In today’s business environment, it is more important than ever before to have a noble company purpose. Beyond simply making a profit and satisfying consumers, the companies that stick out and succeed today largely have a mission to do something good for the world. Hubert Joly, former CEO of Best Buy and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School has recently published an article on HBR.org detailing how best to connect every employee with your company’s purpose.
Joly believes that to find a company’s noble purpose, leadership must look to the intersection of the following four criteria:
The human needs the company would like to address
The company’s unique capabilities
What the company’s employees are passionate about
How the company can create economic value
Exploring these four areas isn’t as simple as a quick survey of the C-suite. Input and analysis must be gathered from every level of employee and and engage the broadest range to be effective and inspirational. For instance, when the Ralph Lauren Corporation was seeking to define their purpose, they conducted a year-long study in stores around the world from team members, customers, long-term employees, and of course, Ralph Lauren himself. The purpose that they were able to put into words after that year was “Inspiring the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style.”
Joly goes on to lay out a few points of advice for those in leadership looking to dive deeper into their own company’s inspirational purpose. First, he says, take it slow. Make sure the prerequisites to finding your purpose are in place before the process of discovery begins. If the foundation of the company is in tatters, fix those obstacles to success. Once the fundamentals are in place, only then should a company move forward on evaluating its goals.
Second, the company’s culture must support the purpose. Remember that actions speak louder than words and that every level of the company must reflect this inspiration. Here Joly uses the example of Microsoft since Satya Nadella has been at the helm. Transforming what was once a cut throat environment into a supportive and empathetic one has been a massive shift and didn’t happen overnight. Now meeting leaders end each session by asking the question: “was this a growth mindset meeting?” to get to the root of this mission.
The third and fourth points are intrinsically tied together. Joly suggests that leaders must translate the purpose from the abstract to the practical, while also keeping it simple. Spell it out in a few short sentences that really get to the heart of the issue. Starbucks has communicated their purpose by laying out each and every group they aim to support in their mission. From stakeholders to employees (called partners within their corporation), to customers, and perhaps most importantly, to the farmers who supply the coffee beans themselves. Starbucks has practical ways of connecting and uplifting each group.
And lastly, have human conversations. Joly describes the importance of what he calls “human magic”; when that purpose gets put to work in every employee. Everyone, regardless of rank, must have an emotional connection with their company’s purpose in order to put it into practice. When Joly was leading Best Buy, he used human stories as a connecting point for all team members. Employees were asked when they encountered an inspiring friend, and what it meant to them. Under the leadership of Joly’s predecessor, Corie Barry, some Best Buy employees were asked to share their experiences with their aging parents to highlight the company’s mission of supporting seniors using tech in their homes.
Narrowing in on a purpose can be a daunting task, and as Joly points out, the research on the subject is still relatively new. With his advice, however, leadership can begin the bottom up and inside out task of identifying what is great for their employees, their communities, and the global market beyond. Give this insightful article a read here for a deeper dive from Joly, and many more examples of what this process looks like in practice.