Inspiring your people with purpose
Gary Swale, Chief Engagement Officer at Project Lighthouse & Inspirze Ltd
Consumer and employee conscience has shifted, more than ever before they are questioning the ethics and values of the companies they buy off. Your might hear or read on social media that your customers are demanding to know what your purpose is or what you are doing about sustainability. You will have queries on your policies about diversity and inclusion and what you are doing to improve the surrounding community. All these questions they will ask and more, simply to find out if you are a good company before they do business with you.
How do your employees respond when asked these questions? Do they know the answers, not just for the customer but themselves? And what are you doing about it? I’m here to help if you’d like to discuss these issues and how to approach implementing a solution.
There is a seismic movement towards organisations adopting a more purpose-driven, ethical approach. It is no longer good enough to say and do the right things – organisations must be good, with business and delivery models that make them, their communities and society better. Key to this is a common understanding of that purpose, brand and values by all stakeholders, both internal and external to the organisation.
The immediate challenge manifests itself in the “purpose gap” – a growing distance between how executives and employees feel purpose is being put into practice. Employees are increasingly differentiating employers based on their purpose and how that purpose is ingrained into the underlying value system and ethos. This nice-to-have has suddenly become a must-have business imperative in today’s post-COVID-19 world.
So what are the thought-leaders saying – with links:
- Forbes states that globally, 94% of consumers said it is important that the companies they engage with have a strong Purpose
- According to McKinsey, only 7% of Fortune 500 CEO’s believe their companies should focus on making profits and not be distracted by social goals. Further, that purpose should be systemic and rational, but also emotional – 70% of employees are now reflecting on their purpose because of COVID-19
- Accenture reports that 63% of consumers prefer to buy goods and services from companies that stand for a shared purpose.
- Deloitte found that purpose-driven companies had a 50% higher employee retention than competitors.
- However, Gallup says that only 27% employees strongly agree that their organisations always deliver on the promise it makes to customers, and only 4 in 10 employees strongly agree that the mission and purpose of their organisations makes them feel that their job is important.
- Per the recent US Chamber of Commerce article A ‘Higher Purpose’ Boosts Employee Happiness, Retention and Profits, “employees at companies with a statement of higher purpose are happier, prouder of their company and have greater trust in its leaders, new research reveals, and small businesses are best positioned to leverage the concept.”
This is a business imperative, from Engineers and Tradesmen in the Advanced Manufacturing sector – particularly Aerospace, Automotive, and Oil & Gas in the North West and North Wales – to Clinicians in the Health sector. With a focus on talent attraction, development and retention in what needs to be an increasingly-diverse workforce, a systematic approach is needed to connect your entire workforce to the organisation’s purpose, ensuring alignment and an improved, shared understanding.
The purpose needs to explicitly support both ESG and EDI perspectives – perhaps a Sustainability message via Decarbonisation, the move to Hydrogen, NetZero and Digital Transformation, and an EDI perspective via an increasingly inclusive and diverse workforce.
And here’s some collateral and guidance to support your Purpose Proposal to your Board:
- From MITSloan Management Review – “How to Evaluate the Impact of Corporate Purpose”
- Based on research studies, Inc.com the Purpose Power Index addresses “Solving the ‘Purpose Gap’ between Executives and Workers”
- And from Berkshire Hathaway’s Businesswire – “Company Purpose and Values Are Direct Drivers of Employee Productivity – Putting Purpose into Practice.”
And the go-to reference? Without
I can be found at The Innovation Centre, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Keckwick Lane, Daresbury, Cheshire WA4 4FS. I’d love to connect and explore the art of the possible over a cup of coffee – please contact me by DM on LinkedIn, message / call me on my mobile +44 75788 62525, or email gary.swale@inspirze.com
