Purpose Refresh: the key to talent engagement of all ages

Purpose has always been a compelling driver for organizations. Increasingly the newest people entering the workforce are paying more attention to not just what a company says it does but what it actually does. In June BCG shared some its work on Purpose 2.0 ("Solving the Tech Industry's Purpose Problem") and whilst the body of work is primarily about the dissonance that some companies create with the difference between their espoused purpose and the reality of the actions, Exhibit 2 on page 8 of the report sparked something with me.

Specifically, the shift from Purpose 1.0 to Purpose 2.0 moves a company from just its Products to embrace the Entire Company. Moreover this is extended to show the widening of scope from Customers to Customers and Society. The bottom line, or more correctly the triple bottom line here is the expansion from total shareholder return to a include Total Societal Impact.

Just last week Grab, the super app for South East Asia, announced its partnership with Microsoft around a digital skills initiative as well as laying its manifesto for other wider reaching "Tech for Good" goals like Break the Silence to address those with hearing impairment and try and bring them fully into the community as well as the structured economy.

But coming back to this notion of the entire company, that includes me and others like me who are becoming reconnected with Microsoft's mission under the steady guiding hand of Satya Nadella. The transformative purpose that he laid out no longer after taking the helm continues to create a bias for action, and indeed as Brad Smith shared has shaped some of the business decisions that have been made about what is good businesses and what is ethical business.

Our Chief People Officer, Kathleen Hogan, has shared how with the 5 P's she is looking to embed purpose into the very culture and into everything we do.

So what about me?

I am fortunate that I am on the current cohort of some 350 people from around Microsoft. This two year Senior Technical Leadership Program connects us with attributes and principles that are at the very heart of our evolving culture. Many of us have had the opportunity for self-reflection as part of the course and the required reading. For me this has also reconnected me with a sense of personal purpose. Using Angela Duckworth's model laid out in Grit I have been making moral accounting led decisions and deliberately linking my activities back to my personal north star.

So emboldened with some new skills, new capabilities, revived energy and re-discovered sense of purpose how do we unleash the full potential of this company of 350+ to help them do more good and deliver more total societal impact?

The familiarity of our current roles does not always allow us to stretch our new muscles. What if we could connect through the Microsoft Philanthropies activity to apply our skills to the communities in which we work and live? This is now part of my very purposeful purpose to see how each and every one of us can magnify our impact for good.

Updates to follow....