September is one of the most active months in the labour market. With the return from the holidays, new projects getting underway, and pending goals being picked back up, one of the world’s most intensive hiring periods begins, the “September Surge”. It is a moment that prompts us to ask: are we simply looking for a job that offers stability, or a place where our work also has an impact?
Salary, stability, and working conditions remain key ingredients of job satisfaction and decisive factors when choosing one organisation over another. We want our work to provide a decent income, protect us against specific risks, and allow us to carry out our duties with maximum security.
Once these needs are met, our expectations often reach further. Is feeling secure enough? Or are we also looking for a place where we can grow, share what matters to us, and feel that our work serves a purpose? This is where meaning and organisational culture come into play; two factors that carry growing weight when deciding where to work, making all the difference to our professional experience.
In my experience as a careers adviser, this search for meaning features ever more prominently in conversations about the future of work. While stability and security continue to carry significant weight for established professionals, younger generations place greater emphasis on purpose: the connection between what they have studied and what they feel they can contribute to the world. Rather than a purely generational divide, this reflects how our priorities naturally shift and evolve.
In this article:
Plants have the capacity to grow, but they need specific natural conditions to do so properly. Factors like water and temperature are essential for baseline survival, while others—such as light intensity, light quality, and humidity levels—enable them not merely to survive, but to thrive and flower abundantly, healthily, and vigorously. People, much like plants, possess potential that requires the right environment to reach full fruition.
In the professional realm, two people may share similar capabilities and talents yet develop their potential in entirely different ways. The key does not always lie in individual ability, but in what nourishes and directs growth: values and purpose.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs posits that, once survival and safety needs are met, higher priorities related to belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualisation come to the fore. That is why job seekers are increasingly looking beyond salary and basic conditions. They value what lies beyond the material: identifying with core values, finding purpose, and contributing to a shared project.
Feeling that what we do has significance boosts motivation, fosters commitment, and drives greater satisfaction with our work.
Finding meaning in our work allows us to see our professional activity as more than a source of income, transforming it into a way to contribute, grow, and develop. Feeling that what we do has significance boosts motivation, fosters commitment, and drives greater satisfaction with our work.
Values are principles that guide how people think, act, and live. They shape individual choices and determine what someone considers important, what motivates them, and which workplace philosophies resonate with them. Honesty, innovation, and sustainability are prime examples. While values guide how we act, purpose gives meaning to what we do. When the two align, it is easier to feel that our professional life is consistent with what we think, believe, and want to contribute.
Strong roots do not hold us back from growing; they provide the stability required to do so.
Companies define what they want to offer society, which principles guide their decisions, and how they want to do things. Like individuals, organisations have purpose and values. These are reflected in their culture, their working methods, and the relationships they build with their workforce. All this information builds a distinct identity and a culture that gives meaning to the enterprise, framing its understanding of business (and the world).
When personal and organisational values connect, they create an authentic and meaningful relationship. This affinity allows individuals to identify with how work is approached, while helping companies foster a genuine sense of belonging.
We do not need a complete overlap; we simply need fertile ground where we can grow without constantly compromising our worldview. Much like a plant putting down deep roots to sustain its growth, we need a foundation that enables us to develop and achieve a good quality of life without losing sight of who we are. Strong roots do not hold us back from growing; they provide the stability required to do so.
The alignment between our values and those of our organisation influences not only our day-to-day lives, but also how we build our careers. When our working environment feels consistent with what we value, we find a space where we can develop our skills, take on new challenges, and continue learning naturally and authentically.
Person-organisation alignment can make a difference that goes well beyond simply feeling comfortable at work. The Theory of Work Adjustment, developed by Dawis and Lofquist, is based on a straightforward premise: the greater the fit between employees and their roles, the higher their satisfaction tends to be. However, Bretz and Judge broadened that perspective, finding that this alignment extends to the relationship between the professional and the company (Person-Organization Fit, 1994), with direct consequences for work experiences and career trajectories.
In this way, person-organisation alignment influences not only satisfaction and retention, but also engagement with what we do, career growth, and motivation levels. Conversely, a lack of fit can lead to heightened stress and exhaustion, factors that encourage the onset of burnout.
Professional development is not solely about climbing the ladder, taking on extra responsibilities, or securing a particular position. We also want to discover new strengths, gain autonomy, and find fresh ways to deliver value.
We are no longer just looking for a place to work, but a place where we can grow, contribute, and become the kind of professional we aspire to be.
A plant does not merely grow upwards; it grows wherever it finds the conditions to develop. In our careers, progressing also means choosing professional development opportunities that allow us to grow in the direction we want. In this sense, organisations are spaces that enable us to unlock our full potential.
A job opportunity may appeal because of the package on offer, but also because of what we can learn, the people we will work with, or the impact we can make from our role. Perhaps that is one of the keys to understanding how our relationship with work is changing: we are no longer just looking for a place to work, but a place where we can grow, contribute, and become the kind of professional we aspire to be.
Graduated in Pedagogy from the National University of Distance Education (UNED), he has more than five years of experience in advancing professional careers and connecting talent with companies. He currently leads the Professional Development Department (Career Guidance, Training & Employment) at the Official College of Building Engineers and Technical Architects of Madrid.