Why Purpose-Led Organisations are the Future

Paul was a naturally gifted analyst and we were colleagues early in both our careers. After both leaving our mutual employer we ended up in different countries, but stayed in touch. He once called to tell me he was offered a job with a cigarette manufacturer, for more than double his current package. When I hesitated with my response, he said, of course I didn’t take it.

Paul not only knew about the damage that cigarettes had wreaked upon my personal life, he also lost an uncle to lung cancer. The lure of more money wasn’t enough for him to join a company that made money doing things that were in opposition to his own beliefs and values.

Back then, Paul was an anomaly. I had plenty of Muslim friends who worked for liquor manufacturers and distributors, even Jewish friends working in non-kosher butcheries. People simply worked where work was available (and prayed hard!).

Fast forward to today.

There has been a whole generational shift in regard to where talent is willing to go, and what they will do to earn income. So much so, that head-hunters generally ask the question, any industries or companies that are off-limits? 

Tomorrow is going to be an exponential multiplication of this.

Where talent today typically have personal red lines in regard to companies or industries, the shift towards values has already started and is taking off. Rather than simply being hurdles to entry, talent is now gravitating towards entities with values, not just activities, resonating with their own. This is awesome to behold, because it’s not just our new generation who are making these conscious decisions, but employees across the entire generational spectrum!

In parallel we are witnessing a shift in the very employment model that has prevailed for the last century or so. The on-demand workforce will have even more flexibility of work since these are rooted in transient gigs / projects / contracts which are less of long-term commitments than traditional work is.

This workforce will insist on entire ecosystems, not just companies and industries, in synch with their own values. This includes the platforms through which they access their income-generating activities.

Those grey or vanilla digital platforms that do not represent any purpose and exist just to make money, will disappear. Their talent will line up with digital spaces where they feel comfortable being their true selves, and which have common purpose to their own.

As an example, there are online communities taking off with strong core objectives to improve lifestyles and social conditions. They are in existence because these objectives are what they live and breathe – the financials are secondary.

Their authenticity lies in their values, and the way they curate the activities flowing through their platforms.

Through these platforms, they connect different users and create even more momentum for their shared values.

In the digital online space, the secret sauce is to develop an open source, user-generated corner and leave it as open as possible to a group of people with shared values, purpose and passions.

It is in this utopia that magic is encouraged to happen, where humanity finds itself again, and where the power of global diversity can truly be unleashed.

These could also be the seeds for new sources of power, to stand up against established, primarily corporate interest groups that currently hold sway over their political agents who decide on the rules governing our personal lives. But that’s another story altogether.

Paul’s own individual act of individual sacrifice, heroic as it was back then, probably didn’t affect that cigarette manufacturer or smoking habits too much. Now though, we have the power of the online herd to make changes. Spaces that are built around common purposes, such as democratising work, empowering gender diversity, and retaining our most experienced and skilled people in the economy can move both needles, and mountains.

Keep watching as digital workplace platforms like One Circle and online communities like Hacking HR start shaping social agendas and the very legal structures that currently keep them on the fringes. 

ABOUT ONE CIRCLE

One Circle is a smart collaboration workspace where businesses hire freelance HR consultants on-demand over a technology enabled ecosystem. Completely virtual, giving you access to quality HR consultants, from around the world and across the employee life cycle, All in one place.