When I launched my company in the mid-aughts, the most common career advice for millennials was to chase your passion. Back then, millennials were the youngest generation of employees. In those days, the onus was on millennials to find their calling. If their job wasn’t fulfilling, then millennials were tasked with figuring out either how to make it better or jump ship. By framing passion as a pursuit that individuals were responsible for, the workplace and the status quo didn’t really change—at least not yet.

Today, employees are still seeking more fulfilling careers. In fact, Gen Z may value fulfillment more than every other generation. One Deloitte report found that if given the choice between a better-paying, boring job and a less-well compensated but interesting role, Gen Z was evenly split over the choice. Older generations were less motivated by fulfillment and were more likely to spring for the cash. With millennials and Gen Z slowly becoming the largest sector of the workforce, I firmly believe it is up to leaders to create fulfilling jobs. Leaders that don’t will lose out on top talent.

The job of a leader is to wear many hats. One of these hats includes ensuring that each role at your company is fulfilling. This may be challenging, but the effort is well worth it. Happy and engaged employees don’t just make you feel good as a leader, they also perform better and help your company to thrive in a tough economic climate. Here are some strategies leaders can employ to ensure that employees feel fulfilled.

MATCH EMPLOYEE PASSIONS WITH SIMILAR PROJECTS

In a perfect world, we would all have jobs that aligned with our passions. Unfortunately, this is far from the case. A second Deloitte report found that 87.7% of America’s workforce “is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work.” As Deloitte points out, passionate employees are committed to continuous improvement of their performance. When employees are passionate about their work, everyone benefits.

Leaders should strive to match employees with projects that tap into their passions. However, it can be difficult to discern where employees’ interests lie.

For starters, leaders can make a deliberate effort to engage with employees and ask about their interests. I personally try to ask a couple of questions about what employees are working on and how they’re enjoying it. And I try to create a candid environment by demonstrating the same vulnerability—sharing what’s new with me and what I’m enjoying.

Executive coach Amy Jen Su recommends that leaders ask questions like: “What are you excited about for this upcoming project or initiative?” And “What are the types of things you’d like to get more experience in next year?”

Encouraging employees to work on projects that match their interests, even if they fall outside of their precise job description, is an easy way to cultivate more passion in the workplace.

EMPOWER EMPLOYEES TO DEVELOP THEIR SKILL SETS

One of the main attributes of passionate employees is that they are continually growing and learning. In order to learn, a person can’t clock in and perform the same task every day. They have to face new challenges, work in different domains, and take on increased responsibilities.

At my organization, we’ve developed a few different strategies for keeping employees on their toes. First, we organize employees into cross-functional teams. These independent micro-companies are tasked with overseeing projects from start to finish, and coming up with their own protocols and solutions. With cross-functional teams, employees work closely with colleagues across various departments and are exposed to different disciplines and skill sets. They learn from each other while pursuing a common goal. If an employee discovers a newfound passion in an adjacent role, they’re welcome to pursue more opportunities in that area.

We also try to build an environment where experimentation thrives and failure isn’t a dirty word. Of course, we don’t encourage sloppy work, but we want our employees to feel emboldened to take some risks. Our weekly demo days give teams free rein to explore their wildest ideas and share with the company their most innovative solutions. Sometimes those ideas lead to nothing. Sometimes they’re the seed of a new product launch. Either way, demo days serve as an important exercise in taking risks in a safe environment.

I also delegate and encourage our employees to do the same. I openly talk (and write) about delegating and why it’s good practice. My rule of thumb: employees should know that if they ever have to leave work for a week or longer, they have a system in place and colleagues they trust to handle their responsibilities. On the other side of the coin, entrusting junior employees with more responsibilities is the fastest way for them to develop new skills.

ESTABLISH A CULTURE THAT MAKES EMPLOYEES FEEL INDISPENSABLE

With a million-and-one things to handle on any given day, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the minutiae and lose track of our organization’s overarching purpose. But when teams are able to engage in more big-picture thinking and are mindful of how our daily work contributes to the larger mission, we feel more inspired and motivated and have a greater sense of fulfillment.

If employees are responsible for implementing a company’s mission, leaders are tasked with articulating and communicating it. There are many ways to do that. At my organization, we publish stories about our company and its mission on a daily basis. During company-wide meetings where we review new projects, I encourage team leaders to connect each project with the larger mission. These relatively minor efforts add up to make employees feel like an indispensable part of the business.

It’s not realistic for everyone to enjoy every moment of their job. We will always have those tedious but essential tasks. But as leaders, we can build the infrastructure and company culture to ensure that employees feel fulfilled in their roles. Identifying and nurturing employee passions should be part of an ongoing conversation and everyday mission for leaders.