I’m a trained Culture Transformation Practitioner with the Barrett Values Centre and in Richard Barrett’s excellent book ‘The Values-Driven Organisation’, he states that ‘Business is a wholly owned subsidiary of society, and society is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. If the environment fails, our society will fail and our businesses and economies will fail.’ Never truer words have been spoken.
For a while now I’ve been fascinated by what motivates people in business including individual and organisational purpose. This fascination stems from three very different work experiences I have had - the good, the bad and the ugly.
Let’s focus on good for this blog and the example of mine was when I worked at Bupa and experienced a company purpose for the first time. Bupa’s purpose is strong, inspiring and societally BIG – longer, healthier, happier lives. It was also consistently championed and communicated by the CEO and other leaders and there had been (and I’m sure still is) a great effort to integrate it throughout the organisation. It was a huge motivator for all of us who worked there as we knew that our role was meaningful and we felt closely connected to contributing to the greater good.
The creation of new ‘Business for Good’ (BfG) organisations has been noticeable over the last 10 years. The underlying purpose of these organisations is to influence how business is evolving in a way that not only contributes to an improvement in societal well-being, but also enhances business success.
But creating a purpose is one thing, putting it at the centre of the strategy and culture and truly integrating it into every decision a company takes, is quite something else. It is, however, important to do as it can benefit business and society together.
At the moment though, many companies consider purpose as a bolt on to their strategy, however, the most successful companies put it at the core which helps them to redefine their playing field and reshape their value proposition. I read an interesting article in HBR recently based on a global study that Thomas W Malnight of IMD co-authored. The research uncovered a surprising discovery that purpose is one of the key drivers of organisational growth. The article gives examples of companies such as Mars Petcare, Mehindra Finance and Securitas AB, which are using purpose as a driving force of their growth, it’s well worth a read if you have the time.
From a culture perspective, a strong, relevant purpose helps to unify the organisation, motivate and connect colleagues and bring them a sense of meaning and pride which in turn leads to a healthier culture. But it doesn’t stop there, because if you look outside of the business, a higher purpose can enhance a company’s reputation and help to attract and retain customers, suppliers, investors and talent. Companies should particularly pay attention to the latter as every company I’ve worked with recently is worried about its ability to attract and retain the best talent.
From both a retention and recruitment perspective, the UK labour market is as tight and as competitive as it has been for more than 40 years. People have more employment choice today than for generations. Increasingly, we want our employer to make a contribution, make a statement, make a difference. It should demonstrate vision, courage and purpose. Ideally a purpose that its people share. This sense of purpose should act as a north star for its current employees as well as prospective candidates. The good that an employer can and should increasingly do should act as an inspiration for its employees to drive their own personal contributions.
And we know from research that a high proportion of the Millennials in the workplace, feel strongly that business is responsible for making a positive societal difference and a company purpose is key to their decision-making, interestingly their voices are starting to boom on the global stage.
Look at Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who has become a global hero for the environmentally conscious and now Ella Mann who pleaded with the Royal Shakespeare Company to end its BP sponsorship deal, and which it has now done. I was in sport event sponsorship earlier in my career, so I find the latter story particularly fascinating and encouraging.
I’ve recently come across a company called Patagonia (thank you Neil Harrison and do read his ‘Bubbles’ blog, another interesting read). This business is using its purpose to differentiate itself and stand out in the most impressive way anchored by its origins and original reason for being.
A healthy, purpose-led culture integrated into all aspects of the business, connects rather than silos and opens up multiple levels of business possibility. It not only can help to reshape the value proposition, it creates a business of trust and builds a tribe that is loyal to the brand, whether it be a customer, employee, new talent, partner or investor.
Integrating and embedding a culture and brand and consistently looking into the ‘purpose’ or ‘mission’ mirror, takes effort and time though, that’s a fact. Yvon Chouinard, the inspirational founder and owner of Patagonia sums it up well “Living the examined life is a pain in the arse”. However, the impact of a differentiated brand and culture that is truly threaded through a business, is priceless and can reap great rewards.
If you’d like to find out more about how my Culture Capitaliser programme helps companies to build a solid foundation for collective action and then transitions its efforts into aligning, embedding and measuring that desired culture, then do take a look at this part of my website or get in touch - I’d love to hear from you.