More than 25 years of my career has been as an Army physician and putting profit over people is counter to the “mission first” world I grew up in. The minority of people who have served in the Armed Forces learn from the first day of Basic Training that we must do everything in our power to reach the objective. Mission failure is unacceptable.

Obviously, we are a part of an economy that depends on the exchange of goods and services while simultaneously expecting many things for free. My perspective despite this reality come from teaching Sunday School to second graders; the last time was in 2010. I was given course material and prepared each week for sixty to ninety minutes of crafts and conversations from young minds sometimes looking to learn. Each time I stepped into the room I was not being paid, I was not being recognized or compensated. Like the other volunteers, I saw the mission of teaching children as something I could and should do. Having taught hundreds of Sunday School lessons to children as part of a bigger mission reflected no regard for a margin.

A “margin first” view is easier to sell because of our inherent aversion to loss (Daniel Kahneman explains loss aversion). It is also rooted in a scarcity mindset believing that all resources are limited while ignoring the spectacular accomplishments achieved by people with limited capital and extraordinary purpose like two impactful organizations MEASURE  a data driven, community led non-profit and Black Speakers Collection a resource site to find Black speakers. Passion and purpose are obviously not enough knowing that the failure rate of small businesses according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics is about 45% in five years but during the “Great Resignation” we are acknowledging that passion and purpose mean more.

The formula to success is not an equation. Instead of a static scale with weights placed reflecting priorities and resources, the better image to represent the interaction of mission and margin is of juggling. When finding new employees is now a challenge because of errors in leadership like firing people on a video call, money may not be enough to attract new talent. When employees are seen as resources and not essential components of success, retention and productivity is compromised.

Instead of “tips” to better juggle mission and margin consider these three questions:

Every organization measures productivity through sales, contracts, or units produced. Organizations are also starting to routinely measure climate and engagement through surveys and focus groups. Gathering useful data is difficult knowing that employee engagement affects productivity but people can also be engaged and not productive. An example of a useful metric is to identify employee volunteerism on committees, social activities or company sponsored charity events measured against their productivity benchmarks. The correlation may be enlightening.

Most people can easily describe their job and where the fit in the organization. The well worded mission and vision statement is often unknown to most employees in larger organizations. The sign in the break-room or the plaque over the door is not a substitute for regular conversations about everyone’s role in fulfilling the mission.

Not everyone is comfortable on screen but that is not the intent of the question. A culture where employees are the best recruiters represents a growing organization.