Don’t Wait For Job Happiness, Become A Purple Sheep Now.

Herd Mentality.
Now more than ever, the pressure to do well in school and succeed in our career is on, and Gen Y has felt that pressure like no other generation before (think Tiger Mother). Many of our friends and former classmates went into high profile corporate jobs because it’s what they thought was expected of them, following the herd to a professional career (aka the corporate sheep). But many are starting to feel that the herd mentality has led them astray. Despite ‘having it all’ (high salary, corporate perks, etc), there is something missing: job happiness.

Everyone is on the search for the secret to happiness. Books have been written, research has been conducted and movies have been made all to find out how to be happy. We’ve discovered, at least in the career sense, that the secret to job happiness is passion.

The Purple Sheep.
Since we started interviewing professionals in meaningful jobs we’ve met MBAs, lawyers, social entrepreneurs who are all using their skills for good. A common trait among all of them is their passion for their job and company (read: high level of engagement among employees who have jobs with purpose). We call them the Purple Sheeps, the corporate dreamer who broke away from the herd to use their skills for good.

Insight Backed by Evidence.
– 79% of millenials want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts or  contributes to society (Cone, in the Millenial Cause Study).

– 69% of millenials feel that their company’s social and /or environmental activities make them feel proud to work there (Cone, in the Millenial Cause Study).

–  80% of employees consider themselves satisfied with their jobs, showing that people who are working with social purpose get satisfaction beyond their salary (CR and Sustainability Salary Survey 2012 Report).

A Hewitt and Associates study looked at over 200 workplaces with more than 100,000 employees and found that employees are more engaged when the company pursues activities focusing on social and environmental activities.

The Secret.
So, the secret to job happiness is passion… for what you’re doing every day and/or for the mission of your company. John Lennon once said “when I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Don’t wait to be happy, join the Purple Sheep and be meaningful. What are you waiting for?