Relational job design is constructing jobs so employees see the positive difference they can make for others. One way to make jobs more prosocially motivating is to connect employees more closely with the beneficiaries of their work by relating stories from customers who have found the company’s products or services to be helpful. For example, the medical device manufacturer Medtronic invites people to describe how its products have improved, or even saved, their lives and shares these stories with employees during annual meetings.

For another example, researchers found that when university fundraisers briefly interacted with the undergraduates who would receive the scholarship money they raised, they raised nearly twice as much money. Relational job design is an especially salient topic for organizations with CSR initiatives.