Purpose: The Discipline Your Organization Needs
Over the last few years, organizations have been subjected to a series of tests. The COVID-19 global pandemic has tested our ability to adjust and adapt. It’s tested our technology, ways of working, the role of the workplace, and so much more. But perhaps more significant has been the spotlight it has shone on the vitality of purpose. People have been forced to rethink, not only what they want out of life, but also what they want out of work – and a lot of people don’t want to go back to the way things were. The modern employee wants a modern world of work, and purpose is the discipline to get us there.
Without a clear and compelling purpose, organizations cannot thrive in the new world of work. Flexible work models are what employees crave, and if your organization is struggling with the idea of flexible work, chances are your organization is struggling with its sense of purpose. Without embracing purpose and flexibility now, organizations will certainly be at a disadvantage in the upcoming years – because they will struggle to attract, engage, and retain the talent they need to succeed.
Ongoing trends
In 2019, a pre-COVID world, research by PwC’s Strategy& found that only 28% of employees surveyed felt fully connected to their organization's purpose. Additionally, they found just 39% of employees could clearly see the value they create within their organization. In 2020, as the pandemic began, research by McKinsey & Company found that 82% of employees surveyed reported it is important to have an organizational purpose. Moreover, 72% reported that purpose should receive more weight than profit. In 2021, my organization, Fitch Consulting, published an article on the power of purpose furthering the idea that organizations must craft meaningful purpose statements if they want to see higher levels of employee engagement, commitment, and well-being. Now in 2022, the Harvard Business Review published an article on how to craft a measurable company purpose and explored the role stakeholders play in setting metrics to be able to track progress.
Purpose is not a new concept in the workplace; it is one that has been a topic of conversation for years. But the pandemic has forced organizations to examine the centrality of purpose in successfully tackling the new world of work, especially as it relates to fostering flexible work models.
Understanding the benefits of flexibility
Flexibility is another trend that was massively accelerated by COVID-19. Up until 2019, some organizations experimented with this, usually by offering select staff the option to work from home when this could be justified. The pandemic forced everybody to experiment with virtual ways of working and, while opinions differ, many accept that the experiments demonstrated the potential benefits to be gained from more flexible work arrangements. Staff remained engaged and often increased their productivity; the talent pool in effect got larger; and people were often better able to integrate work into other dimensions of their lives.
Notwithstanding this learning, many organizations are still unsure how to move forward - some believing that they should move back to the way things were before. There is a need to fundamentally rethink how we design work and reimagine the future of our organizations. What kind of flexibility is required, and how can employees and employers alike reap the benefits?
Too often, organizations treat flexible work only in terms of where you work. They say they support flexible work because they allow their employees to work from home, or anywhere outside of the traditional office setting, but they still expect their employees to work between a certain set of hours. But this traditional 9-5 style is often not necessary (technology allows people to work asynchronously, which can have huge productivity benefits) and can get in the way of work-life integration. Employees need true flexibility – not merely where they work, but also when. Both elements are crucial to building successful, high performing organizations in the new world of work.
Unfortunately, many organizations are still struggling to decide on their future work models. In truth, for some organizations, “flexibility” is a scary term, because they can’t imagine how to incorporate this and retain the discipline or control necessary to keep many individuals on track. Flexibility requires a significant amount of trust. After all, if you can’t see your employees working, how do you know they are working? What compels people to collaborate and work diligently? How can they know what needs to be done and when? Our experience suggests that this demands large doses of oversight and instruction.
But COVID-19 gave us new experience and, for many, disproved this assumption. This is where purpose comes into play. It is the new discipline, replacing the traditional management practices of the past. Purpose guides our work, motivates our employees, fosters trust, and removes the need for excessive supervising. By understanding why purpose is so powerful, organizations have a better chance at making flexible work models deliver real benefits. Put another way – if your organization is uncertain about flexible work models, or is struggling to create one, then this may well be due to deficiency in the way you have defined and deployed your purpose.
Understanding purpose
One of the simplest questions to ask happens to be one of the most complex to answer: Why? As people, we need to know why. Why defines our reason for being and sets the course for the work we seek and things we hope to accomplish. Another way of thinking about “why” is in terms of “purpose.”
Purpose provides us with meaning and attempts to address the “why” we continuously strive to answer. Purpose, at an individual and organizational level, bridges the gap between understanding and motivation. When we are guided by a clear and compelling purpose, we are more likely to feel fulfilled by what we are doing and inspired by how we can reach our goals. Additionally, it gives us a sense of direction, helping turn thought into action.
Purpose is essential to creating drive and energy within organizations. Our sense of collegiality, or connectivity, increases as we bond over our mutual drive to contribute – and this is an essential part of fostering purpose. When everyone possesses the same feelings toward a shared ambition, there is an increased sense of belonging and motivation to work together and achieve collective goals.
However, equally as important is possessing clarity of purpose. Without clarity, purpose cannot be the essential leadership tool that it should be. Leaders must explicitly emphasize how each employee contributes to their organizations in meaningful and thoughtful ways. They must be able to trust their employees’ sense of dedication and desire to contribute to their teams, organization, and beyond. By having this shared understanding, we can create positive change in our lives, organizations, and world.
Defining vision, mission, and purpose statements
For many people, even those who recognize the value of purpose, it is often considered a “nice to have,” but not an urgent need to address. Despite the clear evidence that employees now place heavy weight on organizational purpose, organizations still often put more effort into crafting their vision and mission statements. There also appears to be confusion over the differences between these three statements. In their simplest forms:
Vision = what
Mission = how
Purpose = why
An organization’s vision statement defines what the organization aspires to achieve. These statements are often hopeful, focused on the big picture, and captures an ideal world or outcome (i.e. – the change the organization wants to see in the world). A mission statement then outlines how the organization contributes to this vision. These statements are often grounded in action, focused on the smaller details, and highlights the steps an organization takes to reach the vision it set forth. The purpose statement describes why any of these things matter. These statements are often related to an organization’s values, focused on fostering understanding and collective commitment to the vision and mission, and are meant to inspire and empower.
Purpose statements tie everything together. From clearly defining the why, the what and how can follow. Again, people like to know the “why” behind the work they do. If organizations effectively create a purpose statement that genuinely motivates the people who work there, they can create exceptional impact for their stakeholders, as well as a better world for all. This requires considerable effort and is not an easy task, but the benefits are significant.
Benefits of being purpose-driven
Flexibility is what employees are seeking in the modern workplace, and by providing a clear purpose, organizations are better equipped to give this to them. By being purpose-driven and people-centered, organizations can improve their employee experience and see increases in engagement, productivity, and profitability as a result.
Traditional management practices can often be time consuming and expensive. It also puts pressure on managers, who are stretched thin trying to supervise and monitor their teams, while also accomplishing their own tasks. This saps the spirit of both managers and their staff, which causes everyone to end up feeling overwhelmed and drained. Managers should strive to move away from overseeing and supervising, and instead aspire to enable and support their staff, thereby creating the guided autonomy that brings the best out of people. If managers are spending most of their time supervising, they are likely stuck in a failed work model. With a mindset grounded in traditional management practices, it becomes impossible to move into flexible work models, which the employees of today are seeking.
When organizations have truly clarified their purpose, and successfully derived their vision and mission from that purpose, it is much easier to move to flexible work models. This is because there is shared trust that everyone is driven by the same purpose, motivated by what they are doing, and understands how they contribute toward organizational goals and ambitions. When this occurs, managers can then give guided autonomy to their teams, which provides escape from the traditionally controlling practices of the past and leads to the successful organizations of tomorrow.
Investing in your organization’s purpose
Purpose is not something that sits separately from the rest of your management system; it should be embedded in it. Otherwise, it's not part of the day-to-day activities that really encompass what makes your organization tick. Everyone, no matter what their role is, deserves to feel that their work matters to the organization. More than that, they deserve to see how their work contributes to the organization in significant ways – because it does. Everyone who works for an organization has the power to influence it, both positively and negatively. Regardless of what the job entails, people want to feel connected to their work, and purpose is what helps them experience this.
If everyone is guided by the same purpose, they should have the same idea of what they are contributing toward, how they are achieving this goal, and why it matters to them and the organization. The key word here is “should.” It is not enough for leaders in an organization to come up with a company purpose in a meeting and expect their entire staff to feel motivated or excited by it. Purpose statements are not meant to be commanding, they are meant to be inspirational and empowering. Purpose statements represent why the organization is collectively trying to achieve something and motivate each employee to contribute. Leaders should invest in their organization’s purpose, and ideally seek their employees’ input. By engaging the whole organization, purpose statements become more than statements – they become the lodestar that guides your organization to success and enables you to embrace the power of flexible work models.