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Starting and surviving in today’s economy is hard, but the companies that figure it out have something in common: the pursuit of purpose, alongside the pursuit of profit. A purpose mobilizes people in a way that pursuing profits alone never will. For a company to thrive, it needs to infuse its purpose in all that it does. An organization without purpose manages people and resources, while an organization with purpose mobilizes people and resources. Purpose is a key ingredient for a strong, sustainable, scalable organizational culture. It’s an unseen-yet-ever-present element that drives an organization. It can be a strategic starting point, a product differentiator, and an organic attractor of users and customers. Here’s how a few organizations have used purpose to achieve great results, and what other organizations can learn from their success. 1. BE AUTHENTIC, NO MATTER WHAT Ask a group of college graduates their plans after graduation, and chances are none will say: “I want to work for a household goods company.” Yet Seventh Generation, a household goods company, is a top employer of millennials. They manufacture seemingly unexciting products—dish soap, fabric softener, and toilet paper—but the company’s products are authentically imbued with a higher purpose: to inspire a consumer revolution that nurtures the health of the next seven generations. A purpose mobilizes people in a way that pursuing profits alone never will. A company’s purpose cannot simply be a pretty set of words. As the adage goes, actions speak louder than words. Seventh Generation walks the talk of its purpose—and its employees and customers notice. The company encourages consumers to line-dry clothes instead of machine drying, at the risk of cannibalizing its dryer sheet product. They are using their business to start a movement that will change an industry. This authenticity, potentially at the expense of their bottom line, inspires loyalty that no lip service will create. As a company, it’s important to think about why you are in the business you’re in. What drives you? If your business succeeds, what would your ideal world look like? When a company demonstrates an authentic purpose, consumers feel a connection to the products and company. They will choose the authentically purposeful company’s products, even if it’s not the cheapest offering. 2. BRING IN THE RIGHT PEOPLE You can’t force employees to share your purpose. If they don’t, customers will know. It’s better to hire people with a shared sense of purpose. That gives everyone in the organization a common starting point. Acumen, the non-profit investment fund, has designed a recruitment process that enables it to identify potential employees who share the organization’s purpose. The organization doesn’t simply ask interested candidates to submit a résumé and cover letter; Acumen also asks candidates for responses to a series of short-essay questions that relate to the position. For instance, “How would you describe your interest in ‘impact investing’ (which is what Acumen does) versus regular private equity or venture capital investing?” Anyone who doesn’t have a good answer for that probably would do better elsewhere. Spend some time thinking about the range of values and purposes that fit into your company, and create a process that allows you to gather that data before making a hiring decision. Hiring is difficult; firing is even more difficult. 3. CREATE SHARED VALUE Economic value and social value are not mutually exclusive. Today’s sophisticated business leader recognizes the concept of shared value: creating economic value while addressing social needs and challenges. As Michael Porter and Mark Kramer wrote inHarvard Business Review in 2011: “Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy, or even sustainability, but a new way to achieve economic success.”
