Jose Herrera is the CEO and cofounder of Horatio, a tech-enabled customer experience and business process outsourcing company.
When embarking on building a business, CEOs and leaders think about the longevity of their brands. What makes a brand or product memorable beyond their product or services? Also, what defines a CEO these days when so many entrepreneurs are on the rise? At the heart of these questions is the question of enduring leadership. We have all heard the expression that “it starts at the top,” and when it comes to building not only a brand but an internal culture that will be around for many years and outpace competitors, it behooves leaders to define their values and build goals based on this vision, thereby implementing enduring values internally that will transmit to customers.
To do this, CEOs should think about what kind of culture they want to create through their mission and purpose. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, purpose-driven leadership is defined as “helping employees find personal meaning in their work and fostering a deeply committed workforce that thrives on shared goals and aspirations.” Having a higher purpose when it comes to business is not just about favorable economic outcomes—although that is an advantage.
The Kantar Purpose 2020 study by Kantar Consulting found that purpose-driven companies increased brand value by 175% over the last 12 years, compared to the 70% growth rate of brands with “low” specific purpose. Beyond these economic benefits, purpose-driven missions within brands can forge better relationships with clients and also reduce internal churn. There are a multitude of benefits, but where should CEOs begin?
Let’s delve into a few tips on how to not only prioritize, but also implement a purpose-directed strategy and culture.
Define and articulate your organization’s purpose.
When building a company or a brand, building an internal culture that is centered around a higher purpose beyond financial gain is crucial not only for harnessing the full potential of your team but also for harnessing their individual potential. CEOs should model this “purpose” through their own actions and behavior, thereby setting a standard for others to follow.
Founders and senior staff have a duty to help employees see how their individual roles contribute to the overall mission, creating a sense of fulfillment, engagement and dedication. As lofty and abstract as this goal may seem, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article, this means leaders “must clearly communicate and authentically embody the company’s purpose and values.” But in order to do that values must be both easy to understand and actionable.
How can you implement these values or your purpose into becoming a verb? I recommend picking values that are socially constructive. A recent MIT Sloan Management Review column goes into greater detail and gives honesty as an example: “You can control whether you are honest, and though it might be hard to do sometimes, being honest is typically socially beneficial in the long run.”
Develop and implement growth opportunities for your team.
Providing employees with opportunities to participate in projects that are not only impactful but also align closely with the organization’s mission and values is critical in purpose-driven leadership. By doing so, employees can contribute to work that resonates with the core purpose of the company, enhancing each team member’s sense of purpose and satisfaction.
These projects should be thoughtfully designed to leverage employees’ skills and passions, ensuring that their efforts are both personally fulfilling and strategically beneficial to the organization. Use employee surveys to suss out what skills they think need sharpening or what additional certifications they would like to have. Then, align with the right specialists, schools and organizations that can help enhance these goals.
Consensus will be important to this process, but developing these programs may also take a full-time internal lead such as an HR specialist who focuses solely on enriching the employee experience.
Promote a broader sense of purpose outside of work.
At my company, we try to bring a broader sense of purpose to our employee’s lives on an almost daily basis. This includes having team-catered meals, on-site group exercise classes and cultural activities like samba dancing, movie nights or even gaming competitions. We’ve found these activities are not only enjoyable but also fundamental to reducing employee turnover—and we aren’t the only ones.
A Great Place To Work survey indicated the following three questions will predict workplace turnover, regardless of generation or job type:
- Are you proud of where you work?
- Do you find meaning in your work?
- Do you have fun at work?
The latter of those three questions directly correlates to leaders defining that the workplace be about more than just the daily tasks at hand. Having an enriching, balanced approach to team building can not only lead to enjoyment, but also an improvement in employees’ attitudes toward their work and better results for clients.
In conclusion, a purpose-driven culture not only enhances employee performance but also stimulates innovation, increases productivity and drives organizational growth. By taking the time to understand what matters most to your team, and thereby your clients, leaders can establish a concrete and clear purpose-driven culture that recognizes and applauds employees who embody these values.
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