A purpose is no longer enough. You need a brand movement!
The battle for top talent has begun.
According to a Gallup’s 2019 study, only 35% percent of employees are engaged in the workplace. This means that the majority of employees view their workplace negatively and are only doing the bare minimum to make it through the day, with little to no emotional attachment to their jobs. And this was before the Covid-19 Pandemic!
In addition to low engagement, there is a new business shift underway that could disrupt your 2021 plans and slow your growth. The shift from employers picking the cream of the crop to have to battle for top talent.
Simply put, there is not enough talent to meet demand, and there may not be any time soon.?
In addition to this supply-side decrease, there are signs of a massive resignation wave on the horizon. The pandemic has given people perspective, time to think, and a feeling of autonomy working from home.?
The power has shifted. It is now in the hands of top talent. If they weren't pleased with an employer's policies over the last year, or were disengaged by the workplace culture, they're now taking action. They are now looking for work new horizons.
The Covid-19 disruption has caused many of us to take stock of what really matters, rethink our priorities, and put meaning at the centre of our lives.?
The bonds with our employers have been shaken by the pandemic. Many of us have felt overworked, under-resourced and beaten down over the past year. We are video-conferenced out. As we move to a hybrid workplace, corporate culture will become further endangered. Without the modern collaborative office spaces, face-to-face team building, and physical human interactions, companies may find it difficult to maintain their engagement levels.
There is a way forward. Companies that can provide a clear purpose and vision will be in better shape to not only weather the storm but capitalize on it.
The Post Pandemic talent war will not only be fought with the usual corporate weapons like financial compensation, bonuses, and incentive programmes, but with intangibles like social relevant purpose, ethics.
Movements
We have all heard that Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast, meaning that if you don’t have the right culture in place your strategy will most likely fail. Well, Movements Eat Strategy Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Why? Because a Movements are the ultimate brand culture.
Today, more than anything, your employees want to feel they're part of a movement, part of something bigger.
The Harvard Business Review reported last fall that more than 90 percent of employees would be willing to earn 23 percent less money to do work at a place that they believe has value.
Companies, especially those that may be unable to match competitive salaries and benefits, who can define their purpose as a movement will be able to retain and attract top talent.
Brand Movement.
Movements are about important stuff. Positive change.
Sometimes it’s a grievance or a social or environmental injustice that needs to be made right. Fairness. Equality. Movements are about what’s your brand stands for and stands against??
Take NIKE’s who took a stand faced criticism of their support of Collin Kapernick. It was clear NIKE brand had something to say about black rights in America.
TOMS took a stand against gun crime in America, fighting for gun reform laws to be reviewed. They launched a campaign to urge the US Congress to pass federal legislation requiring background checks for the purchase of firearms. They also made a $5 million donation to gun reform advocacy groups, launched a postcard-writing initiative and a slew of new marketing campaigns both online and in stores.
Sometimes a movement is about a grand aspiration for humanity. Like America’s quest to land a man on the moon.?
According to a popular legend, during a tour of NASA headquarters in 1961, John F. Kennedy encountered a janitor mopping the floors.
“Why are you working so late?” Kennedy asked. “Mr. President,” the janitor responded, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
Andrew Carton, a professor of management at The Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania in his investigation of the lunar landing wrote, “Even people who were quite far removed from the famous goal of landing a man on the moon reported feeling an incredible connection to this ultimate goal,” and “Rather than talking about, ‘I’m fixing electrical wiring’ or ‘I’m stitching space suits’ or ‘I’m mopping the floors,’ they would actually identify their work as ‘I’m putting a man on the moon.’ It was a strikingly unique period of time where many people across the entire organization had these kinds of perceptions”.
Every NASA employee from the astronauts and engineers to the secretaries and maintenance staff didn’t just work for NASA, they were part of something bigger. A movement.
Instead of minimizing his effort as a typical “agent” or employee, the janitor who answered Kennedy took ownership of the entire mission.?
This is the magic of the Social Impact Brand Movement. To get your employees, and even your customers and suppliers, to be part of your brand’s movement!?
Don’t just give your people a purpose, give them an important cause-based mission!
A purpose is not a mission or cause. Most corporate purposes are self-serving and too many organizations now practice “purpose theatre”.
“To be the number one mortgage lender in the world” is not a mission, it’s an aspiration, and certainly not an important cause for your people to.
“We are on a mission to help housing be accessible for everyone.” - this is a mission and it might get you to be the number one mortgage lender in the world!
One way to upgrade your purpose is by making it socially relevant. At Catalyst 17 we believe that it is not enough to have a purpose, these days you need a socially relevant movement.?
We have one too! Our social purpose is We are on a mission to make the world a better place by enlisting brands to do social and environmental good. We state our belief this way: Do Good. Do Well.?
We believe that it is good business to drive positive change that improves the lives and communities in which employees and their families live and work. By the way, so do your employees.?
The old “Principal-Agent” employment model.
If you ask enough top executives about their leadership style, you’re likely to hear a number of them say, “I hire the best people and get out of their way.” It’s a good line that makes sense at a certain level. Sure, hiring the right people is important, but building a high-performance team or building a high-performance “brand movement” are two different things.?
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“I work for a company and they pay me to be there.”?
Building a successful high-performance brand movement is about more than just finding a group of people with the right mix of professional skills. It’s about finding and keeping people who would work there for free if they could. Employees who are passionate about the mission and the culture - not just having a job.
The problem is that many companies and their leaders have still stuck with an old orthodoxy of the “principal-agent” (employer-employee) relationship. The basic idea is that a company buys time and skills from people in exchange for money and other compensation. A cold transaction. Employees in this model are mere suppliers and make them very much like a commodity to exploit and extract, like mining.
The new “Brand Movement” employment model.
In the post-pandemic leaders must not look at their workforce as ‘disposable or flexible commodities’, but as allies in a movement, willing participants in a mission.
For a long time, Not-For-Profits had an inherent advantage in recruiting talent against their For-Profit competitors. They had a compelling social cause purpose.
They were pioneers in the Brand Movement business model. Their ability to acquired top talent has been because of the cause or mission. It sure isn’t the money and the perks. Employees who chose to work at a Not-For-Profit do so because their heart is in it.
Social Brand Movement” employment model.
“I work for a great cause that is also a company.”?
Gaining a “Movement” mindset can change your culture and your entire employee experience. In addition to activating your corporate purpose with your employees, it will also catch the attention of top talent in the marketplace and even your customers. Offering your people to be part of a movement, will heighten their sense of belonging, foster a sense of trust with management, and increase staff retention.
A Brand Movement approach is about improving top talent's willingness to work for your company beyond an economic transaction. People don’t just want a job, they want to do work that matters.?
Building A Brand Movement
Building a Brand Movement culture involves 4 key factors:
The Why: Powered by Social Good.
Leadership expert Simon Sinek is perhaps best known for giving one of the most popular TED talks of all time, which you can view at the end of this post. The Golden Circle theory explains how leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change in a business based on his research into how the most successful organizations think, act and communicate if they start with why.
For Sinek, the “Why” is the center of the business universe.?
Sinek feels that 'Why' is probably the most important message that an organization or individual can communicate as it inspires people to action.
And while we agree with Sinek that a purpose is central, just having a purpose is not enough. You need a motivating purpose. A purpose that matters to people. And today social causes and environmental concerns are top of the list.?
In addition to having a compelling socially relevant purpose, your purpose must have a sticky articulation. Malcolm Gladwell, the bestselling author of books like The Tipping Point & Outliers says there are three factors in a cultural movement: Influencers, Context and Stickiness of Message
Stickiness is how well people remember a message, or how well it sticks in their minds. The most effective and sticky messages are simple, clear, and easy to understand and act upon. If you want to change to spread, then you need to break it down to a level that every single person in your organization can understand and repeat to others. In other words, your purpose needs to be sticky. A Social Impact Brand Purpose slogan.
Political campaigns do this well with their purpose slogans - Make America Great Again, Not me. Us, and Build Back Better.
The How: Your Culture and Your Core Values.
Next to your Social Impact Brand Purpose, your Core Values will help you and everyone in your organization to guide decisions. If Social Impact Brand Purpose is your movement’s North Star - then your Core Values is your sextant.
Martin Luther King leader of the civil rights movement in the ’60s had declared values. Namely, nonviolence. Dr. King’s value of nonviolence was the compass that guided the movement.?
Having core values and preserving them over the life of your business is a core feature of great Purpose-Driven companies. It doesn’t matter what the specific values are, but rather, that you stay true to them consistently. You can change everything else, operating practices, products, strategies, cultural practices, change goals, but preserve the Core Values at all costs.
The Who. Keep and Attract The Right People.
Jim Collins, author of the best-selling management books “Good to Great” and “Built to Last.” says to focus on the “who,” not the “what.” The right people are the most important element to success. Without the right people, even the best strategy or purpose is worthless. Jim Collins said to look for passion and discipline when bringing on new people.?
I firmly believe that it’s an employee’s character, defined by their core values, is more important than skills or talent.
The What. Proof you are living your purpose.
People want to work for a company that activates its purpose. Demonstrations of your commitment to your cause and movement are vital. It’s not enough to talk “a good game”, you need to walk the talk.
Start your Brand Movement!
Although a Brand Movement does not guarantee economic success, we have seen impressive results in many organizations that have embraced this approach.
People who live their purpose at work are simply happier and productive than people who don’t. They are also healthier, more resilient, and more likely to stay at the company longer.
Moreover, when employees feel that their purpose is aligned with the organization’s purpose, the benefits expand to include stronger employee engagement scores, heightened loyalty, and a greater willingness to recommend the company to others, helpful in the battle for top talent.
Connect with your marketing agency or business advisors and ask them about Brand Movements. If they don’t know what you are talking about, give us a call. We get it!