A Generation Searching for Meaning

By 2025 millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) will represent 75% of the workforce and many studies show that for this generation, having a clear purpose is no longer a “nice to have” or “feel good perk”; but an essential element in their career path.

Growing up in a world of globalization, disruption, the threat of climate change, and lack of trust in traditional institutions, millennials want to be part of something bigger and are seeking meaning, rallying around important causes, and looking for authenticity. Their top purchasing drivers include the products and services provided by companies they trust, being environmentally friendly and demonstrating commitment to social values.

Even more than millennials, the generation that follows, Gen Z (born between 1996 and 2010) could be called “The Purpose Generation”, since meaningful work and pride in their organization has been found among their key work values.

But it is not only younger generations who expect to see companies demonstrating a purpose. Consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions based on brand’s purpose. Customers want companies to take a stand on issues like sustainability, transparency, and fair employment practices. This is also true for employees, and even to consider very carefully; employees in a company talking about purpose but not living it will work with low productivity, distrust leaders, and be less engaged. That perceived hypocrisy makes them want to leave their company.

So, what is it that purpose-driven individuals, across all generations, share in common and what does it mean to be a purpose-driven company?

For us, “purpose is the one thing that a company can do better than anyone else that brings value to its employees, customers, the communities where it operates and to society”.

A purpose is strong when it feels true, reflects the culture of the organization, and builds on the company’s core existence. Recent research published in The Harvard Business Review shows that purpose is as strong a driver in high-growth companies as creating new markets. Two distinct strategies for developing purpose emerged from the research: Retrospective and Prospective.

Retrospective:

• Builds on company’s existing reason for being.
• Requires you look back, understand the organizational culture, makes sense on company’s past.
• Focus of the process is internal and historical. Inside-out perspective.
• You might ask questions like: What made us successful till now? In what ways our DNA open-up future opportunities?

Prospective:

• Reshapes reason for being.
• Focus of process is external and forward-looking. Outside-in perspective.
• Requires you to take stock of the broader ecosystem in which you want to work and assess your potential for impacting it.
• Making sense of the future.
• You might ask questions like: What trends affect our business? What new needs, opportunities, risks can we foresee? What can we or need to do to open-up opportunities that we believe in?

Both avenues are effective. The optimum approach will depend on the company context. Combining both approaches provides an opportunity to think about what the organization is today, and what it could be. A strong purpose-driven culture is the starting point to shift from a linear or incremental sustainability approach to a transformative one.

Done well, purpose can really transform organizations to make them successful and sustainable. It is worth investing the time and effort to get purpose “right”. Purpose driven companies are most successful across multiple dimensions, and are more attractive to customers, to employees and to investors.

We are here to help!