Your ‘Why’: The importance of identifying and using your purpose to stand out for ultimate business success
Date published:
Sam Spoors, Founder and MD at Talentheads, explores why an authentic purpose fuels resilience, engages teams, and builds lasting success in business.
Afterall… “Working hard for something we do not care about is called stress, working hard for something we love is called passion.” – Simon Sinek, Start with Why
Being a business leader is full on. That is the truth.
When a business is scaling at pace there are many plates needing to be seamlessly kept in the air.
Being pulled from one post (or meeting) to the next, I personally try to forgive myself for sometimes thinking – “Why am I doing this?” and “Why did I think setting up this business was a good idea?” – brilliantly though, that is exactly the point!
The crucial importance of our “why” being the thing to remember and to super importantly… share.
Having authentic purpose in business is increasingly recognised as the key driver of long-term success. It is key not only to the company’s identity, but also its relationship with stakeholders, customers, and team members.
Businesses are created for their “why”, their differentiator, their sense of purpose, based on a belief on what a market is needing or missing.
At Talentheads our why is about putting people front and centre. Recruitment and retention is about the individuals, the impact on communities, and supporting local businesses by finding talent with the right values and skills match, without the complication of placement fees, and developing those teams to ensure that they are truly high performing for businesses to grow.
Knowing and articulating your business’s genuine purpose is so powerful:
- It builds trust, credibility and resilience: A defined and authentic purpose demonstrates that a business stands for something beyond profit making. It aligns its actions with meaningful values. Share this with your customers and stakeholders and make it central to your brand messaging, and this can be a key factor in brand loyalty and customer retention. Stakeholders and investors are more likely to support businesses that operate with authenticity and purpose.
- Enhances employee engagement and retention: Increasingly employees are seeking meaning in their employment. An authentic, communicated and shared “why” can lead to high employee engagement and job satisfaction and lower staff turnover. Lower staff turnover and a high level of engagement is only good for your bottom line.
- Customer attraction: People like to buy from an organisation that aligns with their own values. Brands with genuine purpose also tend to have higher customer loyalty.
- Drive and Innovation: By having a greater cause to work with aside from profits, the collective force within your business serves as a huge motivator to innovate, and be solutions focussed. This is when a high performing team – created by your effective company purpose – can really unleash their skills and abilities in the right direction.
- Competitive advantage: It’s a massive differentiator when a business clearly communicates their purpose. This is super impactful for those who want to stand out among competitors that are more concerned with short term gains.
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): If you can align purpose to CSR initiatives and demonstrate a commitment to appropriate causes, your brand and public perception is 100% strengthened.
And the truth to all of this is… you can’t fake it!
People are savvy and can totally tell when a purpose is superficial and only used for marketing.
If you don’t have that authentic purpose in your gut, how do you summon the motivation and determination to keep pushing, to move those boundaries, and to fight above those industry norms?