When an Organisation Blows Up its Purpose ??
Phil Preston
Inspiring, Motivating & Empowering Change | Keynote Speaker | Experienced Facilitator & Host | Co-founder @ Purpose Ignition and Impact Hour
If you've ever wondered "what's the commercial value of?business purpose clarity?" then the PwC Australia case study playing out right now is?one?for the ages.
In brief, the firm is?accused - as advisers to government under non-disclosure agreements - of using confidential?information for commercial gain, tipping off their clients of looming tax changes and helping them develop work arounds (refer PwC's statement or ABC's video summary).
Whether it can survive?and recover is anyone's guess, with criminal charges not out of the question. And it's not a case of a rogue consultant, this went far and wide within the firm.
What is PwC's purpose statement I hear you ask?
"Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems"
It highlights the fact that too many corporate purpose statements represent fiction rather than fact. Companies have become quite adept at forming eloquent purpose statements that make your heart sing. I help organisations with this task from time to time and the key message I push out is: this is merely a statement of intent, you have to actually do it.
So it may not surprise you to learn that, what they are not so good at?by and large, is doing it. So what does 'doing it' really mean? This is a challenge?that many?executives and directors are turning to right now.?
It's firstly about governance, how do you know if you are delivering on your purpose or not?
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Furthermore, when remuneration is misaligned with the purpose of the firm, as would appear to be the case with PwC Australia, then the temptations can be too great.?
To adopt and implement corporate purpose, it is about hard coding the benefit you aim to deliver to society into the DNA of the firm, not treating it as a passing fancy for the annual offsite and a bunch of rah rah associated with it.?
Having conquered governance - and very few firms have managed to do that - the overall goals and measures have to be pushed down through to strategy, operations and people.
It's seldom about reinventing the way you do business, it's about putting a purpose-lens or overlay onto your existing processes.
The hard work pays off many times over. Ignore it and you may end up like our good friends at PwC Australia, facing an existential crisis, and all because several partners saw fit to put their own greed above that of their client's interests.
On the upside, they have reminded us all about the value of trust.???
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Phil Preston is a keynote speaker and facilitator who helps individuals, teams and organisations draw upon the power of purpose for high performance with positive impact. He is the author of Connecting Profit with Purpose, host of The Purpose Edge podcast and you can contact him via [email protected]
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1 年Appropriate image used Phil, what a shipwreck this is for PwC Australia. However, as others have noted, what real impact will this revelation have? ?? Will Directors go to jail? ?? Will the firm be fined out of existence? ??How can we ensure a message is being sent to Senior Leadership Teams to walk their talk when it comes to integrity and purpose? (especially when dealing with situations of national importance or security). It all goes back to the quality of leaders a company has put in place and the support from the Board. Unfortunately and sadly, it seems that the Professional Services reputation has been tainted yet again. How will this company (and others) retain quality staff and leaders at all levels, when they have to face the embarrassment of this news and justify to their friends and family why they are still working there.
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1 年Phil Preston Well you could have knocked me over with a feather with the #pwc purpose statement. I actually think they should remove it...simply a joke. And yes, you are right, this has a MAJOR way to play out...as I've been writing about for some time
I have no doubt Phil, that big companies like these will continue to thrive even while they cause damage to clients and tarnish the professional services field in the process. Check out this recent book. It details a litnay of failings. Yet these companies continue to make lots of money!
Managing Editor & Publisher, PKN Packaging News | Publisher, Food & Drink Business, Print21 | President, International Packaging Press Organisation (IPPO)
1 年Well said Phil Preston, I think there are lessons in here for all industries, and pertinent to packaging where the incidence of greenwashing casts the spotlight on the value of trust in brands and their statements of intent.