4 Steps to Meet and Beat the Demands of Your Employees

Posted on by Carol Cone

The past few years have taught businesses many hard lessons. Among them, leaders must expect the unexpected, and no issue is off-limits for an organizational response. Consumers have become increasingly skeptical of green and purpose claims, while employees have found their voice  — and aren’t afraid to use it. So much has changed during this time, but one thing has remained constant: the power of purpose.​

It’s 2022. Do you know what your employees want? Over the course of a lifetime, we spend around 81,000 hours working. Together, that’s about one-third of the average person’s entire life, and it translates to approximately 10,000 days spent at work.

Now, consider the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard, who said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” If we want to spend our lives meaningfully, we must endeavor to find purpose in our daily work.

Corporate purpose is defined as an organization’s reason for being, beyond profits, grounded in humanity. I have the great privilege of being the founder and CEO of one of the first social purpose agencies, so I live the power of purpose every day — through my work, leadership, and clients.

Purpose Under Pressure, a new report we jointly released with the Harris Poll and Allison + Partners, proves that the influence of purpose is more vital than ever — especially among employees — and reveals that an original and activated purpose is a powerful magnet for talent. But unfortunately, many companies have an inconsistent commitment to their purpose, substantially lessening its impact and value.

I find the “Great Resignation” to be a misnomer. I prefer the better refined “Great Contemplation” —because the events of recent years have given us all a lot to think about. For employees, this has led to a rearrangement of priorities and pursuit of higher meaning in their work that places more demands on their employers.​

You can take a few specific data-supported steps to ensure your purpose is working as hard as it can for you in these turbulent times and making your company resilient in the face of ongoing business and societal challenges.

1. Purpose is everyone’s job. Johanna Jobin, global head of corporate reputation and responsibility at Biogen and executive director of Biogen Foundation, says, “I don’t think organizations make up their purpose. They reveal their purpose. And it’s up to the people in the organization to reveal that purpose and bring it to life.” It’s up to us to help our employees understand that purpose is central to their roles. Build it into job descriptions, KPIs, reviews, compensation, ongoing mentoring conversations, company meetings, and all internal communications.

2. Align your employees’ values with organizational values. More than ever, employees seek roles at organizations that have values that match their own. So, we must put those values front and center in the employee experience. Balaji Ganapathy is chief of social responsibility at Tata Consultancy and says, “As an employer, you need to enable your workforce to fulfill their broader purpose. It does not stop with providing volunteering opportunities. It is about driving a culture.”

3. Your actions speak louder than words:  Bob Jiminez, senior vice president corporate affairs at Cox Enterprises, illustrates this point nicely, saying, “A purpose without action is just some great words that folks can feel good about. We use purpose as the lens through which we make all of our decisions. We want a ripple effect that elevates other individuals and communities, particularly those in need, and raises them in the process.”

4. Engage purpose ambassadors in every function: Employee-fueled communication and programs will be the key to enterprise-wide purpose adoption. Identify ambassadors in each department who champion your purpose and ensure it’s well aligned and activated. Deb O’Connor, director of global corporate reputation and community relations at Whirlpool Corporation, says, “Employees are your ambassadors in the community. They want to be involved and are your primary stakeholder in corporate social responsibility. Your colleagues are the ones who help you get the work done.”

We know that when purpose is well defined and embedded in an organization, the result is long-term success. Companies that get it right “…make more money, have more engaged employees, more loyal customers, and are better at innovation and transformational change,” according to a Harvard Business Review report, “The Business Case for Purpose.”

As business leaders, it’s up to us to be courageous and clear that our organizations will be human-centered and staunchly focused on lifting our stakeholders, beginning with our most valuable: employees. When we identify and live our true purpose, we create meaningful workplaces. We are rewarded with better recruitment and retention, increased performance and impact, and a future-proofed organization for today and tomorrow.

Employees want authentic, vibrant, and actionable purpose embedded throughout their work:

  • 84% of respondents said they would only work at a purpose-driven company.
  • 66% of employees cite their employers’ positive impact as more important than before the pandemic — identical to the increase in the importance of salary and compensation.
  • 35% of employees say a company’s positive impact is among the top two most important attributes when deciding to stay or leave a job.

7 Lessons From Davos 2020: It’s Time to Act

Posted on by Carol Cone

Welcome to the era of stakeholder capitalism: a system through which business is an engine for prosperity, not just profit. This moment has been heralded for over a decade—and with growing enthusiasm, the last few years—and was firmly placed in the zeitgeist at this year’s World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland. 

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Davos took on the pressing theme, Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World, and turned from usually polite discussions into a stage for activism and heated debate on urgent issues, especially the dire state of our climate. Combining the Davos commentaries with conversations about what the World Economic Forum calls the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” a new era of business, and last year’s Business Roundtable declaration redefining the purpose of a business, we are at the cusp of a new business zeitgeist.

This is a defining moment, and a triumph for leaders who believe companies with purpose will outperform the rest. Yet what matters most is what we do next. The companies that succeed in transforming capitalism—and our society—will be those that take swift but thoughtful measures over the next years to constructively activate purpose within their organizations and their ecosystems. Some companies are already well on their way, especially in terms of climate: Microsoft seeks to remove all historical carbon emissions; Amazon is committing to 100% renewable energy by 2030, and Starbucks will halve carbon emissions by 2030. 

Change has already started if the conversations at Davos are any indication. Here are the trends we can expect to advance and evolve over the next decade. 

1. Capitalism will be rebuilt, not rebooted 

Five years ago, the conversation about purpose and capitalism centered on what individual companies can do to be better corporate citizens. Today, the conversation is about the system of capitalism as a whole, on both a philosophical and actual level. In the words of former Danish PM Hellene Thorning-Schmidt: “We have to find a way to reinvent the market economy, so it works for more people.” This may involve changes to regulations, legislation, how value is measured, etc. Look at JUST Capital, a powerful emerging leader reinventing the future of capitalism through comprehensive data-driven analysis, indexes, and thought leadership. 

2. ‘Business as usual’ will change

Stakeholder capitalism requires a new kind of business model. This “mission first” approach outlines how profits are used, which stakeholders are engaged and benefitted by the business, which holds economic or voting rights, how value is defined and measured. I hope that in the near future, we see more companies start with a core purpose—and a plan to achieve it. 

3. Companies will be better listeners

Shareholders call for one thing (usually): profits. Stakeholders call for many things: better wages, less environmental impact, greater equality, fair taxes. Leaders will need to re-tool the way they engage with and listen to a diversity of stakeholders to ensure that needs are being addressed and met on an equitable basis. Humility and transparency go hand-in-hand with being a better listener. Companies, especially those in industries that negatively impact the environment or people, in the case of companies like Shell or ExxonMobil—must be willing to communicate about shortfalls or mistakes, as well as their plans to do better. 

4. Even good corporate citizens must evolve

Starbucks often lauded as a golden child of purposeful businesses, is not exempt from the calls coming from Davos. Said CEO Kevin Johnson: “As we approach the 50th anniversary of Starbucks in 2021, we are looking ahead with a heightened sense of urgency and conviction that we must challenge ourselves, think bigger, and do much more in partnership with others to keep our planet safe.” I expect that other leaders—such as Unilever, Salesforce, 3M, and Patagonia—will continue to challenge themselves to better contribute to society.

5. Climate will be the issue of the decade

From board rooms to public marches, the state of our climate is today’s most urgent issue. In this era of stakeholder capitalism, the environment will be just that: a core stakeholder, for which businesses will be expected to generate value. This means climate will be a “C-suite issue,” with the public and government expecting corporate leaders to establish stances and policies around environmental impact. I expect to see more crossover between business purpose and sustainability in the coming years. 

6. The best businesses will leverage applied innovation to be carbon “negative”

Look to Interface, the carpet tile manufacturer that didn’t just go carbon neutral, but went carbon negative. Interface now contributes more to the environment than it takes out. For a carbon footprint-heavy industry like flooring, that’s a huge task. If business is to help right our environment genuinely, we have to develop solutions that put more back into our earth than we take away. This will require radical innovation.

7. Collaboration critical to develop scaled solutions

Just as no single company can change the nature of capitalism, no company can solve a social issue. On the environment, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “No one company can solve this macro challenge alone, but as a global technology company, we have a particular responsibility to do our part.” Leading companies will be conveners, using their clout to build coalitions that address social challenges. Others will be contributors, plugging into alliances with a shared mission. Together, we all can achieve more. 

The voices of Davos 2020 have proven the critical need for a new kind of capitalism, one driven by companies with a purpose beyond profits. Now it’s time to take concrete action in the short-, medium- and long-term. Do so authentically, in a manner that captures the voices and needs of all stakeholders. Tomorrow depends on it.  

Gillette’s Brave Message Lacks Action. Here’s How They Can do More

Posted on by Carol Cone

The “shiny red object” in marketing these days is “adver-activism.” This development is inspiring creatives around the world to consider social issues central to their campaigns.

While exciting that advertising agencies are convincing clients to jump into the often-roiling waters of hotly-debated social issues, the new Gillette ad (or “short film,” according to the brand) shows that social purpose should not be left just to creatives: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0

I commend Gillette and its parent Proctor & Gamble, who want to use their brands for good: “Media companies can and should have a purpose, identifying areas where the company can have a voice that makes a difference while building the business,” said Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer of P&G.

Beyond relevance with today’s zeitgeist and the desire from Millennials and Gen Zs for brands to contribute to society, it’s also likely that P&G wants to challenge purpose-brand leader Unilever through provocative communications and innovative products.

So, reactions to the new Gillette campaign? Brilliant? Horrible? As I write, there are more than 11 million views, 625k dislikes, and 250k likes on YouTube with social posts ranging from praise to abuse and outrage:

“For their 30th… this commercial is awful,” said a post. “It is dripping with contempt for men and upholds ridiculous [stereotypes].”

“It’s a massive conglomerate selling frivolous throw-away plastics at ridiculously over-inflated prices. Please don’t get too evangelical over their desires to sell more. The fashion for loading brands with profound political & cultural resonance is nauseating in the extreme.” (That comment has 108 likes so far).

And it’s a big flashing red light to other marketers who attempt to navigate social activism.

Gillette is a smart marketer. The brand knew the ad would provoke controversy and lots of conversation – and it seems that conversation is what they were aiming for. Elena Valbonesi, Gillette’s and Venus’s European shave care director, stated that the divisive U.S. campaign marked “another step” for Gillette in its global mission to help men work towards their personal best. “When we look at the younger generations, they ask more of brands than just selling them a product,” said Valbonesi. “They appreciate Gillette meaning something to them. That’s exactly what we wanted to do and keep doing in the future.”

Talk and controversy can spark change. But Gillette should do more if it truly wants to drive behavior change related to toxic masculinity. (Perhaps they and others can benefit from Unilever’s booklet, The Five Levers for Change).

How is Gillette’s provocation – what it means to be a man – sustained through actions to have a real impact?

Gillette committed to give $3 million over three years to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is commendable, but it’s a tiny drop in the bucket. More, it doesn’t seem strategic enough to support impactful programming directed at creating change.

Don’t get me wrong. I love BGCA. But where is the sizeable $10+ million X-prize type challenge to uncover new solutions and drive new behaviors? Let’s unite creatives and ad strategists with social purpose experts, all on equal footing regarding strategy and budgets, to create thoughtful, insights-driven, sustainable programs that can become new cultural touch-points. How about another Boston based revolution, Gillette?

Gillette’s ad will be compared to the Nike adver-activism Colin Kaepernick spot. Nike’s ad captured the true essence of its ethos and brand. In contrast, if Gillette really wants to make a change, the brand should use this piece as the beginning of a very long journey about what it means for a man to be his personal best. Only then will they find authentic ways to have a social impact to change toxic masculinity.

I agree with Esquire’s headline: “Gillette’s new ad Is a big step for men’s grooming. We still need a giant leap.”

Welcome to The Tipping Point of Capitalism

Posted on by Carol Cone

At a time defined by political scandals, nuclear threats, and turbulence on Wall Street, business is society’s unlikeliest hero.

A series of watershed statements, reports, and initiatives from some of the world’s most well known capitalists is heralding a new zeitgeist, during which businesses are expected to exist to benefit society – not just shareholders.

If you like this, subscribe here for more stories that Inspire The Future.

We call this approach social purpose: a company’s aspirational reason for being beyond profits, grounded in humanity. Social purpose is no longer nice-to-have, but must-have. It’s long-term, embedded in operations, results-driven, and people-first. That’s a historic change.

We first connected business with social impact in the 1980s, linking Rockport with walking, Reebok with human rights, and Avon with breast cancer. All during a time when business was rooted in Milton Friedman’s profit-above-all ethos.

Over time, companies shifted their approach to include corporate citizenship, sustainability, and shared value. Companies saw the benefits of operationalizing these philosophies, as societal engagement began to penetrate product sourcing, operations, employee and community welfare.

During the last decade, those at the vanguard placed purpose firmly at the center of their organizations. Yet they were in the minority.

Now, a growing chorus of voices is calling for companies to embed social purpose into their operating models. It’s not a request. It’s a demand to boost societal impact in lockstep with bottom line growth.

This is heralded by the Larry Fink letter; the Just Capital JUST 100; the Bloomberg Gender Equity Index; Millennials demanding a new way to work; E&Y’s Business Case for Purpose; the Imperative Global Purpose Index; the B Team; and others.

Capitalism is changing. Dramatically.

BlackRock: Social purpose must be sustainable

It’s the letter that shook the business world: BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink’s January 2018 memo to CEOs, not-so-subtly titled “A Sense of Purpose,” challenged companies to adopt a greater sense of responsibility or “lose their license to operate.”

Even as we may coast into a bear market, Wall Street’s extraordinary performance over the past two years offers companies a pivotal choice: “…succumb to short-term pressure to distribute earnings, or make investments in employee development, innovation, and capital expenditures necessary for long-term growth,” says Fink.

E&Y’s Business Case for Purpose report affirms Fink’s theory that companies with a clear reason for being, supported by social purpose, can accelerate bottom line growth. Fifty-eight percent of companies that prioritize purpose gained more than 10% growth in revenues over three years. In that time, purpose resulted in companies making significant changes in their approach to strategy development, business operating models, as they more deeply integrated and delivered social purpose.

Yet, E&Y found that the biggest hurdle to embedding purpose in an organization is short-term shareholder pressure, underlining Fink’s point that social purpose requires a long-term strategic and financial commitment to be sustainable in both bull and bear markets.

Just 100: Employees must come first

Another unlikely leader is heralding capitalism’s new zeitgeist.

In 2013, billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones II founded Just Capital, a nonprofit challenging companies to operate in a way that “reflects the true priorities of the American people.” Just Capital is in the second year of releasing its JUST 100 list, which indexes America’s 1,000 largest publicly-traded corporations based on the “issues Americans care most about.”

Both years, the American public pegged “workers” as the most important issue, topping customers, products, environment, communities, job creation, and shareholders, in descending order. Providing a living wage, healthy benefits, safe working conditions, work-life balance, and career development resources signify the most “just” companies – underscoring the call for people before profit.

We concur with the public: Employees are a company’s most significant asset.

Bloomberg Gender Equality Index: Women are the new power players

The future is female, and we’re not just talking about the Women’s March and #metoo. With women making up nearly 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, many of the world’s largest companies have realized how critical it is to have female representation on boards and in the C-suite.

Bloomberg’s newly-introduced Gender Equality Index (GEI) shines a spotlight on the top 104 global companies leading in gender equality. An evolution of the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender Equality Index (BFGEI), the GEI is industry-agnostic and measures gender equality across 53 data points including internal statistics, employee policies, community support, and gender-aware products of companies in 24 countries and regions.

Companies on the Index have 26.2 percent female representation on boards, compared to the average 12.7 percent in the ESG universe. Women in GEI-indexed companies hold 26 percent of senior leadership positions, and 19 percent of executive officer positions.

The Index serves not just as a barometer for gender equality in the workplace, but a set of rigorous standards that companies — like early adopter L’Oreal – can embed in operations.

This isn’t just a feel-good movement. For further proof, women-led Fortune 1000 companies outperform the S&P 500 with three times the returns of male-run businesses, according to a 2015 Quantopian study. Putting women in power pays.

Millennials: Business must be accountable to society

More than 75 million-strong, Millennials continue to shape consumer and societal trends in a profound way. They are consumers, professionals, community members, and activists making up two-fifths of the U.S. working population. They hold close to 20 percent of leadership positions in the U.S., and by 2020, they will make up half of the world’s total workforce.

Businesses of all sectors need Millennial talent, and one of the best ways to attract them is through a values-based culture that emphasizes the confluence of business and society – 76 percent of Millennials consider a company’s social commitments when deciding where to work, with 75 percent willing to take a pay cut to work for a “responsible company.”

Solving social or environmental challenges is the second most important career goal to Millennials surveyed by IBM, following the ability to make a positive impact on their organization. Achieving financial security falls second to last.

Channeling Fink, 87 percent of Millennials believe the success of a business should be measured in more than just financial terms, and that success relies on long-term sustainability rather than short-term profit maximization. Perhaps a surprising insight from a generation known for flicking from one trend to the next.

Yet there is an “impact gap” between the potential and actual impact Millennials believe companies are driving. And they want to be the ones to help close it.

Tax Cuts and Job Acts Bill: An opportunity to invest in society

U.S. corporations are facing a tremendous opportunity thanks to the Tax Cuts and Job Acts bill.

Analysts believe the majority of companies will use their tax reform benefit to increase dividends and spur buybacks, or fund acquisitions and pay down debt. Some companies are already going beyond, announcing extra year-end bonuses to employees, increases in wages, new training programs, and accelerated hiring plans. The New York Times is encouraging accountability by tracking these commitments, noting that while more than 40 S&P 500 companies have increased bonuses or wages, only 9 have publicly announced increases to their charitable giving at time of publication.

This is also a pivotal moment for businesses to increase their social impact commitments, as analysts forecast steep drops in both government and charitable funding as a result of the bill. Nonprofits are facing a reduction of $12 billion to $20 billion of charitable giving, as reported by the Tax Policy Center, and will increasingly look to the private sector to fill critical gaps.

How companies use their tax reform benefit is up to them, but given that investments in corporate responsibility can increase shareholder value by up to $1.28 billion over a 15-year period, it would be a wise use of some of those funds.

What the new zeitgeist will look like

Business and social purpose are now one and the same. This is the new way to operate, lead, innovate, hire, collaborate, and profit. It’s capitalism’s moment: the opportunity for companies to address relevant social issues and benefit their business by deepening current commitments or creating a bold new vision and the innovative strategies to match.

Paul Polman led the way with his commitment to embedding sustainable living into the core of Unilever’s business and brands, to remarkable success. In 2016, Sustainable Living products delivered 60% of Unilever’s overall growth and grew 50% faster than the rest of the business — a direct result of Polman’s long-term, steadfast commitment to the power of purpose.

Creating a business that operates for society and with society demands long-term vision and a flexible framework to support it. To do this, we believe that companies must embrace the following critical principles:

  1. Lead from the C-Suite to set the social purpose vision as organizational business strategy. This leadership is critical to embed a company’s reason for being, beyond profits, into culture and behaviors.
  2. Operationalize and embed social purpose to align with the competencies and priorities of the business and its employees. This is more scalable and sustainable as stated by Peter F. Drucker, “Every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.”
  3. Put employees front, center, and first in the development and delivery of social purpose. This engenders trust and affirms authenticity internally and externally.

I’ve made the advancement of social purpose my mission for more than three decades, and have never seen such a seismic shift. The more companies serve society, the more society will respond and business can grow.

It’s a capital idea, and its time has come.

If you like this, subscribe here for more stories that Inspire The Future.