Many people—not just Millennials—want to work for organizations whose missions and business philosophies resonate with them intellectually and emotionally…
What is your reason for existing? What value are you giving…? and Why (are you) uniquely capable of providing it?
Sally Blount, Professor, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Paul Leinwand, global managing director, Strategy&
Takeaways of Note:
Elements of a well-articulated purpose & the actions needed to deliver on it:
Your Purpose Is Your Promise to Customers
To effectively articulate your team’s reason for being, consider: (1) is your stated purpose relevant to your audience? (2) is your purpose unique? (3) Are you the rightful/optimal owner of your purpose?
Building an Org/Team That Delivers on Purpose
1) Be a magnet for the right talent… need the right people, in the right roles, to achieve goals & competitive distinctiveness; don’t fall into the trap of hoping that functional generalists will bring expertise to areas critical to your purpose
2) Connect with intention across boundaries… (a) improve org structures to help teams work cross-functionally or (b) change org structure & assemble people with diverse functional skills into permanent cross-functional units
3) Invest behind your purpose… just as acquiring the right talent involves difficult choices, budgeting for purpose means making hard decisions about allocations – it’s often necessary to invest disproportionately in the capabilities your purpose requires
4) Model your purpose... leaders should personify org’s purpose every day thru words & actions (i.e. communicate priorities, visibly spend time with team, make tough decisions, etc.)
Bonus Nuggets
“As much as you may try to motivate employees with slogans or extrinsic rewards, you won’t achieve excellence if your people don’t know why they are coming to work every day at your firm… And the more you align the right talent, operating model, and financial resources to support your purpose, the better able employees will be to deliver on it.”
In a survey of more than 540 employees worldwide conducted by PwC’s strategy consulting business, Strategy&…
– only 28% felt fully connected to company’s purpose
– just 39% could clearly see the value they create
– a mere 22% agreed that their jobs allow them to fully leverage their strengths
– only 34% thought they strongly contribute to their company’s success
– more than half weren’t even “somewhat” motivated, passionate, or excited about their jobs
Good news is – teams that clearly defined & communicated how they create value…
– 63% of members say they’re motivated, v. 31% on other teams;
– 65% say they’re passionate about their work, v. 32% on other teams
– more than 90% of these purpose-driven orgs & teams deliver growth & profits at or above their industry average