Using corporate purpose for the greater good: A charge for C-suit leaders

Companies are always formed with a vision and mission, but over the years, these often become irrelevant to business strategies and decisions. The pandemic however, urged the business community to return to their core purpose as a means to remain operational in the midst of an unprecedented crisis.

While it is not uncommon for top executives to overlook the importance of corporate purpose, but in the current scenario that route might not be a wise one to take. According to a McKinsey article, when the company’s purpose is activated in an organization and it is well-aligned to the purpose of the individual employees – the sweet spot in which the company’s “we” and “me” intersect, it generates powerful benefits not only to the company and its employees but also society.

Image source: Mc Kinsey & Company

When the company purpose is activated, that is when the purpose acts as a guiding light in creating business strategies to yield desirable outcomes, examples are set. But when employees truly and personally believe in the company’s purpose, and it matches their own purpose, they become more loyal, engaged and committed, which catalyzes the company progress phenomenally.

Onus on C-suit leaders

The CEOs and senior executives of a company are best positioned to take charge of refurbishing the corporate purpose and pursuing the employees to embrace and believe in it. Unlike other responsibilities, refurbishing the corporate purpose is not just another item that can be ticked off from a to do list. It involves an element of risk and requires a lot of collaboration.

More importantly, the leaders must also be ready to face the consequences of the decisions they make with regards to corporate purpose. They must be ready to face difficult situations and take some tough calls. The company purpose might sometimes be a hurdle to a profitable proposition – the leaders have to work out a solution that neither hurts the purpose nor creates unmanageable losses for the company.

It is because of this complex nature of the job, that the C-suit leaders must take charge and they must do it with full commitment and after thorough introspection themselves. Here are two things leaders can do to establish a corporate purpose that is relevant to the current times, can be highly advantageous to the company and will be acceptable to the employees.

Initiate a discussion in the top team

Leaders must take an active interest in establishing the right corporate purpose and for that they must initiate a serious dialogue within the top team. Often executives hesitate to speak on the company purpose, and leaders must make sure that their silence is not misunderstood as their assent. More often than not, companies need to change their purpose to actually activate it.

A McKinsey survey revealed that 39% of company leaders wanted to change their company’s purpose, while 24% of other employees advocated the same viewpoint. Sometimes the leaders might need to take a hardstand, while in certain cases an introspective discussion can generate the desired results.

Reviewing the company’s environmental, social and governance or ESG priorities can be a good starting point as it might help in revealing the gaps between the reality and the leaders’ perceptions, which often lead to sobering realizations.

Involve the employees

A company is as committed as its frontline workers. If the company purpose is simply communicated to the employees, they are less likely to feel committed to it, yet they are the ones who would be expected to work around that purpose. Hence, as a leader, you must involve the employees while establishing the purpose of the company.

When employees’ views are incorporated in framing the company purpose, employees feel empowered and an instant connect between the employee and the company purpose is created. Even if it takes a little longer to incorporate employees’ inputs in creating company purpose, it is worth the wait – since it motivates the employees to embrace the company purpose more easily.