How to bring organisational purpose to life

Creating an organisational purpose that is equally practical, authentic and inspiring is critical in ensuring it stands the test of time.

In brief:

• Our model demonstrates the importance of creating an organisational purpose that balances practicality, authenticity and inspirational power.
  
• To avoid business purpose being deprioritised during times of adversity, organisations must implement a system that makes purpose-led decision-making inevitable. 

Being a purpose-led organisation is currently high on the people agenda, yet many organisations fail to create an environment where purpose-led decision-making and action is inevitable. Our research demonstrated that 71% of employees believe their leaders still ‘always’ or ‘often’ make critical decisions solely based on financial considerations such as profit, costs and growth^.¹ This year, the EY Lane4 research team embarked on a journey to find solutions to some of the unanswered questions clouding organisations’ purpose journeys. Our purpose-led transformation research (pdf) shared solutions that enable leaders to get practical about business purpose.

Combining insight from an extensive literature review and 20 interviews with trail-blazing purpose-led leaders, our research led to the creation of a model highlighting the components of a great business purpose. In this article, I will share how this model can be used to ensure you maintain a purpose-led lens, even during times of adversity. 

How can you ensure organisational purpose is still a priority during times of adversity?

When things are going well, it’s easy to prioritise being purpose-led, but the real test is during times of adversity. Do you live by the values that you have preached? Is yours a genuinely purpose-driven organisation? The model above can be used to ensure purpose-led decision-making is inevitable – even when it feels impossible.

Global issues, economic instability and major world events that put businesses at risk can often force us to deprioritise strategic goals such as being purpose-led and instead focus on short-term revenue. Notwithstanding, a deeply held sense of purpose is critical in helping organisations navigate uncertainty;² to paraphrase the psychologist Viktor Frankl, ‘he who has a why, can endure any amount of how’.³ Indeed, we should not be surprised that purpose-driven organisations saw faster rates of financial recovery from COVID-19.⁴ To avoid business purpose being deprioritised, a system must be implemented that makes purpose-led decision-making a habit, as well as your default approach to action-planning. In doing so, critical decisions will be consistently made with a purpose-led lens, even during times of adversity.

Below I have shared how you can use our model to consider how inspiring, authentic and practical your organisational purpose is. This is a first step to ensuring purpose-led decision-making is not suspended, even when times get tough.

Is your organisational purpose authentic?

Authenticity plays a pivotal role in activating organisational purpose. Working for leaders who genuinely believe in their purpose is high on current and prospective employees’ agendas. However, an EY study revealed that 35% of employees observed a disconnect between their organisation’s stated purpose and its day-to-day actions.⁵ A recent article written by EY Lane4 Partner, Vicky Marsh, outlines four ways through which you can avoid purpose disconnect to enable your people  to authentically live the organisational purpose.

Being authentic around your business purpose is not just a statement; it’s felt by others and demonstrated through the decisions we make, our behaviours and our interactions with people on a day-to-day basis. Authentic leaders are not afraid to demonstrate vulnerability, indeed, it is what makes them human in the eyes of their followers.

We often take leaders through a ‘lifelines’ exercise sharing the highs and lows of their career journey to identify the lessons they have learnt from success and especially failure. Showing they are willing to share their own vulnerability demonstrates inclusive leadership and can help to create a psychologically safe environment where others also feel they can authentically be themselves. This is even more important during times of adversity.

To test if an organisational purpose is authentic, leaders must consider:

1. What is your authentic self – i.e., your personal values and behaviours that demonstrate alignment with the stated purpose (and prevent purpose disconnect)?

2. Where does your ‘authority’ as a leader come from? Do you prioritise your position or do you focus on the mission?

3. What is your ‘authorship’ – are you copying the words and deeds of others or writing your own authentic story about why you do what you do? 

To test if an organisational purpose is practical, leaders must consider:

1. How can you make your people feel involved, empowered and free to make purpose-led decisions?

2. How can you ensure that you have a strategic plan that outlines both the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of your purpose ambitions?

3. How can you ensure that every person in your organisation is able to connect their involvement with the purpose, strategy and operational delivery of objectives?

Is your organisational purpose inspiring?

As a leader, you have a central role in galvanising, engaging and enrolling people into your shared purpose. Harnessing the power of storytelling is a critical communication tool that can help to ignite inspiration. The neuroscience of storytelling explains how we are hardwired to engage with the narratives we read and hear.⁷ Indeed, we know that feelings, beliefs and emotions are the things that really influence behaviour, so being able to communicate at this level is critical in attaining purpose-led transformation. As the poet Maya Angelou is quoted to have said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.⁸

Our survey revealed that 55% of employees think leaders will need to become more purpose-led in the future and equally consider people, planet and profit when making business decisions.¹ Articulating a compelling business purpose and role-modelling how to use it as a ‘North Star’ for purpose-led decision-making is therefore critical. Furthermore, 84% of employees stated that it’s ‘very important’ or ‘important’ for them to work for an organisation that positively impacts society. Getting better connected with your own personal sense of meaning, as well as what’s meaningful to the people you lead, will help inspire people to join and stay working for your organisation – even during times of adversity.

To test if an organisational purpose is inspiring, leaders must consider:

1. How can you make sure your organisational purpose inspires regardless of circumstances?
2. How can you create a business purpose that articulates how you and your people contribute to society beyond simple economic success?
3. Could you be more personally inspired by your organisation’s purpose? If so, what part can you play in making it more inspiring?