The Power of Purpose: The Conduit to Electrify Your Company's Success

551 words | 2-minute read | by Rebecca James

Over the past 20 years, one thing I have learned as a business leader is that it is critical to hire the right people and quickly connect them to your organization’s purpose or just cause. The research is clear about this. In fact, McKinsey’s organizational purpose survey showed that 82% of managers said it was important and 72% said it was more important than profit. Having a purpose is different from a mission. Mission is what you do and whom you do it for. Your purpose is the WHY, it is the underlying and inspirational reason your company exists. Communicating it and showing employees how they personally make a difference in that purpose is the real electricity in a company. Only then will your team coalesce and collaboratively build something more amazing than you imagined. 

You can have the best operations, salespeople, HR staff, IT department, website designers, social media strategist, or marketing team but if they are not able to connect their work to meaning—the greater purpose of the organization—they will be less engaged and have lower productivity. If your employees truly believe that the work they are doing contributes to something meaningful, they will be intrinsically motivated and naturally become your strongest company advocates, championing a healthy culture. When your culture is strong and healthy, we know this is a formula for a successful organization. Purpose is more motivating that profits and pay. HBR published an article on Better Up’s study, titled “Meaning and Purpose at Work”, and of the 2,285 professionals across different industries, Better Up found that more than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work.

Hard skills are undoubtedly important, but when combined with a team that has a sense of belonging and connection to the greater purpose, it separates the world-class brands from the good ones. Brené Brown’s award-winning work espouses belonging as an innate human desire. When people are able to connect their work to something bigger than themselves within an organization, they feel like they belong. They will love using their talents, pour themselves into it, and be more courageous and innovative. Great employees will stay longer, and you will attract the best talent. It’s all a net gain for your bottom line, but moreover, your employees will have a better quality of life both inside and outside their work.

Whether your organization provides a service, product, education, or something else, your purpose serves as the conduit to your long-term success—increased sales or memberships, operational efficiency, innovation, profits, and more. When all stakeholders feel connected to your brand, it becomes electric. What is your purpose or just cause, and how can you connect people to that main power line?

Finding an inspiring company purpose may not be easy. You may not be a company that saves lives, rids the earth of plastics in the ocean, or feeds the hungry. Perhaps you are a landscaping company that ultimately “brings beauty to your community” or a cleaning company that exists to “improve the health of our clients”.  Think deeply about the why of your existence and what you are trying to build. Then, turn the lights on by communicating and authentically embedding it in all you say and do.

If you would like assistance in defining your purpose (just cause) and a developing a communication plan, contact us for a free discovery call.