One of the most heartening organisational developments of the last five or so years has been the significant focus around the construct of purpose – both in the context of businesses and employers. The idea that people want to work for and buy from businesses that serve a greater calling, other than pure profit, feels right and of its time. We expect that those organisations we engage with are being active and authentic around sustainability, ethics, equality, diversity, fairness, social mobility – that they and their people have a greater purpose.
Happily, there’s an increasing body of evidence making the point that being purpose-driven is not to the detriment of organisational or balance-sheet performance, rather to its benefit. A Deloitte survey suggested that 73% of employees who feel they are working for a purpose-driven organisation reported that they were engaged with their employer. The figure for those employed within a business which people felt was not purpose-driven fell to just 23%. PWC’s Putting Purpose to Work study suggested that 79% of business leaders felt that purpose was central to business success. Amongst a raft of other advantages, an HBR study suggested that purpose-driven organisations enjoyed success in major transformation initiatives, over those deemed non-purpose driven, of 52% compared to 16%.
Research too from the University of Sussex suggested that when leaders demonstrated clear purpose, their employees were less likely to up and leave, were more engaged and more willing to go the extra mile.
So, we’re all agreed, purpose pays. Job done. Shorter blog than normal.
Not so fast. Any sense of such organisational purpose has rather been put in the shade over the last 18 months by Covid.
I’ve been working with a number of organisations within healthcare and Government over the last few months around their respective EVPs. One common factor emerging from such conversations has been the sense that Covid has acted as a galvanising, unifying force. It has been the clear and present danger that must be addressed and dealt with. It has, largely, affected everyone.
Such organisations were at the frontline of dealing with the worst of Covid. Their entire workforce pulled together, putting aside petty differences and pre-Covid gripes. Their Covid experiences have been brutal, raw and visceral. Purpose can have rarely, if ever, been so real, so terrifying, so unavoidable and so bonding. I heard many stories of hierarchies being largely ignored, organisational sleeves being rolled up, workforces gelling and coming through. Necessity and purpose meant that processes, decision making and systems were streamlined and optimised. The organisations are now in a better state, with greater cohesion, knowing what is possible, what can be achieved, given the purpose evidenced during their response to Covid.
“Having recently joined the NHS, it’s very clear that the effects of Covid haven’t simply gone, we are still living through this and face a tough winter. Right at the heart of lots of our work is purpose but the most important thing is the well-being of our teams. That’s paramount and as an organisation it’s about ensuring our front-line folk have adequate support and it’s about other colleagues often moving out of their comfort zone to support. We ask a lot of our people and they rally and respond but we need to ensure that we are giving back”. Julie Griggs, Interim HR Director, Greenhill HR
“Our clients are typically scaleup technology companies, who have typically focused on the technology they are building and the teams they need to hire. Covid has made many of them realise that whilst the business of making money is important, how they attract and retain people really is now front and centre of their business. Some of it is driven by necessity, experiencing attrition for the first time, but some of it driven by a greater sense of getting things right and looking for genuine purpose.” Martin Dangerfield, CEO, immersive.
Experiences from the healthcare sector represent perhaps a polar extreme for most organisations which had a more arms-length relationship with the pandemic. However, the pandemic has cast a long shadow for all businesses over the last 18 months. They and their workforce have had to adapt at pace to home-working and the realities of Teams and Zoom. A huge amount of time, resources and focus have been directed at communicating and engaging with remote workers, with responses to vaccinations, with creating Covid-free working environments, with furlough decisions. In some cases, with their very survival.
“So many organisations adapted at pace during Covid, whether feeding or protecting the nation or, in our case, keeping Britain’s DIY enthusiasts occupied. The country pulled together like nothing seen since the war with a sense of purpose and camaraderie. Many of us volunteered whilst we were furloughed or took jobs on the front-line delivering food, medicine or caring for the vulnerable. Stepping right away from our desk jobs to do something that we felt made a difference.
Now life is returning to normal but through a completely different lens. For so many people, Covid was a time to take stock, a time to reflect. People got used to being at home, working from home, or not working at all.
So, to entice people back to the daily grind is going to be tougher than it was. People want a reason to get out of bed and go to work every day more than they ever did before and it is not just about money. Companies with a clear and compelling purpose and who create a sense of belonging will have the head start in this latest war for talent.” Adele Swift, Talent Attraction and Recruitment Manager, Toolstation.
Businesses will have had their existence threatened. Many will have had to pivot, restructure and deliver products, services and offerings through different channels and approaches. Some will have benefitted from Covid and have experienced a huge upsurge in demand. A different problem, but a problem all the same.
“I think Covid and the bounce-back has been a wake call for Leaders, Managers and the HR profession. Superficial initiatives or short-term incentives are seen for what they are – smokescreens. Until investment is made in good leadership and management and that leaders are seen as accountable, this will be a continuing problem. Fairness in employment contracts, pay, time off and benefits is critical. No longer is it ok to treat those at the bottom of the ladder unfairly – clapping for carers was a signal – now there is no substance behind it, we are reaping what has been sowed over the last 30 years”. Jon Hull, Interim Head of Resourcing at Principality Building Society.
Covid and its implications will have loomed large, very large, across the vast majority of organisations.
As a result, the reaction and response of those organisations to Covid has effectively been their purpose over the last year and a half.
This raises a number of issues.
People want to move on from Covid, from the last 18 months, from potentially the previous purpose they were working towards. It is perhaps symbolic of a different time. A time they want to put behind them. It is hard, too, to return to an organisational purpose that has been largely in the shade since early 2020. Was such a purpose truly a north star if it was hastily replaced by a Covid response?
More important, how does an organisation re-set its purpose – along with associated assets such as its values, its EVP and its mission – moving forward? Will the purpose of many organisations appear a little trivial in comparison to the unspoken purpose of the last 18 months? How can organisations create that same galvanising, unifying, bonding force that their response to Covid inspired? Does anything else feel certainly worthy, certainly of merit but certainly not in the same league as Covid?
To create the same levels of employee engagement, retention and productivity that purpose has helped deliver pre-Covid will require some real thought, originality and bravery.
The latest KPMG/REC survey indicates a September salary index at 75.7, up more than two points from August, hugely influenced by high employment rates, fewer EU workers and a wariness of employees to change jobs, as well as the ending of furlough having little impact on unemployment.
So, in the face of huge candidate competition and retention pressures, re-crafting and re-stating a compelling post-Covid purpose is, in my view, it is an absolute necessity. People have lost so much over the last 18 months – time, loved ones, freedom, experiences – they will be looking even more closely at what employers can provide as we emerge from a truly unique moment in time.
Getting to the heart of your employee mindset 