• Companies with a strong sense of purpose are able to transform and innovate better. Those executives who treat purpose as a core driver of strategy and decision-making reported greater ability to drive successful innovation and transformational change and deliver consistent revenue growth: 53 percent of executiveswho said their company has a strong sense of purpose said their organization is successful with innovation and transformation efforts, comparedwith 31 percent of those who are trying to articulate a sense of purpose and 19 percent of the com- panies who have not thought about it at all. figure 7 Given the high level of consensus around purpose and so many good reported results, why aren’t more companies motivating employees, attracting customers, and aligning suppliers with a strong purpose? The survey found the problem may lie at the top: the executives sur- veyed said that companies need to do a better job embedding their purpose in the organiza- tion, particularly in leadership development and training, in employee performance metrics and rewards, and in operations. WHYPURPOSEMATTERS The survey found that most companies in the survey fall into three categories with respect to purpose: prioritizers , companies that already have a clearly articulated and understood pur- pose (39 percent); developers , companies that do not yet have a clearly articulated purpose but are working to develop one (48 percent); and laggards , companies that have not yet begun to develop or even think about purpose (13 percent). figure 2
FIGURE 2 MORE THAN ONE THIRD ARE PRIORITIZERS Percentage who said the following statement best applies to their organization.
Laggards
Prioritizers
13 %
Purpose clearly articulated and understood Purpose understood by some areas better than others Purpose not well understood or communicated
39 %
48 %
Developers
BASE: ALL SAYING ORGANIZATION HAS/IS WORKING ON A STATED OR IMPLIED PURPOSE. N=431
THE BUSINESS CASE FOR PURPOSE
3
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