There are several reports that show purpose drives business performance, and motivates and inspires employees (although we would always caveat that by saying it’s one of many factors that engage your people).
But there’s an uncomfortable truth.
Our findings show purpose is a motivator for senior leaders—and that’s not surprising given the central role they play in defining it—but it is not trickling down to the rest of the organization. CEOs believe only 43% of middle managers and 24% of front-line teams have fully embraced their company’s purpose.
Engaging front-line employees is critical—they’re closest to your clients and the driving force behind your business. Purpose is a strategic tool that can be used to motivate, inspire, and drive action.
So why isn’t it being properly utilized in businesses? Often, organizations don’t know what to do with a purpose once it’s defined. It’s not a brand line that appears on marketing content, nor an employer value proposition (EVP) that shapes content on your careers site.
of CEOs believe middle managers have embraced purpose
Our findings show purpose is a motivator for senior leaders—but it is not trickling down to the rest of the organization.
There’s also often not a clear owner and without that, it can fall between the cracks. Which raises an interesting point in itself—who owns purpose? Our view is that it should be everyone in the business, including employees. If employees feel like they have ownership over the company’s purpose, it will be more meaningful to them and be used as a lens through which they shape their decisions.
Though this takes time and effort to achieve, it’s worth it. We’ve seen first-hand the impact purpose can have on mobilizing your people, raising engagement and, ultimately, powering performance.
Defining purpose: the foundation for engagement
It sounds obvious but a good purpose starts with a statement that is rooted in what your business does, while answering what role you play in solving a bigger challenge. A well-articulated purpose inspires employees by helping them see how their business is contributing to a greater cause. However, finding the balance is critical. A purpose that is too broad means employees may struggle to see how it relates to their specific responsibilities.
Take a recent program of work we delivered for Statkraft, a renewable energy company. Originally,
their purpose was defined as “Providing pure energy”. We worked with the leadership team to shift their purpose from “what” they did to “why” they did it: “We exist to renew the way the world is powered”. The word renew was intentionally chosen to create a direct connection to what the business contributes to the world. Aligned to a new business strategy and set of values, the impact was immediate, with employees expressing pride and ownership in the new purpose. The new purpose was also an integral part of messaging to external talent.
Getting your purpose right takes time and precision. But it’s worth the effort.
How to cascade purpose from leadership to front-line teams
Once a business has a compelling purpose statement, you must cascade it so that it permeates every level of the organization. This requires a deliberate and thoughtful process of communication and engagement, starting with leadership.
In our experience, the most effective way to build understanding is to get people talking about it. While there needs to be some “broadcast” communications to drive awareness, the real value comes in giving teams and individuals the tools, and the time, to have a conversation that is relevant and meaningful to them.
This takes planning and effort, which is why we have developed tools for leaders to drive focused conversation with their teams. This manifests itself in different ways: From action-planning sessions to structured conversation guides that enable teams to think about your purpose in terms of how you work together, the service you deliver to clients and, critically, how it connects it to your strategy, brand, and values—so you’re telling one joined-up story.
of CEOs believe front-line teams have embraced purpose
A well-articulated purpose inspires employees by helping them see how their business is contributing to a greater cause.
In a recent program, we ran "Follow the Sun" global workshops with employees that started in Sydney and ended in South America. Each workshop lasted two hours and involved interactive tasks and the opportunity for people to discuss purpose and what it meant to them. Critically, we also asked them to think about how they could use purpose to shape how they worked with each other and clients. Post session, 95% of people were clear about how they could integrate purpose into their day-to-day actions.
U|sing purpose to solve business challenges
Purpose builds unity and provides direction. It enables you to solve challenges that you’re facing in your business right now. The challenges we tackle with clients are sector and industry agnostic. How do we create a business where it’s easier to get things done? How do we overcome potential resistance to implement new ways of working? Purpose can often feel very theoretical. Here is how to use purpose as a lever (alongside other tools) to deliver better business outcomes:
Partnering with AstraZeneca for over ten years across several cultural programs,
purpose serves as the unifying thread—driving productivity and efficiency throughout the business. Here are two ways:
1. MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES TO SIMPLIFY THE BUSINESS
AstraZeneca wanted to make it easier for their employees to get work done, stripping out
complexity and red tape. Historically, efforts by the business to make this a reality had focused on what simplification was, not why it mattered.
AstraZeneca’s success is built on a clearly articulated purpose: "We push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines". Connecting AstraZeneca’s purpose to its simplification strategy created momentum and urgency among employees to work together to remove the red tape. Employees across the business were challenged to save one million hours and refocus these on what really mattered: Improving patients’ lives. The challenge inspired people and over 700 projects were initiated. Expectations were exceeded, with two million hours unlocked that could be refocused on what really mattered.
2. IMPLEMENTING A NEW WAY OF WORKING
Embedding a LEAN mindset among manufacturing and operations employees was critical in driving a more flexible and innovative environment. Again, the story was flipped from what LEAN is (tools and process) to why it matters, connecting it to AstraZeneca’s purpose.
If employees embraced LEAN, more medicines can be delivered to more patients, more quickly. As a result, over a three-year period, hundreds of millions of dollars were saved and customer satisfaction soared.
Our key learnings over the last decade?
Start with the right words. Ensure your purpose connects what you do and the impact your business has on the world. Then, focus on delivering action— because without it, purpose is just words on a page. Take the time to invest the effort and get your people thinking and talking about what purpose means to them. By doing this, you’ll drive a sense of ownership and make it relevant to them; a fifty thousand-foot idea becomes a guiding thought for how they can implement it in their day-to-day.
Purpose is an incredibly powerful tool that can drive engagement and unlock performance. For a practically focused conversation on how purpose can power your culture and mobilize your people, contact Chris Holmes at chris.holmes@brandpie.com.
Read the full findings of our CEO Report: A pivotal moment for purpose here
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Chris leads the Culture Innovation practice at Brandpie. With over 15 years of experience, he works with business leaders to develop effective strategies and practical solutions that ensure an organisation’s purpose is meaningful and relevant for employees.
