Is task significance a key driver for performance?

Can someone be motivated at work when having a job with no social relevancy, invisible for colleagues, relatives and friends ?

Professor Adam M. Grant performed an investigation described in the paper “The Significance of Task Significance”, where he tested the following Hypothesis:

1-      Task significance increases job performance

2-      Increases in perceived social impact mediate the effects of task significance on job performance

3-      Increases in perceived social worth mediate the effect of task significance on job performance

4-      Conscientiousness moderate the effect of task significance on job performance, such that the lower conscientiousness is, the greater is the effect of task significance on job performance

5-      Prosocial values moderate the effect of task significance on job performance, such that the stronger the prosocial values are, the greater is the effect of task significance on job performance

This requires some definitions to avoid misunderstandings:

a-      Task significance: Subjective judgement that is socially constructed in interpersonal interactions, but also an objective characteristic of the job itself, sharing both theoretical perspectives that once the perceptions of task significance are cultivated, employees are more likely to perform effectively

b-      Perceived social impact describes how the employees feel that their own actions improve the welfare of others

c-       Conscientiousness describes the degree to which individuals tend to be disciplined, dependable, organized, goal oriented, and persistent

d-      Prosocial values describes the extent to which individuals regard protecting and promoting the welfare of others as important guiding principles in life

The investigation concludes that there is a causal effect of task significance on job performance.

Possible actions:

-          Cross departamental meetings where each one can understand the importance of her/his  tasks for the performance of the next step in a process.

-          Make possible that all the employees can have a global vision of the processes in which they participate.

-          Meetings with external partners where the employees can assess and understand  the relevancy of their job.

-          Listen, as done in the experiment, from the individuals receiving the benefit , what is their perception