T
TALKING HEADS
Activating purpose to inspire our people
A
Michael Hayman
At a time of
demographic
disruption, productivity
is an inspiration
challenge.
40 // Future Talent
s Mark Twain said: “Find a job
you enjoy doing, and you will
never have to work a day in
your life.” His words are
particularly relevant now.
But for too many organisations, joy
is not part of the business plan. It is
dismissed as frivolous, rather than critical
to cultures that endure and organisations
that perform at the highest levels.
Besides, building teams that enjoy
what they are doing is challenging. In
part, this is down to four generations
working together in many businesses for
the first time in history, according to the
British academic Dr Eliza Filby, a shift that
has created major tremors in both the
harmony of teams and the expectations
of generations. By 2025, some 75%
of the worlds working population will
be millennials.
S h e a rg u e s t h a t “ a l o n g s i d e
technological disruption, demographic
disru ption (changing beliefs,
experiences, habits and values) is
transforming the world”.
This shift in generational dynamics is
being matched by workers’ expectation
of purpose-led roles and a focus on
impact and contribution from their
organisations. Business as a force for
good is no longer just a good stump
speech for a CEO at Davos, it’s the daily
measure by which people judge their
places of work.
When Nick Giles and I wrote Mission,
we looked at how great businesses
break through. A golden thread in the
interviews was their ability to activate
their purpose. Not only because it
was the right thing to do, but because
their purpose was also at the heart
of their commercial performance.
Bain & Co has excellent research that
correlates to the relationship between
inspired employees and satisfied
employees. Those that are inspired
buy into a company’s mission because
it provides meaning.
Satisfied employees usually feel
safe in their place of work, but this, in
itself, doesn’t inspire them to go further.
The productivity gap between these
two types of worker is about two and
a quarter.
When politicians speak of productivity
they might be better framing it as an
inspiration challenge. One business
that succeeded in this from the outset
is supermarket company Whole Foods
Market. We interviewed its founder John
Mackey at its global HQ in Austin, Texas.
“Businesses need
to inspire the
people who give
them their
working lives”
For him the greatest challenge is
creating conscious environments, by
which he meant that too many people
arrive at work having left the best of
themselves at the front door. The result
is a largely unconscious relationship
with their employers. For Mackey the
solution involved “liberating the heroic
spirit of business” — an heroic role is
much needed in our world, which faces
boundless challenges, from climate
change to health and wealth inequalities.
Unleashing that mission is about more
than doing the right thing. It’s about
doing it on purpose. Businesses need
to inspire the people who give them
their working lives. Tomorrow’s markets
will be driven by commercial solutions
to s o me of t he wo r l d ’ s mo s t
intractable challenges.
If you have a purpose, it’s much more
than something to refer to in a report
about corporate social responsibility, it’s
your performance engine.
Michael Hayman MBE, DL is co-founder
of Seven Hills and co-author of Mission.