In the current post pandemic world, with so much uncertainty and political tensions around the world, it may be tempting to dismiss purpose as a “soft” concern. However, Rama quotes that “Far from being less important than financial goals, purpose can strengthen the balance sheet by improving employee, customer, and investor satisfaction, which in turn contribute to better performance and greater societal impact”.
In this article, Rama Ramaswami explains why leaders should take the time to reflect on their organisation’s purpose and explore how to strengthen it.
Here are the top takes:
a) Understanding employees’ individual purpose and how that could fuel the organisations’ purpose and vice versa can help leaders improve employee health, motivation and performance. There are 9 types of individual purpose and beliefs that people find meaningful.
b) 82% of employees feel that organisational purpose is important, however only half of them believe that their companies purpose statements have much impact. Leaders need to authentically embed purpose into their organisation’s core.
c) The 5Ps framework (portfolio strategy and products; people and culture; processes and systems; performance metrics; and positions and engagement) can help companies embed purpose in a systematic, holistic way.
d) Purpose-driven companies can have a tangible effect on society. The author shares the example of a mobile money service provider M-Pesa Africa whose purpose is to reinvent financial services in Africa.
e) Your company’s reputation can plummet if its purpose comes across as ethically questionable or just a marketing gimmick. A common mistake among many organizations is a failure to measure purpose-related efforts with the same seriousness given to metrics such as revenue.
