Organisational Purpose: What got us here? And what will get us there?

Inspired by Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” and Salim Ismail’s idea of the ‘Massive Transformational Purpose” (from his book, exponential Organisations), organisations, quite rightly, understood that they needed something greater than the endeavour of making money to align consumers and employee’s behind. There is also a realization that consumers are now making decisions on companies based on their perceived purpose and their ability to fulfil it. Accenture research shows that 52% of consumers choose brands that align with their personal values. The challenge is, many leaders and organisations forgot what the purpose of ‘purpose’ actually is.

What is the purpose of 'purpose'? 

Your purpose is your reason for being, your brand essence, the guiding light behind your strategy and every decision made in your organisation. It is not a marketing slogan (although some companies successfully use their purpose statement as one, such as Sweaty Betty “Empower all women through fitness and beyond.”) And it isn’t just a HR initiative. Every function in the business should have a vested interest in correctly articulating that organisational ‘why’.

- For leaders: It leads strategic and financial decisions and guides how resources are allocated and systems created

- For employees: It helps attract, engage and retain talent. Employees, like consumers, are increasingly considering a companies purpose when making job decisions

- For customers: Yes, if you get it right and the purpose is authentic, it is a powerful marketing and sales message.

- For the community: It should drive governance and sustainability. This in turn should improve ESG performance. Don't underestimate how the outside world pays attention to this now.

How can leaders meaningfully address their organisations purpose? 

There are two questions to consider: 

1: Does your organisation have a purpose? If so, is it the right one? 

It’s easy to assume that all organisation’s have a purpose statement, but that isn’t so. Mars (of the bars) existed quite successfully for over 100 years without one, only introducing a purpose statement “The world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.” in 2019. Not all purpose statement are born equal.. Having the wrong purpose can be as damaging as having the right purpose is beneficial. In looking to articulate a killer purpose statement, some organisations have stretched themselves, creating grand statements about their contribution to the world. This then seems clumsy and showy at best… inauthentic and disingenuous at worst; this disengages consumers and employees alike. For example, in 2014 Mars launched a new (short lived) purpose statement “the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company”. ...They make 75% of their money from selling chocolate.

2: Do your people know or care about it? 

You’ve spent all that time (and probably a bit of cash) articulating purpose, what next? It looks great on paper. You have a nice slide deck, it’s on the website and everyone’s email signature, you even hired a sign writer to paint your purpose behind reception and the comms team produced goodie bags for a desk drop. But despite all of this, when it came to the employee engagement survey, nobody mentioned it; not a dickie bird! For good or bad. You have two questions to ask at this point: Do people know about your purpose? And if they do, do they care? Purpose is something that needs to be talked about (and lived, but well come to that in a minute), constantly. It’s not one and done.

The three types of purpose statements: 

Cause: How do you aspire to do good for society and the planet.  Cause-led purpose statements get the attention; all the plaudits when they get it right and all the kickings when it goes wrong. 

Competence: What your company does and is good at. These purpose statements are often overlooked, but when done well they are just as compelling, engaging and motivational as ‘cause’ and ‘culture’ led. They create a clarity and honesty in the value proposition that can be easier for both consumers and employees alike to align with.

Culture: How you intend to run your business. These purpose statements are less about what you produce or the service you provide and focus more on the ‘how’. These statements can create a powerful community and connection internally as well as an aspiration externally to want to be associated with that culture.

The purpose game has changed, and organisational culture is now regularly newsworthy. It is vital that if an organisation is going to have a purpose, it must count and it must mean something, otherwise it’s just another meaningless piece of copy to be buried on the internet. 

"Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction." John F. Kennedy 

Here at t-three, we have a suite of cultural tools that can help you articulate or evolve your purpose so that ignites passion in your people and powers your performance. We do this by:

Understanding: Doing a deep data dive to understand the impact of your current purpose across leadership, employees, performance, productivity and consumer

Co-creation: Strategic, creative workshops with execs and senior leaders to turn this data, your business model and objectives into a clear powerful, purpose statement.

Communication: Creating a clear compelling launch and communications strategy, to maximise traction and impact with all stakeholders.