The quest for meaning at work: myth or reality to be built?

Aug 17, 2025 Aurélie Kouéta Vie Professionnelle
quete de sens au travail
All Metamorphoses, the Blog

An issue that goes beyond salary and status

The relationship with work has profoundly changed. For many employees, compensation and status are no longer enough to justify lasting commitment. The quest for meaning has become a requirement that directly influences recruitment, retention, and employer branding.

The numbers that speak

According to the Deloitte Global Survey (2024), 62% of young workers would choose an employer aligned with their values over better compensation. In France, the Cegos barometer (2023) indicates that 70% of employees state that the meaning of work is their primary source of motivation, ahead of compensation.

The phenomenon is accelerating: a McKinsey (2022) study reveals that nearly 2 out of 3 employees are considering leaving their jobs if they do not find meaning in their tasks. These figures highlight that the quest for meaning is not a passing trend, but a lasting wave.

A universal need, amplified by crises

Work psychologists emphasize that the need for meaning is deeply rooted in intrinsic motivation: feeling useful, contributing to a project greater than oneself, having coherence between personal values and company values. The COVID-19 pandemic, followed by waves of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, has acted as a revealer: many have reevaluated their relationship with work and now reject the "emptiness of meaning."

This questioning is particularly pronounced among younger generations, but it also affects experienced executives seeking coherence or career change. It is therefore not a generational whim, but a global movement that redefines the relationship with work.

When meaning is lacking: the shockwave of departures

Since the pandemic, many employees have made the radical choice to leave their jobs to reinvent themselves. This phenomenon, sometimes dubbed "the great resignation" or compared to the dream of becoming shepherd in Larzac, reflects a desire to break away from environments deemed devoid of meaning.

In France, according to Dares (2022), nearly 520,000 resignations were recorded in the first quarter of 2022 — a historically high level. For its part, the think tank Institut Sapiens estimates that nearly 1 in 5 workers has considered a career change towards jobs perceived as more meaningful, often related to nature, craftsmanship, or human support.

While not everyone takes the plunge, this trend illustrates the depth of the current quest: meaning sometimes takes precedence over security or compensation, and companies must take this into account if they want to sustainably retain their teams.

Quest for meaning and collective dynamics

The quest for meaning is not only individual. It also impacts collective dynamics: a team motivated by shared values is more engaged, more creative, and more resilient. Conversely, the absence of meaning leads to disengagement, turnover, and a deteriorating social climate. According to Gallup (2023), disengagement related to lack of meaning costs over $7.8 trillion per year to the global economy.

This observation explains why the question of meaning has become a HR and strategic priority. It affects the definition of missions, managerial communication, and the way to support professional trajectories.

The challenges for companies

Meeting this demand for meaning poses several concrete challenges for organizations:

🔵Alignment between discourse and reality: employees quickly detect the gap between stated values and actual practices.

🔵Clarity of missions: an employee needs to understand how their role contributes to the overall collective project.

🔵Spaces for dialogue: providing places where everyone can express their aspirations and co-construct their path.

🔵Managerial adaptation: training managers to give meaning to daily activities through feedback, recognition, and transparency.

My support: transforming the quest for meaning into a lever for well-being at work

I support professionals and companies in going beyond discourse to embody the quest for meaning in daily life. Specifically, this involves:

🔵Skills assessments to help employees clarify their aspirations, identify their resources, and align their trajectory with their values;

🔵PNL sessions to work on motivation, strengthen confidence, and transform doubt into constructive energy;

🔵Collective workshops to bring forth a shared vision, strengthen cohesion, and connect daily missions to a common project;

🔵An internal communication strategy to ensure coherence between stated values and lived practices.

These approaches allow for transforming an individual requirement into a collective and strategic asset for the company.

Towards meaningful work

The quest for meaning is neither a myth nor a luxury, but a condition for well-being and sustainable engagement. Organizations that can respond to it will attract and retain talent while cultivating a culture of trust, performance, and loyalty.

The meaning at work is not decreed: it is built at the intersection of individual aspirations and collective ambitions. And what if your organization made this lever a true engine of growth?

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Frida Kahlo : créer pour donner couleur et matière à l’indicible
  • Aurélie Kouéta
  • art-therapie
  • 0
Frida Kahlo : créer pour donner couleur et matière à l’indicible
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Danse-thérapie : quand bouger aide à libérer les émotions
  • Aurélie Kouéta
  • danse thérapie
  • 0
Dance therapy: when moving helps to release emotions
Dance therapy is not a classical dance class nor an artistic performance. It is a space for expression where movement becomes a language, a tool to release emotions, regain energy, and restore a deep connection with oneself. What is dance therapy? Dance therapy is based on a simple idea: the body retains memories of our experiences, our joys as well as our wounds. When words are lacking or seem insufficient, movement allows for another avenue of expression. It is not about learning steps, but about letting a spontaneous gesture emerge, adapted to each person, that reflects the inner state. This practice is used in many contexts: psychological support, personal development, stress management, but also in the search for creativity and vitality in daily life. How does it work in practice? A dance therapy session takes place in a supportive environment, either individually or in a group. It may include: 🔵A time for exchange to open the session, allowing feelings to be welcomed before giving way to movement. 🔵Gentle warm-ups to awaken the body and become aware of sensations; 🔵Free movement exercises, guided by music or silence, to express the emotions of the moment; 🔵Body games like mirroring (reflecting a partner's gestures) to strengthen the feeling of being recognized and connected; 🔵A time for integration where participants can share their feelings verbally or simply remain in silence. Each session is unique, as it adapts to the needs and experiences of those participating. Why movement helps to release emotions Research in neuroscience shows that movement acts directly on the nervous system. Moving allows to: 🔵Release physical tensions accumulated from stress; 🔵Stimulate well-being hormones like endorphins and dopamine, promoting natural calming; 🔵Give form to emotions (anger, sadness, joy, fear) in a symbolic and safe way; 🔵Strengthen the feeling of presence: returning to "the here and now" through the body rather than remaining trapped in the mind. According to the American Dance Therapy Association, this approach promotes both emotional health and physical vitality. The benefits of regular practice Dance therapy is accessible to everyone, regardless of age or physical condition. Its benefits, observed in many practices, include: 🔵A better emotional balance through body expression; 🔵A reduction of stress and anxiety through the release of tensions; 🔵A greater self-confidence, as the body becomes an ally rather than a constraint; 🔵A strengthening of social bonds in collective practices, thanks to sharing and mutual listening. My support: offering a liberating movement space I support individuals and groups who wish to explore dance therapy as a path to liberation and calming. Specifically, my sessions offer: 🔵A time for exchange and meditation, to set intentions, share one's current state, and establish a safe framework. 🔵Guided free movements to allow the body to express what sometimes cannot be said; 🔵Simple body rituals to regain grounding, energy, and serenity in daily life; 🔵Supportive exchange spaces to integrate bodily experiences and make them a lasting resource. Move to regain balance Dance therapy requires neither technique nor performance. It simply invites you to listen to your body, follow your rhythm, and let movement open new paths. Accessible to all, it reminds us of a truth too often forgotten: sometimes, to feel better, all it takes is to start moving. What if your next step became a gateway to more inner freedom?
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transition professionnelle
  • Aurélie Kouéta
  • Vie Professionnelle
  • 0
Ovid's Metamorphoses put to the test of 21st-century professional life
Nearly two thousand years ago, Ovid recounted in The Metamorphoses how gods, heroes, and humans underwent radical transformations: Daphne became a laurel tree, Narcissus changed into a flower, Arachne into a spider. Tales of loss and rebirth, of identity unraveling only to be reinvented. Even today, these stories resonate in our professional lives. A reorganization, a career change, or the arrival of artificial intelligence are nothing less than metamorphoses: sometimes brutal passages that shake up our bearings but also open the way to new definitions of ourselves.
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All Metamorphoses, the Blog