Culture in a purpose-led organisation

All organisations are led by a strong, unifying purpose. They strive to offer something unique that translates into profit. However, some hold a core mission that sits beyond any financial targets. Some prioritise and actively push the long-term wellbeing of society, the planet, and their people – and this adds a whole new layer of impact.

A purpose-led organisation puts a societal or environmental mission at the heart of its strategy, operating responsibly to create value for every stakeholder, including their staff.

This is pretty powerful when we consider that employees who foster a sense of personal purpose at work are more productive, more likely to recommend their employer, and significantly more likely to stick around. It’s even reported that purpose-driven companies boast around 40% higher retention rates than their competitors.

And if this purpose transcends beyond the internal workings of a business, they can expect to enjoy around a 40–50% higher average customer spend, with many customers showing increased loyalty, forgiving any mistakes, and actively recommending the brand.

With all of this considered, it seems crystal clear that organisations should not only follow a purpose-driven format, but embed it into their culture. It has real commercial advantage – it’s not just a ‘nice to have’. However, only a minority of organisations that claim to be purpose-driven truly operate in this way.

The reality

Today, around 80–90% of companies have a purpose statement, but only about a third have defined it in a way that leaders recognise, and fewer than half implement it in a way that employees genuinely feel or even understand.

The vast majority of businesses believe purpose is central to success, but for many, their work on it ends there – with a thought.

Businesses are failing to translate this big picture vision into their internal workings, systems, and day-to-day behaviours. But the culture dial can only start turning when every person involved in a business is aware of, and invested in, the reasonings behind the change.

Challenges in establishing a purpose-led culture

Let’s try and understand where companies are getting it wrong and consider how these issues could be overcome.

·       If time and energy is expended into a purpose that isn’t reflected in operations, employees will become disengaged...

Carve out a purpose that seamlessly connects to the company’s everyday outcomes and goals

·       If a set of values intended to improve social impact goes against employees’ lived experiences, they’ll lose trust in what they are doing and productivity could suffer...

Invite employees to contribute to the company’s purpose, ensuring they feel involved

·       If staff motivators are only financial (performance expectations, bonus incentives, and KPIs), employees will believe these are their only measure of success...

Create a set of purpose-driven incentives and demonstrate how employees’ work helps the business in genuinely meaningful ways

·       If middle management and investors aren’t given the chance to approve new purpose-driven initiatives, there could be friction and adversity from those most integral to success...

Involve key stakeholders in the process of building a purpose-driven culture, ensuring they understand the benefits

Purpose-led companies in action

Creating and embedding a higher purpose is tough, but when done right, it ripples through an organisation seamlessly and can bring significant commercial advantage.

High-performing purpose-led organisations invest in a clear, differentiated purpose and then translate this into concrete expectations. Staff understand it intently, clearly connecting their role to a greater impact, and they are invited to share feedback (be it through surveys, qualitative feedback, or workshops) to detect gaps, build ownership, and reduce resistance.Leadership sets the cultural tone, not only modelling and explaining the new expected behaviours to staff, but actively removing any bureaucracy in their communication method.

Once established, the purpose is firmly embedded into every area of the business – beyond operations. It’s integral to recruitment, onboarding, performance reviews, rewards, and promotions, reiterating to staff that adopting it carries the same achievement as that of financial rewards and praise.It starts with a vision. But if the work is put in, a purpose-led organisation can truly thrive against its peers – and the whole team can feel proud to tackle a societal or environmental issue together.