Purpose
It has been at the forefront of many of our conversations in the past year. COVID-19 has served to further heighten attention on our own purpose and that of the organisations that we engage with, putting a new focus on the interrelationships between businesses and the people and communities that it intersects with.
While most senior business leaders now agree that businesses cannot succeed without a purpose, most also recognise that significant work needs to be done to integrate purpose into their organisations. One Harvard Business Review survey found that only 50% of leaders agreed that their purpose was reflected in their organisational strategy. And, less than 4 in 10 said that their business model and operations were well aligned with their purpose.
Integrating purpose into organisational strategy, operations and culture, requires a new framing, one that is focused on creating shared value. A shared value framework enables companies to leverage their core business to drive societal change.
This starts with strategy.
In particular, identifying social and environmental opportunities, linking these opportunities to value creation and developing a pathway to realisation. The second step is to integrate these into operations through innovation, partnerships, measurement and reporting. Central to strategy and operations are people. Employees, suppliers and customers must be empowered to take action to realise purpose through shared value. This may require organisational re-design, new people and skills alongside targeted activations to engage, excite and set the tone for a different way of working and thinking.
Come and join
Experts facilitators to learn how to translate purpose into action by participating in the Shared Value Project’s Shared Value Masterclass Series, kicking-off 10 March, with the foundational Shared value: Delivering on Purpose, Profitably. To take a deeper dive into purpose, join us and other shared value practitioners in a four part training on the Purpose Playbook.
