Purpose attracts nice people to the workplace.

Successful organisations are turning to purpose to create internal branding programmes to attract top talent and build better workplaces.

If you’re the owner of a company, you spend a lot of time thinking about its brand: how it looks, the things it says, the tone of voice it uses. This indicates to potential customers characteristics like value, trustworthiness, intelligence, coolness, and more. Successful organisations have taken the idea of external branding and turned it inwards—to engage their own employees.

Where there’s community and pride, individuals and teams stretch themselves farther. This sets a positive example for others nearby, with everyone in turn raising the bar ever so slightly more. Led by purpose, companies are able to woo new talent, build better teams, create efficiency, inspire more loyalty, have a happier culture, and motivate better work. In many ways this is an exercise in communication. Companies are openly talking about purpose and beliefs. They’re creating programmes and collateral that demonstrate corporate philosophies. They’re enacting products, services and procedures that align with messaging. They’re recruiting and rewarding employees who propel shared values. Companies with a strong internal brand become magnetic.Employees can feel the effort. They understand what the business stands for—why it exists and what it contributes to the world. This resonates in many ways.

Higher salaries don't spark employee engagement

It's not ping pong that gets anyone out of bed in the morning. People are inspired by the knowledge that they have the power to make an impact in the world. Companies today have to show that they’re committed to making an impact in the world. What’s attractive to employees isn’t the surface stuff. It’s not about perks like ping pong or beers on tap (which can often be cover-ups for lousy culture). It’s not even solely about money. What’s magnetic is true purpose. True purpose resonates at all levels of the company. From the highest executives to the youngest interns, when a company has purposeful intention, the signal will be heard loudly and amplified.

“Organisations driven by purpose simply work better.”

Companies today are luring talent with more than just money. For example, even big banks and hedge funds, known for over-the-top compensation packages, are capitalising on purpose. They’re funding charitable organisations, offering paid time off for volunteering, talking about gender equality, and incorporating ethics and philanthropy into their core branding. These companies know that the best young minds are most attracted when they find meaning in what they do. Purpose is a totally different kind of employee motivation. It speaks to something far more powerful than money and career advancement. It taps into what employees believe in.

Organisations driven by purpose simply work better. This also means employees are happier. By articulating core values and vision, these companies are able to tap into personal morals, convictions, and feelings. This is a different kind of motivator than money or title. This makes employees take more ownership, be more willing to step up, have more innovative ideas, be more intentional, make quicker decisions, work more productively, and be better collaborators.

Whether you’re working in the public sector, as a start-up, or in the nonprofit ecosystem, everyone knows the problems that can creep in from lack of shared purpose. In a nutshell, wasted time, wasted talent, and wasted money. Employees don’t want to work at companies where their talents won’t be seen. This is human. We want to be challenged and we want the opportunity to be our best selves. Research shows that high-performing individuals are most motivated by cohesion, trust, and empathy in the workplace.

Purpose builds bridges

If your company is committed to hiring top talent, then you must provide incentives that are truly motivating—based on trust, empathy, and person values. All of this ties back to employee culture in a basic way: people are happier and healthier when they do what they’re good at and their input is valued. This is simply because it feels less like work.

“We all want to contribute to something greater than ourselves.”

Every potential employee is faced with tough choices throughout their career. Which companies offer the best compensation, the best work-life balance, the best title and perceived respect, the best culture and other benefits, and the most interesting challenges. The best talent is also faced constantly with the choice of staying or going. Does your company provide the kinds of reasons and reminders that help employees remain loyal and engaged?

On a daily and weekly basis, these don’t need to be grand gestures or big payouts. This is about creating a culture where people are in alignment, feel valued and appreciated, demonstrates ethics and fairness, and supports the belief they are working for a company that feels morally desirable. We all want to contribute to something greater than ourselves. We want to be inspired and to inspire.

Teams that are inspired by purpose have a strong sense of who they are and why they show up for work every day. Identity and workplace culture are strongly interconnected.

The distance between ourselves as private individuals and as employees is shrinking. Our private lives and our work lives continue to meld together in a world where everything is changing 24/7. This is a new frontier compared to the employee mindset of 20 years ago. This blurring of work-life means that person’s sense of own self and identity are now strongly connected to who they are as an employee.

Everyone has the desire to be positively impactful. This can mean teaching others, doing things for the sake of charity, doing things to advance better ideas, or doing things to be seen as a helpful contributor. When a company has communicated meaningful purpose, then everyone shares the same vision. Individuals can advance in ways that align with their own personal identity, while contributing to the greater good.