Importance of A CorePurpose™
Our most recent blog, ‘Disengaged Employees? We Have the Antidote’, shared that the percentage of disengaged employees has hit a staggering high on the global landscape. As a leader or stakeholder in your organization, the information in that piece may have been concerning. Could your employees feel similar? How can you ensure your business creates an environment to foster & grow those actively engaged employees?
One of the biggest factors in establishing a valued culture in your organization is establishing a Core Purpose™, which highlights your overarching company goal and reason for being. Why is this so important? Take it from a study published by the Gallup Organization, which analyzed more than 98% of the world’s population and identified the 5 common elements people (including your employees) need to thrive in their lives:
By establishing a why, your workers will finally be able to identify their purpose, be empowered to pursue it and ultimately get better at what they do. If your organization has been functioning without this and it seems like a big undertaking, it’s not! What’s more, the outcome of establishing a CorePurpose not only affects those currently within your business, but those who you attract in the future. A recent Mercer Study also found purpose to be a game changing factor in creating a successful & efficient workforce, with employees 3x more likely to work for a company with a strong sense or purpose. Look how Tevera depicted their CorePurpose in this CoreChart™. Tevera provides a software platform to social workers (what they do) but why? To serve those that serve others (again, why?) so that they can serve better. “So that” are the important connecting words in a good CorePurpose statement.
The Culture Fix® : From Core Values to Valued Culture Using 9 Deeds in 90 Days, is a comprehensive program that will take you through this process and place CorePurpose at the center of everything that you do. All of the elements in The Culture Fix ultimately lead up to the CoreChart pictured below. Notice that each and every aspect of establishing a valued culture in your workplace surrounds one element: CorePurpose. Note too how this CoreChart answers all the big strategic questions in one infographic.
CoreChart answers all of the big, strategic questions.
To begin thinking about your organization’s CorePurpose, you need to sit down, possibly with one or two of your most valued stakeholders, and reflect on your business’ origins. Take a look back and write down answers for the following six questions:
WHAT HAS YOUR COMPANY DONE?
State the work that you have done or the deliverables that you do for your customers.
HOW MANY HAVE YOU DELIVERED SINCE THE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED?
How many “things” have you delivered, licenses have you sold, clients have you
served etc.
WHO HAS YOUR COMPANY DONE IT FOR AND WHERE ARE THEY?
Specifically who is your key audience or customer group and where are they located?
Write down several examples for each, and make sure you are using ‘we’ statements, measurable deliverables and specifics as much as possible. Once you reflect on the origins of your business, we are going to ask you to think about your present and future, keeping those first prompts in mind.
WHAT IS THE COMPANY DOING TODAY AND FOR WHOM?
WHAT WILL IT DO BY (DATE, SAY, THREE YEARS FROM NOW)?
WHO WILL YOU DO IT FOR AND HOW MANY?
The idea is to make the number big and exciting and certainly much more than you
have done in the past due to your present scale.
Finally and most importantly...
WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?
Really feel into why (not what) you do. It is not about your company or you, it will be about the ultimate benefit to your client or your clients’ client or customer.It will be emotive and stir a feeling when you say it and tell it to others.
The reason we put dates and numbers on our purpose is to provide a tangible and exciting goal that everyone can count their way towards and that makes a statement about the magnitude of the impact being made on the world. Just look at the CoreVals Poster that Tevera came up with. Notice their CorePurpose chiseled into the granite of the mountain and look at the date and goal represented by the sunrise. Study the graphic too for the emotive energies and all the connected threads. Everything is brought together here and all the big strategic questions are answered. This purpose of serving is now threaded through everything they do and is delivering a huge and measurable impact for the company and on the world.
From these exercises, you should have enough information gathered to be able to take a step back and create a concise CorePurpose that will serve to inspire and drive your employees. Think about a goal for your future, who you are going to affect and why it is important to deliver your services.
Check out this example of a CorePurpose created by a plastics company:
By 2025, we will have helped 10,000,000 families stay beautiful, clean, and healthy so that they feel fantastic everyday!
If you were an employee for this company and previously felt like just a cog in the machine, imagine how nice it would feel to know that your contribution serves to help families feel fantastic?!
Ultimately, your CorePurpose is the essential glue that binds coworkers to coworkers as well as the whole team to its leadership, and is the first step towards creating a valued culture in your business. Once this is spelled out, a company’s purpose gives everyone a reason to be, to work, and to believe in what they are doing. While the additional elements of The Culture Fix like CoreVals™ will help employees in your company love where they work, the CorePurpose will help them love why they work.
If you are looking for additional support in transforming your business’ culture, get in contact with Will@cultureczars.com.