Founder and CEO of Packed with Purpose, where business gifts foster meaningful relationships and create deep societal impact




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Purpose initiatives tend to focus on putting resources or capital toward specific communities or causes, but they often leave out one vital link in a business: its employees.

The notion of ethical commitment in business has changed enormously over the past hundred years, from corporate social responsibility (CSR) to cause marketing to simply “purpose.” Economic factors, social movements and environmental crises have shaped the public’s expectations for what makes a great place to work.

Today, facing a widening umbrella of contractors and part-time and full-time employees, many businesses must ask: Who works for us, and how can we support them in a way that aligns with our purpose?


Here’s what purpose means in the business-employee relationship then and now and how you can do well by doing good for the people who make up your organization. 

The origins of purpose center around corporate responsibility to the workforce and society at large.


The pressure on businesses to create programs intended to do some sort of societal good dates back to the beginning of the 20th century following the Industrial Revolution, when labor unions fundamentally changed the relationship between employee and employer. 


Employee care as we know it today can be traced to the rising popularity of non-wage benefits programs after World War II. The introduction of retirement and pension plans, the two most popular benefits programs at the time, signaled a lasting shift in how companies should treat their employees: They’re responsible not only for direct compensation of labor but for employees’ long-term well-being.


In the 50s, corporate donations to charity became popular as companies began to accept the idea that they share some responsibility for society’s well-being.

Then came the expectation that businesses also serve some aspect of larger society. The term CSR first took hold in the 1960s, when executives started to articulate the ways companies can fulfill the public’s needs against the backdrop of major social movements at the time, such as civil rights and LGBTQ activism.

Toward the latter half of the century, employees and labor groups started to demand that companies invest in their employees beyond just financial support. Early pioneers like Johnson Johnson demonstrated that companies could offer meaningful personal investment by founding wellness initiatives and resources for marginalized groups. In 1979, the pharmaceutical titan established the template for the modern wellness program with its “Live for Life” initiative to help employees with nutrition and stress management.

Rising awareness about global warming in the 90s pushed first-movers like Patagonia to make environmental stewardship a vital component of business.

Over the past few decades, environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives have invited investors to put their capital behind companies committed to the greater good. A global economy and heightened competition pushed CSR initiatives to become a critical component of business strategy in the 21st century.

Still, companies lacked the framework to connect what they do for their employees, shareholders, society and the environment under one business model until recently.

Purpose creates a through-line in all business operations as times change.

CSR and the later “cause marketing” denote a reaction — rather than a proactive interest — in what society needs, which can make the public skeptical of the motivations of these initiatives. That’s how the business world arrived at “purpose,” which has gained momentum in the management world since around 2010.

The term works because businesses can use it to explain their reason for being, and its broad definition allows companies to adapt it to their own business models. Purpose can drive everything from funding to production to marketing to employee engagement, and it doesn’t treat social impact initiatives as separate from the business’s bottom line.

But the past year radically transformed how all companies operate, forcing leaders to question how what they do for their employees connects to the business as a whole. Adaptation is a key component of purpose.

Against the backdrop of the pandemic’s heavy emotional and economic strain, workers’ demands for businesses’ social commitment intensified due to Black Lives Matter protests and the country’s ongoing racial reckoning. Many employees began to reevaluate whether their employers share their personal values.

To make employee relationships more meaningful, embody your purpose statement in company culture.

Being a purposeful company today means finding employees who share your values. To find and keep incredible talent, your business’s purpose and your employees’ support must be intertwined.

According to Harvard Business Review, a powerful purpose statement both clearly articulates strategic goals and motivates your workforce. It should enact those goals through employee programs that reinforce your purpose. That’s what makes employees feel connected to your company.

Take Airbnb, for example. The company consistently ranks on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work list. The company’s stated mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. It instills that ethos of living well and travelling often in its company culture by giving employees benefits including paid volunteer time, annual travel and experiences credits, generous parental and family leave, and learning and development programs.

Instead of simply providing its employees with desirable benefits, Airbnb thoughtfully chooses programs that create a culture built around its purpose. That’s why employees like working there so much: They share the belief that anyone can belong anywhere, and they embody that value through their work for the company.

The companies that succeed long-term adapt to purpose as it evolves.

Early reports indicate a job market boom is coming, and many employees who have hung on to their current jobs throughout the pandemic will begin to look for new work.

Companies that fail to weave purpose into every arm of their business as societal needs and expectations shift may not weather the post-pandemic era — and lose their customers to those that do.

A strong sense of corporate purpose embodied in employee relationships will enable companies to differentiate themselves to new talent. It’ll also make stellar employees excited to stay for the long term.


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Source: Forbes

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