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People. Product. Process. The three Ps of business success. A formula coined by American entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis, that’ s now become a postulate for entrepreneurs, mentioned ad nauseam in board meetings. And yet, something seems to be shifting. A fourth P is now making itself heard in Mauritius. Loudly, yet persistently. Purpose.
La lettre d’ intention( entre l’ entreprise et ceux qui la construisent) • Les personnes. Les produits. Les processus. Les trois P du succès commercial. Une formule imaginée par l’ entrepreneur américain Marcus Lemonis est un véritable postulat pour toute entreprise – et l’ invitée pas si surprise de tout conseil d’ administration qui se respecte. Mais depuis peu, un nouveau pilier est entré dans l’ équation à Maurice: l’ intention.
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Globally, companies are redefining their growth strategies by embedding real meaning behind the impact they want to have, not just in balance sheets or on the stock market, but on society, the environment and future generations. Think of it as a guiding line shaping their decisions and connecting people – investors, employees, employers – to a shared sense of meaning. Profit is good. Profit with long-term intention? Even better. Backing it up with tangible financial, social and economical responsibility? The trifecta. |
A study by McKinsey from 2024 highlights how purpose-led organisations tend to gain more trust and outperform their peers on long-term growth and retention. A company’ s purpose, however, does not exist in isolation. It is a multidimensional driving force that only comes to life when it resonates with the people inside it.
If we go back just a decade even, work was a clear equation in Mauritius: study, earn, settle down. You joined a family-owned business, you worked at a bank or you secured a spot in one of the big groups. A steady job, a reliable payslip: the real measure of success.“ Purpose”? That was a luxury, or perhaps something you’ d hear in a yoga retreat. And yet, today, a new crop of Mauritians is asking themselves:“ What does the company I work for stand for? Am I feeling fulfilled here?”
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Claire Hardy, 26, holds a Master’ s degree in Business Management. She could have chosen the conventional route and worked a corporate job. Instead, she leveraged her business and marketing background, followed her calling and joined 2 Minutes Mauritius, a platform raising awareness on social issues like drug addiction. Now Managing Director, she says,“ I’ ve always wanted to work in social awareness. And leading a company rooted in social impact isn’ t always easy. Some months, you’ re stretched thin. But it feels right. Like this is where I’ m meant to be.” For Claire, it’ s not a job. It’ s personal alignment.
She is not alone. Gallup’ s 2023 report found only 23 percent of employees worldwide feel engaged and connected to their work. The rest? They drift, clocking in yet zoning out. The cost? A 9 percent loss of global GDP. In Mauritius, the results are just as clear. The Business Mauritius National Employee Engagement Survey 2023 reveals a perceived distance of employees from leadership, with employees not feeling inspired by their leaders’ vision for the future, leading to a struggle with retention and satisfaction. A lack of meaningful interplay between company purpose and personal purpose. Jenny Korten, life coach and founder of health2bfree, sees this shift daily.“ Gen Z is not afraid to ask difficult questions. They want to know what a company stands for, whether it creates space for individuality, and whether the work contributes to something beyond just output and numbers.”
Maybe that is the challenge now. For companies to create cultures people believe in. Not because they are told to care, but because they do. In Jenny Korten’ s words,“ Work. The word is the same, and yet the world isn’ t.” Because work hasn’ t changed. But perhaps, what it stands for has.
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