New year, new purpose

I recently posted about my experiences of 2020, and my observation that digitally connected organisations navigated the challenges more smoothly than others. There’s one other factor that I’d like to highlight about last year – the role that purpose played in keeping the most successful organisations focused on their customers, regardless of the complexities that came their way.

What is purpose?

We often think of purpose on a personal level. What gets us out of bed in the morning?

It’s a very similar proposition for organisations. Why does our company exist? What is it here to do?

For some, the answer is more obvious than others. A hospital, for example, exists to help the sick and to provide quality care to its patients.

A clear purpose is a rallying point for your decisions, a rallying point for your teams, and a rallying point to make sure you’re positioning your organisation to serve the needs of your customers.

Purpose helps your people to understand the bigger picture of what they’re doing and how they’re helping. For example, an auditor may feel like they’re just doing another company audit, rather than trying to protect shareholder funds and market integrity.

Without purpose, when disruption comes along, it’s much easier to lose focus on what you’re trying to achieve.

Crystalising purpose

Purpose was in fact front of mind for the majority of Australian company leaders in 2020. According to the KPMG CEO Survey, 84 percent of respondents had to re-evaluate their purpose to better address the needs of their stakeholders.

For some, the challenges of the year crystalised their purpose, as they helped to reiterate exactly why they exist. For example, take the view of a bank during the bushfires. The bank’s usual role to provide excellent customer service suddenly became even more important. It needed to provide access to funds in the fastest possible way to people in need during a traumatic time.

For others, the events actually changed their purpose. This was evident with the role of government and the COVID-19 pandemic. The everyday purpose of government is largely about essential service provision, prosperity and justice. However, with the onset of the pandemic, this purpose shifted more towards community protection. The change impacted priorities and investment decisions.

Purpose drives loyalty

Organisations that were able to deliver on their purpose throughout the challenges of 2020 are likely to see customer loyalty in return.

Supermarkets are a clear example. During COVID-19, they could have milked our panic buying, pumped up prices, and said, ‘Happy days! We’re in so much demand!’ But that wasn’t their purpose.

Instead, their purpose was to ensure that their customers had access to the food and services that they needed. They were also there to make sure the economy continued, and some offered jobs to people who lost their roles in other sectors.

Customers noticed, will remember, and will likely factor it into their future choices.

Purpose at every touch point

Knowing your organisation’s purpose is a good start, but it needs to be supported with the right systems and processes to bring it to life. A bank may have had every intent to help its customers faster than ever in the bushfires, but reliance on manual processes may have got in the way.

In my last post, Connecting on all levels, I highlighted how companies with digital connectivity across their front, middle and back offices were able to deliver better customer service in times of disruption. The same answer applies with purpose. If every touch point in an organisation is digitally connected, along with suppliers, stakeholders and customers, the roadblocks are cleared.

I’m optimistic about 2021, but we’re not out of the woods yet. I think the reputation of organisations is going to be made on what happens in this period, and it will impact future growth. If your organisation is clear on its purpose and digitally connected, I believe that’s a platform for success.