The concept of Purpose and its inclusion in the mission, strategy and culture of companies has been gaining a lot of attention in the last three years and Larry Fink's letter (https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/2018-larry-fink-ceo-letter) published in January 2008, titled "Sense of Purpose", exponentially enhanced it.
It is common these days to come across comments and articles around the idea of "Purpose driven companies deliberately make a difference in their communities and maybe even the world" or "A number of studies have shown that purpose driven companies perform well in the market".
In my mind, this "here to stay" trend has its immediate roots on
- the concerns around sustainability, where values and vision play a critical role in the way companies need to operate
- the fact that Gen Z and Millenials (see table below for "definitions") will make up 64%, split evenly between both generations, of the 7.7 billion global population in 2019, based on Bloomberg analysis of UN data
- the growing research concluding that the best talent coming from those generations will gravitate to purpose driven companies
But of course, as anything which implies changing strategies and specially long-lasting cultures, a move to a purpose-driven company can be an enduring and hard-working one. An article from HBR (https://hbr.org/2018/07/creating-a-purpose-driven-organization) describes the key steps moving forward:
1. Envision an inspired workforce
2. Discover the purpose.
3. Recognize the need for authenticity.
4. Turn the authentic message into a constant message.
5. Stimulate individual learning.
6. Turn mid-level managers into purpose-driven leaders.
7. Connect the people to the purpose.
8. Unleash the positive energizers.
Easier said than done...
You will find here an insightful Ted Talk from Alex Edmans "To get to the land of Profit follow the road of Purpose":
