Purpose-driven business – An idea with staying power!

Co-authored by Wilsey Mockett, Head of Talent Development?, at Panasonic Europe and Aleksandra Pietruszka, Head of Human Resources?at Panasonic System Communications Company Europe.

?If I told you the seven basic guiding principles of a well-known technology company, would you be able to guess which one?

• ?Contribution to society
• Courtesy and humility
• Co-operation and team spirit
• Fairness and honesty
• Gratitude
• Adaptability
• Untiring effort for improvement

They could be from Apple, Amazon or Facebook, right? But would it surprise you to learn that they were from the founder of a global company over 100 years old? It’s Panasonic. ?

?When we think of technology companies, we often imagine start-ups driven by the creativity and passion of youth. So, for many, it’s difficult to imagine what a technology company that is over 100 years old might look like and what its relevance might be in modern society.

?Purpose and authenticity may seem like modern phrases of the business world but it’s these ?clear attributes, inherent in the business philosophy, that are some of the main reasons that Panasonic continues to flourish. They continue to underpin everything we do in the organisation and are fundamental in our efforts to attract and retain the best talent for the organisation to thrive.

?One of the current challenges at the heart of this continuous quest for talent is the need for diversity in the business. And when you look at one of our earliest pictures of Panasonic’s founder Konosuke Matsushita and his co-founders from 1918, you could say that he understood this. He stands surrounded by female members of his company Matsushita Electric Houseware Manufacturing Works, an early incarnation of the business that would become Panasonic. Certainly his words still resonate in the organisation today: “We should recognise differences and aim to have a community where our distinct characteristics can be utilised.”

A thought leader

Matsushita was ahead of his time with his management approach. When the company was two years old and had 28 employees, he formed what he called the “Hoichi Kai,” which translates to “one-step society.” It brought employees together to play sports and participate in other recreational activities.

He also spearheaded transparency. In the early 1920s, worker retention was a major problem in Japan, due to competition among firms. Matsushita’s philosophy was one of trust, and he shared trade secrets with all employees to build trust at all levels of the organisation. When there were economic troubles, he also extended this trust by taking a long-term view of the business. He cut production by half but didn’t dismiss a single employee. He maintained pay levels, asked staff to work half days and forgo holidays – requesting all employees do their best to sell until the business could bounce back.

A sense of purpose

Today, we still introduce each new employee to the seven basic business philosophies and provide refreshers throughout their careers. They help us to transcend international borders, languages and cultures. During the pandemic, this single purpose and our already familiar use of communications technology to work internationally even helped us to adjust to the new ways of working from home.

However, we recognise that we still have a long way to go to establish the ideal, modern diverse business. Our organisation can be conservative and we often operate in traditional industrial sectors, such as manufacturing, where male leaders still dominate. We recognise that companies with gender diversity out perform their competitors and as a result we have developed diversity programmes, such as ‘Unhelpful Bias’ working with University of Durham and ‘Women in Leadership’ with the Everywoman organisation.

By collaborating across Panasonic business divisions we can encourage wider opportunities to gain experience and to develop career paths across a wide range of sectors. We are also giving leaders tools that can help them to recognise raw talent faster than before and to build deeper succession planning programmes.

I believe our sense of purpose is authentic and clear and once someone joins the organisation it is recognised and valued by our employees and it helps to keep them with us. For example, I often see colleagues celebrating 20th, 25th?and 30th ?anniversaries and it can feel like a family event.

However, we must continue to do more to turn up the volume on our culture and values to the outside world. We need to attract the best talent - irrespective of age, gender and ethnicity - if we are to deliver on our vision to: “Become the best place to work, where diverse talents work at their best.”

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