Purpose of Purpose

What is your bigger game? What are you here for? What is your contribution to society and the world? These are important questions to answer as individuals, team members and organizations to gain clarity on their purpose.

For the past 17 years, I have worked with individuals, teams, functions, offices and organizations in the U.S., Europe and Asia to identify their purpose. It has been rewarding and fulfilling work to be on this journey with them and to see the impact it can have when their purpose is clear, authentic, inspiring and brought to life. In this post, I will focus on an organization’s purpose and why it is important.

Purpose Defined

When we talk about an organization’s purpose, what is it exactly? It’s not about what it does or how it does it now. It’s not about what it produces and sells or the services it creates for their clients or consumers. It’s not about the what or the how.

At the most fundamental level, it is the aspirational reason of why it exists. It’s the bigger game and playing field the organization is choosing to play in that is higher serving than just delivering on their numbers and merely serving the internal needs to survive and thrive. It’s grounded in humanity and serving society as a whole; it is much greater than just serving their employees, investors or share holders. Their purpose also inspires a call to action for all who works there, partners and engages with them and buys their products or services.

To sum up, purpose should embody the organization’s aspirational role in the broader economic, societal, or possibly environmental context well into the distant future. A clear purpose goes beyond products or services and instead describes what impact or change the company can make in the largest context possible.

Why Purpose is Needed

When an organization has a clear purpose and has authentically embedded it in its culture, strategy and daily operations, it can have a positive impact on both their people and business. In a global study of nearly 500 executives, well over 80% believe a strong sense of purpose drives employee satisfaction and affects an organization’s ability to transform. EY and Harvard Business Review co-authored a research project which revealed that 58% of companies that are truly purpose-driven reported 10% growth or more over a three year period. 42% of companies that don’t have a fully-embedded purpose reported a lack or even decline of growth in that same period.

There has been a great deal of research that has been done that has looked into the positive impact a purpose-driven organization can have on a variety of aspects of their business. I’ll just focus on the following three.

Recruitment

The war on talent is real and job seekers are more and more looking beyond titles, salaries and career advancement opportunities. They are also looking into the purpose of organizations and what they are doing to impact society. This is even more true for Millennials. They want to know the higher goal of companies and find a connection with their own values and passions to make a bigger difference in the world.

A research project by Rutgers University in the U.S. showed that two-thirds of students prioritize the potential to positively contribute to society and make the world a better place when searching for a new employer. Companies can no longer rely on the strength of their brand to attract strong candidates. They need to authentically show that they are purpose-driven.

Pride & Engagement

Employees will have more pride in their organization when they see the great work that it is doing in the world. They will become brand promoters and share their love with their family, friends, customers and their greater network. They will feel more engaged and fulfilled. EY’s study found that 72% of employees say that when their company authentically lives its purpose, it gives them a sense of fulfillment.

There were multiple times when I worked at Nike and had challenging days or sat through frustrating meetings. When I reminded myself that the work wasn’t just about selling more shoes or T-shirts and that the small part that I was playing was enabling the company to be more impactful in serving its purpose and making a difference to millions of others, it made it all worthwhile and drove me to want to do more for the company and the people I worked with to make a bigger contribution to that cause.

Productivity

Research by Bain & Company concluded that if a satisfied employee’s productivity level is 100%, an engaged employee’s level is 144%. The productivity level of an employee that is truly inspired by the purpose of their employer was shown to be a staggering 225%. Employees will bring more of their energy, passion, and effort to be successful because they want their organization to achieve its purpose and have a greater impact on society.

It’s Not A Given

Just because an organization has defined its purpose, it doesn’t automatically lead to these positive results. In the following series of posts on this topic of purpose, I will explore what needs to happen to best create a purpose statement, launch it and the steps that need to be taken by leaders and employees to authentically embed their purpose into their culture, processes, policies, and operations to ensure that these benefits can be achieved. Stay tuned!

Originally published at https://remix.coach on May 26, 2020.