Purpose Blog 2 – “Purpose And Sustainability – A Commercial Necessity”

Thanks to all of you who read, commented and sent messages about my last article ‘A Journey of Purpose’ (link in comments if you didn’t see it). Interesting to hear that I haven’t changed (much!) in the 20 years between the 2 photos – although for those that look closely, something definitely happened with my hair

But seriously, it was great to hear others’ thoughts, questions and challenges …

  • the opportunities of moving to focus on stakeholder value (not just shareholder)
  • the challenges of translating Purpose coherently across your business and operating model or losing focus as stuff happens and new things come along
  • and what’s needed to get it right, including commitment/being led from the top, and the need to walk the talk – doing the right thing day in day out, not just being seen to do the right thing as some sort of marketing or PR greenwash

On this last point, now more than ever people are looking to see that your actions match your words. A point illustrated with world leaders at COP26 – talking about climate change but questions being asked about the number of private jets taken to get there.

Being Purpose-led is now becoming a commercial necessity, in response to environmental and social issues, and key to increasing customer and employee relevance and loyalty. The need for businesses to take action today is clear – businesses have to be purpose-led or otherwise become competitively disadvantaged.

Sustainability issues more important than ever to customers and employees ….

6 months ago we worked with a team who were looking to develop an interesting initiative to raise awareness and engagement in COP. Their research at the time had identified little understanding in the general public of what COP was about. But the need for change and why it was important for the world was clear. Brilliantly summed up in the speech by David Attenborough and the ‘Earth to COP’ film by Harder than you Think on the opening day.

Fast forward to now and the media reporting and commentary on COP26 and Glasgow is widespread. And the importance of making a real difference to climate change, and the different areas that that could encompass – from lowering emissions, to agriculture, deforestation, manufacturing processes and throwaway consumerism and fashion – are clear to see. Expectations of positive change resulting from COP26 is increasing with government commitments, policies and implications for business to follow.

What’s also clear is how significantly expectations of customers, employees and investors have grown. And not just of climate change, but in other areas such as EDI, social issues and other environmental issues too. Often referred to collectively as an organisation’s ESG or sustainability agenda, these are becoming must-have’s for organisations – or arguably in some cases, have become already!

Sustainability is increasingly becoming not just a legislative or regulatory requirement that businesses must tick, but a core discipline customers and employees expect. A clear Purpose, and bringing that to life in how a business operates, is translating into competitive advantage and commercial success. Sustainability as a part of that narrative is increasingly important, and customers and other stakeholders want to see businesses continue to innovate and push what they do, for example actions focused on re-using not just recycling.

Not building your Purpose into how you do business, and sustainability within that, risks falling behind your competitors and becoming increasingly commercially disadvantaged.

Is an ESG agenda and being Purpose-led the same thing ….?

However, one question that I’ve been asked is whether sustainability and Purpose are the same thing? And whether Purpose has to be about sustainability?

My view is that while different organisations articulate their Purpose in different ways, some more explicitly focused on sustainability than others, sustainability is an increasingly important part of how a business brings their Purpose to life in how they operate.

Some organisations have a Purpose which is explicit about the sustainable impact the business wants to have. For example Unilever, ‘To make sustainable living commonplace,’ or Octopus Energy, ‘To provide energy that is good for the planet, and good for your wallet.’ For these, their sustainability agenda is visibly aligned with their Purpose.

For others, the sustainability agenda is less explicit in how they articulate their Purpose. For example

  • Brewdog: ‘To make other people as passionate about great craft beer as we are,’
  • Disney: ‘To create happiness’
  • Nestle: ‘Unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come’
  • Ikea: ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people

The articulation of their Purpose focuses on the positive impact they want to have for people. This does not mean, however, that they don’t have a strong focus on sustainability. Whilst its not explicitly articulated in their Purpose, these businesses do have sustainability agendas that underpin how they operate as a business – arguably they would be out of step with stakeholder expectations if they didn’t – but Purpose is the compass that provides a framing for those agendas.

There are also, however, organisations who say the right things, but customers and other stakeholders challenge whether they do all the right things. Do they walk the talk? Do their actions match their words? With higher stakeholder expectations, and increasingly shared views of brands and their actions via social media, attempts at green-washing and woke-washing (a new phrase I read today!) are increasingly not tolerated and even worse, detrimental to the brand. Its not good enough to have a Purpose – you have to align how you operate to it too.

Your Purpose journey ….

Different organisations are at different stages on their Purpose journeys, often linked to where they are as a business – starting-up, scaling-up or a more established business that wants to refocus on Purpose and how that comes to life across their business.

Hedgehog can help you define your Purpose clearly and translate your Purpose into action – how it translates into your products and services, operations, decision-making, people strategy, communication and engagement – in essence everything you do.
If you are looking to drive commercial advantage by becoming more purpose-led in your organisation and want some help, we’d love to have a chat. To get the conversation started  please email me at alyson@hedgehogstrategy.com.