Being Purpose Driven in a Crisis

October 21, 2021 | Report

Asia Human Resources Council - Council Meeting Insights (May'21)

How does being purpose driven help unite a company during a crisis?
What distinguishes “purpose” from vision, mission, and values?
How can companies align their culture with their purpose so that they ‘live’ the purpose rather than it being a meaningless statement?
What is most likely to derail a company’s purpose?

These were some of the questions discussed in the 4th Asia HR Council’s online meeting on 25th May, attended by senior HR leaders from Asia-based companies.

Key Insights

Having a strong purpose can unite a company during a crisis. The Covid pandemic has forced companies to ask the question “why do we exist”. This is what a company’s purpose statement is designed to address.
Corporate purpose is closely linked to stakeholder capitalism. It can be triggered and shaped by a Company’s investors, employees, and/or customers. Purpose can also be triggered by an inflection point-type event. For example, the Covid pandemic has brought forward the communities where a Company operates as a key stakeholder for business. Covid has compelled people to look at whether and how organizations live up to what they stand for in terms of community support and development . Many organizations began to question their purpose and how is relates to what they’re now doing in response to the on-going Covid crisis.
Purpose-driven companies are defined by their ability to instil a culture of purpose, by how purpose is governed and measured, by the role it plays in talent management, by how purpose impacts on strategy, and by their ability to handle conflicts with purpose being the chief guidepost.
Effective CEOs and other senior leaders champion their company’s purpose, and strive to make purpose visible, promote actions not words, and actively tailor purpose-related communications to “make it real” for stakeholders.
Purpose is also closely linked to the company’s talent, dictating or shaping who is recruited or developed. It influences how organizations engage talent and foster loyalty and retention.
The importance of consistency with the company’s purpose is critical to strategic decision making. It should dictate what opportunities the company embraces and what opportunities it forgoes.

Discussion Points

The benefits of being a purpose-driven company were highlighted in a presentation by TCB’s Anke Schrader, based on research comprising interviews with senior managers from 15 global companies. Whereas the company’s vision highlights what the company wishes to accomplish and its mission describes how it will do so, its purpose articulates why the company exists beyond profitmaking. It is knowing why the company exists at this higher level that holds employees and customers together especially during a crisis.

Responding to the points made by Anke, one participant described how her company recently embarked on a 10-year roadmap to address longer term business issues in the face of great uncertainty. Corporate purpose is being used as the internal common denominator to effectively navigate through this complex process.

What triggers ‘purpose’, asked Anke in her presentation. It can encompass a major leadership ch

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