Having a clear Purpose that is embedded in your organisation plays a critical role in developing a positive culture where people are motivated, passionate and focused.
It has been reported that 80 of organisations do not know their Purpose (Why they do what they do). Of the remaining 20%, 14% are faking it – they use a Purpose statement as a marketing tool or a ‘feel good’ statement. That means only 6% of organisations have a genuine Purpose that they ‘live and breathe’.
Organisations that have a genuine Purpose that is embedded in it will attract people (employees, customer, suppliers, etc.) who believe what they believe. When the people within the organisation connect with its purpose, they will wake up feeling motivated and excited about going to work. When they are at work, they will work with are enthusiasm, energy, passion and commitment. They will leave work feeling happy and fulfilled.
These people will not just work for the organisation, they will be focused, dedicated, and driven to help it deliver its purpose. You can literally feel when an organisation has a strong scene of purpose through the people who work there and the people who interact with them.
This creates a very powerful competitive advantage that very few competitors will be able to replicate. Why? Because it is created by the culture of your organisation and a strong, positive culture is not something that can be copied and takes very a long time to create. More importantly, it can’t be faked!
As discussed, too many organisations say that they have a Purpose but they do not ‘live and breathe’ it on a daily basis. This is because they don’t understand what Purpose is and confuse it with things like mission and vision. In other organisations, it is used purely as a PR and/or marketing tool.
These organisations will eventually be found out because their actions simply will not match their words. At best this may cause embarrassment, at worst, it could have a negative impact on the reputation and success of the organisation.
It is for these reasons that we have introduced our PDO Accreditation programme to ensure that organisations who are genuinely Purpose Driven or are working towards it can be recognised.