Taking Action On Purpose
This is a guest blog from Alyson Chadwick, Co-founder and Director at Hedgehog Strategy.
I’m a firm believer in the importance of Purpose, and how it can drive increased impact and results.
Focus on Purpose has been growing in momentum in recent years, especially in the context of the pandemic. Arguably it’s now becoming mainstream. Purpose-led organisations are increasingly demonstrating that ‘doing good’ and ‘good business’ go hand in hand, with clear commercial advantages in …
- attracting and retaining more customers
- increasing colleague engagement and retention
- attracting higher levels of talent
- reducing energy costs
- building long-term sustainable value
Expectations of what businesses should do, and what they shouldn’t – net zero, treating people right – are becoming minimum standards businesses must meet, especially as these become legal or regulatory requirements. And ESG and reporting frameworks are also becoming a requirement – a must do for organisations today.
But is this enough? Does implementing these requirements automatically drive the success we’ve seen truly Purpose-led organisations achieve?
I’d argue not!
So what makes a difference?
For me, the difference is only made when you turn Purpose into Action that truly translates and embeds your Purpose throughout the organisation – in what you do, how you operate and your way of being.
Words and slogans on the wall are not enough on their own to achieve this. Action is needed – a golden thread running through the organisation. Demonstrating your Purpose to customers and colleagues, in an authentic, consistent and relevant way. That’s what engages them and in turn increases their loyalty and advocacy, and ultimately results.
Key to taking Action on Purpose is
- being clear on your Purpose – the guiding reason why you exist, the difference you make and to whom
- being clear how your Purpose drives your way of being as an organisation – with your leaders and colleagues aligned and motivated by it
- being clear on what actions you undertake, and why, to bring your Purpose to life in your organisation – actions specific to you and your Purpose
- being clear there may be some other actions with positive impact that you might do but that they are not specific to your Purpose – being clear why you are doing them and how (if) they fit into your business model
- ensuring action is truly embedded and integrated into the running of the business – not run as a separate department, committee or report
Purpose and your People
Embedding a Purposeful Leadership and Culture underpins all of this
- unifying and aligning leaders and colleagues behind a common and powerful intent
- helping to join-up decision-making and collaboration across the organisation
- helping to navigate through disruption and change
And with everything going on at the moment, who doesn’t need some help in navigating through disruption and change?
Your people are central to leading with Purpose.
That’s why we developed our People Powered Purpose service offer in partnership with Pecan Partnership.
Take Action on Purpose now!
Sometimes organisations find themselves in a place where they have a Purpose, or they’ve got a lot of Purposeful things happening, but it doesn’t all quite hang together right, or it feels very separate to how the business operates.
How clear are you on Purpose in your organisation?
How successfully is Purpose embedded?
What are the biggest challenges you have?
If you want to review, reset or realign Purpose in your organisation, check out our e-book ‘People Powered Purpose: Why leading with Purpose is winning’ for more information and a mini-audit you can undertake in your organisation.
And get in touch to book a call with [email protected] or [email protected] to explore how we can help you and your organisation.