Until very recently I was the Head of Sustainable Business for Vodafone Group Plc, responsible for the development and execution of our sustainability strategy and was part of the leadership team that developed our purpose, ‘to connect for a better future’.
We spent the last year working with the Executive Committee and many committed colleagues to develop our purpose, which our CEO launched to the entire company just over ten weeks ago, so I am a firm believer that there is a way to do ‘purpose’ properly. We did so by putting our sustainable business strategy at the heart of our purpose framework.
To answer the first question…
I happen to prefer the term purpose – led rather than purposeful as I think an organisation’s purpose must be led by the CEO, supported by the Board and Executive Committee and owned, on a day to day basis, by the employees.
At a minimum, a business can be considered to be purposeful when the strategy is aligned to deliver against the stated purpose of the business. Ideally, it is when that strategy is supported by the organisation’s culture and remuneration systems, and evidenced through its decision making.
I think this is a great point @costa - I think purpose to a certain extent has to be co-created and to a certain extent negotiated with a wider group of stakeholders who represent the interests of broader society.
I think the important point made was also that we need to not look at profits or purpose as if they were at the opposite of a spectrum. Driving purpose with profits is possible. At Unilever our purposeful brands grew 69% faster than the rest!
Thanks Gib. I suggested that a business can be considered purposeful ‘when its activities are aligned to the long term wellbeing of all’ - I’m sure you’ll agree the majority of BP’s activities are currently very far from aligned, and they are (for example) still consciously investing in exploration for new sources of oil. Their trajectory is very different from eg Orsted, which has moved from fossil fuel to renewables with amazing speed and determination over the last 15 years. So I’m with Mr Rylance on this one.
That’s kind of my point…and Mark Rylance’s. Yet there’s a dichotomy between short term action and long term direction. We could boycott or close down all energy companies for not moving fast enough, but then the lights go out and we all suffer.
I agree @pilarp - in order for business to have a lasting impact it needs to drive change in a sustainable way and that means it still needs to make money
And viceversa. Example, I am working with the Red Cross, it is an association that is doing social activities, not for that they can’t be profitable.
Is not doing the business, the question is “how right is your profit”?
@JHH Let’s empower others to do the same in their organisations. I think it would be really helpful to the audience if you shared your view of what sustainable business is vs purpose please.
A fair point and well made. So they’re prioritising short term profit over investing in the energy transition for the long term well being of the planet. I buy that
@JHH would you not want to specify a social impact dimension to purpose? Or is it enough in your view to be aligned to a purpose, even if it’s not about serving society?
Hello, I am Tula Ducasse, Head of Public Affairs of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation. In my view the purpose must be long term, beyond the current CEO, Board, Executive Committee and Employees.
Given the global challenge we face, I think a purpose has to be sustainable. I hosted a group of purpose and sustainability experts to explore this and we suggest a sustainable purpose you can see at sustainablepurpose.com, we think a ‘sustainable purpose is a meaningful, enduring reason for an organization to exist that provides solutions to global challenges, or benefits society, in a way that sustains the social and environmental systems we rely upon . This positively expresses how the core business creates ongoing value across its wider network, by contributing to a sustainable future.’
Frankly I think both words carry too much baggage with them these days and mean different things to different people. Agree they’re not the same, but we lack a clear and common language in this space
I worry that all sorts of esp. big business now say they are purpose-driven, when it’s clear that they aren’t. They’re sh*tting in the pool for everyone else, and inviting cynicism around the very concept of purpose. Do we need to dial up on validation/certification? Is B Corp certification - for example - part of the answer?