HR Pulse

Five reasons why purpose must come before profit

Building a business or working in a job is meaningless unless it is done with purpose, knowing that making money is not a purpose, it is a result. Money is the fuel for the engine, not the reason for the journey. But what does it mean to operate with purpose, and how does a business identify whether it really knows what its purpose is – and how to identify it?

Purpose is the unifying force that cascades throughout the enterprise, from culture and strategy, through to brand and action. It responds to our innate desire to make a positive impact on the world we inhabit – regardless of whether the enterprise is non-profit, social, or a conventional business.

Here’s why purpose must come first, and how profit will follow:

• As soon as employees start doing something they believe in – something that has purpose – they are motivated and deliver better results for your company. Your people may already be being paid fair value for their work, but the offer of more money does little to inspire more commitment.
• Decision making in a purpose-led enterprise is quicker and truer because questions posed are quickly answered through a clearly defined lens. If the purpose is clear, hours, days, even months and years, spent debating and disagreeing on different world-views are far more productively spent pursuing new answers. Quick decision-making means that an enterprise can be agile, adapting at the pace of, or even anticipating, rapidly changing marketplace conditions.
• Innovation is unleashed by purpose. New products and services, as well as changes in operations, are inspired and guided by referring to the core purpose of the enterprise. Purpose demands a deeper way of thinking to fulfil unmet needs for people, planet, prosperity and posterity.
• Having a clear purpose attracts and retains top millennial talent, too. This generation of skilled workers wants to know how their prospective employer plans to make the world a different and better place, and what their role might be in achieving that purpose.
• Powerful brands are created and sustained by strong, aligned cultures. And at the heart of culture is a shared sense of purpose. Look after the inside and the inside will look after the outside.

At Freedthinkers, clients approach us for guidance because they are aware that although their business’s bottom line looks good, there’s something deeper that doesn’t feel right.

There’s no quick-fix formula that finds a business’s purpose and ‘hey presto’, everything is back on track. The hard work starts when the purpose is cascaded through the enterprise, identifying what must start to happen, what needs to stop, how priorities must change and how behaviours should shift.

This is purpose in action. The beginning starts with a deep understanding of who you are as an enterprise, the seeds of your future growth, and the obstacles in your way.

Purpose must come before profit because profit is a natural follower, but a harmful leader. Purpose is born to lead. We have helped organisations define their purpose for over 15 years, and have seen that what was an outlier is now becoming a moral and business imperative. Finding why is an investment in your future - and you’ll maximise that investment when you work with a business whose business it is to help enterprises and brands identify and live their purpose.