Filled with a creative energy, a spring in her step and a glint in her eye, Ana Julia Ghirello, part of the founding team of the Brazilian version of Gumtree, captured the audience during her keynote speech at London’s Workforce Management Day from her first words.
“Have purpose,” she told them. According to Ana Julia, by knowing what your purpose is, you can then define the context around it and, from there, give your employees autonomy - which in turn will fuel business growth.
The power of purpose doesn’t stop here. It’s not just for you and your employees; it’s also for your customers. Defining your purpose also defines your values and beliefs. And, as a recent study showed, two-thirds of customers are more willing to spend money on brands whose values align with theirs.
But let’s start with your employees. Do they know what they are working for and do they understand your company’s purpose? It doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated, in fact, simple statements of purpose are often the most powerful.
Take a couple of examples, clothing company Life is Good make it their mission to ‘spread the power of optimism’ while popular meditation app Headspace say their one mission is to ‘improve the health and happiness of the world.’
Building a great culture, having an awesome product, hiring amazing people and giving back to society will all help when it comes to unleashing passion in your employees. And don’t be scared of setting your sights high. Aim to change the world, to do something no company has achieved before and to change people’s lives for the better. Do this, and your employees will love you and love their work.
By having this clear purpose, and transparency to go with it, it makes it much easier for your employees to buy-in to what you’re doing, where you’re going and their own role in helping you get there.
And with the influx of Millennials into the workplace, having a clear purpose is more important than ever. According to a 2016 study carried out in the US, 76% say they would take a pay cut to work for a socially responsible company and nearly two-thirds wouldn’t take a job if the employer doesn't have strong CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices.
In the case of Ana Julia, her purpose was to give opportunity to millions of Brazilians and, at the same time, have a positive impact on the environment. She was able to create context and, what she calls ‘aligned autonomy’ from this purpose and, as a result, grew her company to more than 450 employees in less than 5 years.
So set aside 5 minutes and ask yourself this: “What is your purpose and what is your company’s purpose?” Why not go one step further and discuss at your next team meeting? By getting your whole team invested into a clear and singular purpose, you’ll be ensuring everyone is pulling together to reach the same goals.
At Quinyx, our purpose is to create a smiling workforce because we believe a smiling workforce is happy and productive which, in turn, means satisfied customers. Everyone wins. We do this by creating workforce management software built for the end users. And, we believe, the impact of a mobile-first workforce management solution can be felt across all areas of an organisation and have a positive impact on society.
We’re not alone, writing in the Harvard Business Review, work-life specialists Ellen Ernst Kossek and Brenda A. Lautsch found: “The evidence is growing that forward-thinking companies must critically examine their work systems and implement processes to better match employees’ work-life needs to their ability to control their working conditions.
“Our research suggests that it may not simply be the work-life flexibility practices themselves that can harm or benefit productivity; instead, it’s how employers manage equality in access, use, and implementation. Employers play a critical role in redesigning workplaces to provide all employees with greater control over how their work is reconciled with their personal lives. If done thoughtfully and fairly, it can lead to positive payoffs for organisations, people, and society.”
You can find out more about the benefits of workforce management software in our free guide which you can download our free guide below.
