Good for your business.
Good for your city.
Good for your world.
Building your business as a force for good isn’t always the easiest option. It’s true that, in the short term, it’s probably easier to focus on delivering profit than delivering purpose. It’s more convenient to ignore the climate crisis, or to treat employees unequally, or choose the cheapest materials even if they aren’t recyclable.
These might be the easiest options for today. But they are not the smartest options for tomorrow.
That’s because the world is changing. People’s opinions are changing. Their buying habits are changing. And Government policy is changing too. If you want your business to stay relevant and aligned with these changes, the smart option is to start thinking about the purpose of your business. And how you can increase the positive impacts whilst decreasing the negative ones.
This is the smart option because businesses that take this approach, over time;
To underline this point, a recent research study showed that these types of organisations see productivity rise by 17%, sales increase by 20% and profitability grow by 21%.
That’s what we mean by growing your business for good.
If you’re still not convinced that this is the smart option for your business, have a look at these facts and figures below. Businesses that have a clear purpose and take their impact seriously are tapping into some fundamental shifts in the way businesses are run. And the businesses are benefiting big time!
- 64% of global consumers find brands that actively communicate their purpose more attractive.
- Consumers are more likely to have a positive image of (89%), trust in (86%) and be loyal (83%) to brands that lead with purpose.
- 70% of consumers want to know what the brands they support are doing to address social and environmental issues
- 74% of consumers believe companies can take actions that both boost profits and improve economic and social conditions for their local communities
- Globally, 67% of people agree that it has become more important that the brands they choose make a positive contribution to society, beyond just providing a good service or product. This is the majority view in virtually all countries surveyed.
- The Global Leadership Forecast 2018 by DDI World finds that purposeful companies outperform the market by 42% financially.
- Certified B Corps in the UK are growing 28 times faster than the national economic growth of 0.5%. Leading B Corp FMCG brands grew on average 21% in 2017, compared to a national average of 3% across their respective sectors.
- LinkedIn members want jobs that offer a sense of purpose: 74% of members place a high value on finding work that delivers on a sense of purpose.
- 83% of Gen Z consider a company’s purpose when deciding where to work.
- 84% of Millennials value meaning in day-to-day work (top priority for respondents), but only 53% of business leaders agree with that.
- More than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work.
- Employees who report that their job has a “special meaning: this is not ‘just a job'” are 4 times more likely to give extra, 11 times more committed to staying with their organisations and are 14 times more likely to look forward to coming to work than employees at peer companies.
- A global talent trends survey found that the highest-performing employees are 3x more likely to work for a company with a strong sense of purpose. Yet only 13% of the 7,600 respondents surveyed said that their organisation is differentiated by a “purpose-driven mission.”
- If employees feel they are working towards a good cause, it can increase their productivity by up to 30%.
- 94% of CEO’s feel a personal responsibility for laying out their company’s core purpose and role in society.
- 9,913 companies from 160 countries are currently members of the UN Global Compact – an initiative launched to align businesses’ strategy with social goals, and to support the Sustainable Development Goals.
- 79% of business leaders believe that an organization’s purpose is central to business success, 59% of business leaders see purpose as being very important to their own personal job satisfaction.
- A strong majority of executives of purposeful companies — 75% — tell us that the integration of purpose creates value in the short term, as well as over the long run.