Benefex, a vendor interested in the business benefits of improving the employee experience, recently hosted a roundtable to discuss the mechanics of becoming a ‘purposeful organisation’.
Gethin Nadin, Director at Benefex, chaired the debate, noting that on today’s business landscape there are some very public examples of brands making efforts to align themselves with purpose and ethos – and, thus, appearing purposeful in both their actions and being.
Nike signing up Colin Kaepernick for a recent advertising campaign and Starbucks stating they would hire 10,000 refugees to frustrate Trump’s travel ban are just two examples of this.
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“Consumers want their values to align with those of the brand they’re buying from or into,” Nadin added. Firm’s being obvious about what they stand for is a logical ploy to try and attract business.
Yet, where do employees come into this? “What we’re seeing,” Nadin explained, “is that changes to the consumer brand are starting to impact the employer brand too. People are starting to gravitate towards employers who align with their personal and political values.”
This starting point sparked a lively discussion. A room full of senior HR Directors voiced their opinions, hopes, and concerns on what being an employer driven by purpose would mean for the organisation – as well as the role of HR.
If the business you work in is currently going through an employer re-branding, thinking about sprucing up its values, or interested in the benefits of having a purpose, please read on to see what the senior HR leaders thought.
HR Grapevine has collated some of the best insights below:
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Having a purpose or value set that drives the business shouldn’t just be communicated to younger employees. Whilst millennials might be more obviously vocal about their desire to work for an organisation with purpose, they’re not the only demographic who wishes this.
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If you are claiming to consumers that your business has a purpose outside of being profitable – it needs to match up with the experience you create for employees at work.
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There is likely to be a purpose behind all business decisions: is communication of your company purpose a weak point rather than your business lacking purpose?
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Is the employee voice now stronger? Google employees recently forced the company to stop working with the Pentagon over AI defence projects. Is this possible across all firms, or, was this only possible because the employee base at Google were all likely to have similar ethics and personal value sets?
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How can you bring employees on a purpose-change journey – especially if it is changing from what the company has stood for historically?
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Should you use ‘purpose champions’ – people who preach and explain the benefits of these values to other employees – if you are changing tack?
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Even if you are changing to have an over-riding business purpose or a purpose that is now public to employees, you can’t force employees to undertake unreasonable actions that impact their own beliefs and values.
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If you only recruit people who have one value-set, in many ways you’re actively discriminating against others and creating a monoculture.
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Be open and transparent about changes you’re going through – even if they seem abstract.
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Live your purpose – social media and employee review sites might make life difficult for you if you do not
Facts about business purpose
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Almost eight in 10 business leaders believe that having a purpose is a commercial benefit to the organisation – PwC
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Millennials that feel they have a strong connection to the business are 5.3 times more likely to stay PwC
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Conversely, only one-third of employees draw real meaning from their employer’s purpose – Gallup
