The real business benefits of investing in Employee Purpose
Ebook
The real business benefits of investing in Employee Purpose Despite uncertain times, it is very encouraging to see companies investing more and more in bringing purpose into their programs around the world. In fact, recent research from McKinsey shows that ‘creating strong links to an individual purpose benefits individuals and companies alike - and could be vital in managing the post pandemic uncertainties that lie ahead’ Of course the question can still remain - what do these programs consist of and how can I see the tangible business benefits? In this Ebook we bring it all together, so that companies can easily understand the potential benefits of employee purpose, and why it’s important now more than ever. Let’s first take a look at what ‘Employee Purpose’ really means.
Purpose at work, one act at a time.
What is Employee Purpose? Employee purpose is all about enabling and encouraging employees to bring purpose to their professional environment and working life. A purpose-driven workplace is one where employees have the opportunity to work on what is meaningful for them. Some examples might include: Volunteering (online or physically) to develop their skills and give back Monetary and goods donations for causes that matter to them Taking care of their physical and mental wellbeing Trying new habits to be more sustainable to protect our planet Freedom to choose causes that matter on an individual level
‘During times of crisis, individual purpose can be a guidepost that helps people face up to uncertainties and navigate them better, and thus mitigate the damaging effects of long-term stress.’ McKinsey & Company
What is an Employee Purpose Program? An Employee Purpose Program is a company-led initiative to ignite purposeful action among your employees, and bring a true sense of meaning to their professional lives. Normally this can be done by starting building a strategy aligned with business goals and company purpose.
Some companies who understand the value of investing in Purpose in the workplace
LinkedIn engages employees
Heineken employees spent
More than 70,000 Deloitte
year-round in charitable
more than 7,500 hours
professionals mentor and
giving and volunteer
volunteering by delivering
support people in their
opportunities focused on
holiday meals and creating
communities today
coaching and mentorship
community gardens or raising funds for charities
Source: Volunteer Match, The Most Impactful Programs you need to know about
Building a program to address these goals and challenges can involve these steps: Choosing a cause/causes that matter to your organisation, or allow employees to pick their own using a digital platform Organising events like field or online volunteering for employees to participate Enabling employees to develop their skills by sharing them for good Encouraging employees to live a more sustainable lifestyle Donation matching to show company solidarity to employee efforts Raising awareness about important social, environmental and civic topics
Why invest in employee purpose programs? There are very interesting benefits for companies when they encourage purpose in the workplace. McKinsey found that when comparing people who say they are “living their purpose” at work with those who say they aren’t, people who say they are “living their purpose” at work have:
"Our research conducted during the pandemic finds that when comparing people who say they are “living
5x
higher levels of wellbeing
their purpose” at work with those who say they aren’t, the former report levels of well-being that are five times higher than the latter."
Moreover, those in the former group are four times
4x
higher engagement levels
more likely to report higher engagement levels.
What tangible business benefits can companies see by investing in employee purpose programs? There are also real benefits to the bottom line by bringing purpose into the workplace. Research shows that companies putting purpose-driven employee engagement at the heart of their strategy see: “After poring through more than 200 studies, the researchers found that corporate responsibility could potentially increase the market value of a company by up to 6% over a 15- year
6%
higher market value
period. Market value may grow even more -- to 40-80% higher than peers' and competitors' market value -- for companies with strong relationships with stakeholders such as environmental and social NGOs.”
“ Organizations and teams with higher employee engagement and lower active disengagement perform at higher levels. For example, organizations that are the best in engaging their employees achieve earnings-per-share growth that is more
21%
higher profitability
than four times that of their competitors. Compared with business units in the bottom quartile, those in the top quartile of engagement realize substantially better customer engagement, higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents, and 21% higher profitability. Engaged workers also report better health outcomes.”
According to CECP, turnover rates can be up to 57% lower in groups of people that are deeply connected to their
57%
reduction in turnover
companies giving and volunteering programs, when compared to groups of employees that are not involved in purpose programs.
Conclusion It’s clear that, even during uncertain times, purpose needs to be part of every employer's strategy. Not only will your business benefit long term by cultivating more resilient and skilled employees, but results show that businesses can benefit financially too. Now is the time, more than ever to bring purpose to work, one act at a time.
Sources 1 - McKinsey & Company : https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/ourinsights/covid-19-and-the-employee-experience-how-leaders-can-seize-the-moment 2 - McKinsey & Company : Igniting individual purpose in times of crisis, August 18, 2020, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/igniting-individual-purposein-times-of-crisis?cid=other-eml-nsl-mipmck&hlkid=10e5a1e24f5b40a4954023913171cf05&hctky=10048743&hdpid=c7533413-0bda-4b1d8c5a-d4d66a414da3# 3 - Project ROI, Babson College & IO Sustainability (with the support of Verizon and Campbell Soup Company) https://www.babson.edu/academics/centers-and-institutes/the-lewis-institute/thoughtleadership/project-roi/ 4 - State of the global workplace, Gallup, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238079/state-globalworkplace-2017.aspx#formheader 5 - Giving in Numbers, CECP, https://cecp.co/home/resources/giving-in-numbers/