connect individual dreams with organizational purpose to create unstoppable motivation.
Stop asking what people can do for you. Start helping them achieve their dreams as they Win @ Work.
What's your question about building effective listening loops in your organization? Ask Dr. Joey here.
Taken from Dr. Joey's newest book, Win @ Work: Maximize Your Culture for Peak Performance.
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