CHAPTER 9

How to Win Talent in the Purpose Revolution

WHILE INTERVIEWING LEADERS ACROSS INDUSTRIES FOR THIS book, we found many recurring themes when discussing the purpose revolution and how companies and talent are seeing a new trend emerge. A story we often heard in a variety of forms revolved around not just connecting purpose with current employees but attracting new employees through purpose, as well.

Take, for example, a story told us by Kiersten Robinson, executive director of human resources, global markets, at Ford Motor Company. Robinson did a stint in HR for Ford in China. Her responsibilities included leading new-employee orientation: “As part of the program, I would routinely ask new employees in China the top three reasons why they decided to work for Ford. Inevitably, a large majority would have our company’s vision to create a better world in that top three.” Ford’s clear, concise purpose, stated loudly and boldly, had resonated throughout the world with top talent.

We heard a similar story from Joey Bergstein, the CEO of Seventh Generation. Bergstein knows firsthand the power of an authentic purpose to attract and retain the best talent. One of his top scientists, who had invented Fantastic and Formula 409 at Clorox, joined the Seventh Generation team because of the impact he knew he could make there, believing in its purpose and values. Bergstein’s head of R&D, who had had a great career at P&G and Church & Dwight, also wanted to do something more meaningful with his career, so he chose to work at Seventh Generation. “We blow others out of the water when it comes to attracting talent in our sector, and other companies try to lure our talent from the company,” he told us.

According to the 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report, there are widespread “talent and skill shortages,” making attracting the best talent “a top concern of business leaders,” with 83 percent of executives saying that talent acquisition is “important or very important.” The report found that “employees are demanding new careers and career models,” with one key driver being a job that provides an enriching, meaningful experience along with opportunities to learn, grow, and contribute.¹ People are thinking differently about the meaning of work over the course of their lives. As the purpose revolution continues, we see the career-ladder model being discarded in favor of the new life-journey model that is emerging.

Purpose attracts top talent from all generations. Research found that 85 percent of US employees said they “were likely to stay longer with an employer that showed a high level of social responsibility,” whereas researchers in the United Kingdom found that 42 percent of employees globally say it matters to them to work for a company that is making a positive difference in society; 44 percent thought meaningful work that helped others was more important than a high salary; and 53 percent would work harder if their company benefited society or was making a difference to others.² The number jumps to six in 10 for millennials, who said “a ‘sense of purpose’ is part of the reason they chose to work for their company.”³

According to Gallup, a full 50 percent of millennials say they’d rather take a pay cut than work for a company with unethical business practices.⁴ Deloitte’s 2015 Millennial Survey also found an “impact gap” among millennials, who said business meets expectations on job creation but is “underperforming on social advancement, helping employees, etc.”⁵ This is a huge disconnect.

With a talent and skill shortage and a cultural shift from the “old ways” of work, companies are competing over employees more vigorously than ever before. In this time of talent grab, you need to ask, What makes our organization or team stand out above the others? We have found that meaningful work is fast becoming the magnet for attracting top talent to an organization. Authentic purpose-driven companies offer this type of work, along with opportunities to grow and make a difference in the world. Recruiting the best talent is all about helping them discover their life’s journey and acting as their partner along the way. Just as with your current employees, customers, and investors, you must connect your potential employees’ purpose to your company’s mission and purpose, as well.

BUILD PURPOSE INTO RECRUITING AND ONBOARDING

Recruiting top talent starts with giving candidates a compelling mission and purpose that motivates them to work for you—not a description of what they will do but an inspiring image of how they will find meaning and help you change the world. For example, at Airbnb you have the chance to create a world that inspires human connection. Dell Computer Company invites job seekers to contribute time, technology, and know-how to make the world a better place. Chemistry, a tech-powered, global business consultancy, promises to give everyone the opportunity to be brilliant at work. Expedia states on its website, “Here’s what we look for when we’re interviewing: passionate travelers who want to make a tangible difference.”

To be heard in the crowded world of recruiting, your call needs to be to a higher purpose—something that says that by working for your company, employees will find personal meaning and opportunities to grow and contribute to something bigger than themselves. Of course, these types of commitments must be upheld and supported or you’ll quickly find that top talent is passing you by. We regularly suggest four ways that any company or leader, small or large, can build purpose and meaning into the hiring process to attract the best and brightest.

Showcase Purpose Up Front

The interview process is one of the most effective means to demonstrate to candidates and potential employees that purpose is front and center in your company. On applications and during interviews, clearly feature your values and purpose. Make sure that the job descriptions you post online, whether on your own website or through a third-party source, speak directly to the people you’re trying to attract in today’s evolving market. Don’t just include the duties, requirements, and responsibilities of the position; describe your company’s story, its ethos, and how its purpose ties to your team members’ values and goals. Be bold and highlight how your purpose is integral to every aspect of the company and culture. Recruits want to see what your company is truly made of, and if you’re able to generate interest in your purpose, they’ll be willing to go above and beyond in the interview process.

Acumen, the global nonprofit investment fund, states its purpose in its “manifesto,” which says in part, “It thrives on moral imagination: the humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be…. It’s the radical idea of creating hope in a cynical world. Changing the way the world tackles poverty and building a world based on dignity.”⁶

Acumen has designed a recruitment process that enables it to identify potential employees who share the organization’s purpose. Instead of simply asking interested candidates to submit a résumé and cover letter, the HR department also has candidates respond to a series of short essay questions that relate to the position. For instance, one question they may include is “How would you describe your interest in ‘impact investing’ versus regular private equity or venture capital investing?” Not only does the answer give Acumen’s recruiter insight into the candidate but the candidate sees that Acumen is dedicated to its mission by asking this question in the first place.

Remember that this may be the first interaction some of the best emerging talent has with your company, so think creatively when it comes to recruiting and interviewing. Emzingo, mentioned in chapter 7, designed a unique interview process for a purpose-driven IT consulting company, involving teams of potential recruits performing a real-life consulting session with a socially conscious enterprise. The company can not only evaluate candidates’ work in real time but also send the powerful message that here is the kind of good you are going to get to do if you come work with us. Think of creative ways to connect potential candidates to your purpose and expose them to your good work before they even get the job.

Make Your Mission Real for Hires

After featuring your purpose front and center, provide candidates with compelling evidence of how your company lives its mission. Like consumers, recruits are skeptical of company claims to be purpose driven and sustainable; they want concrete proof. You must anticipate this skepticism and be prepared with evidence. Show candidates how they will personally be involved in the good work that you’re doing. Demonstrating with specific data how company initiatives have made an impact in the lives of others is excellent, but you’ll also want to approach recruits in a more personal manner.

You may want to connect potential recruits with a current employee who’s working on the same team that they’d be joining. That may feel like standard fare, but the twist is to ensure that the current team member focuses on purpose and the real impact your team makes. Ask team members to share with potential recruits how they have connected to the organization’s purpose and what gives them meaning working for you. Even better is if you also put them in touch with someone who works in an entirely different department whose role is unrelated to the prospective employee’s.

As discussed throughout the book, the company’s purpose and mission must be owned and embraced by everyone throughout the organization. If your company has successfully reached this goal, anyone, at any level, should be able to talk to a candidate about the mission and values that permeate the culture, showing that you are serious when it comes to purpose. Bringing in current employees in real time to talk about what working for a purposeful company has meant to them shows that your company’s authenticity is real and tangible.

During the interview ask prospects what their life purpose is and what they want to contribute. Ask about times when they have lived their deepest values at work and what issues they care most about. If you are interviewing people who will work on your team, share your personal purpose. Focusing on these questions and your values during interviews sends the message that purpose is important to your organization; it also increases the likelihood of hiring people with a purpose orientation toward work. Don’t be shy to ask about purpose—you want to signal that it is central to your team’s work.

Show You Care about Employees’ Values

The values of purpose-driven organizations are the foundation of their culture, but concepts like sustainability and social responsibility cannot flourish if the company’s basic values have yet to be lived. It’s necessary to show candidates that, in addition to customers and your core purpose, you truly care about your employees’ well-being. When you treat your employees with respect and gratitude, you demonstrate that the company is serious about helping its people grow and succeed. This type of environment fosters a workforce that feels supported and can therefore concentrate on the mission at hand. Candidates understand that if you are treating your people right, you are likely doing right by your customers and society as well.

Zapier is a Silicon Valley start-up that offers a platform for connecting apps to automate tasks. It recently offered a $10,000 “de-location package” for employees willing to relocate away from Silicon Valley. The reason? To support employees who want to improve their family’s standard of living by moving to areas with lower housing costs. CEO Wade Foster told The Guardian, “A lot of folks just have a difficult time making the Bay Area a long-term home.”⁷ Providing flexible work alternatives is another way to show that you care about employees. Zapier embraces a work-from-home model to enrich employees’ lifestyles and family lives. All of its employees work remotely because, as Foster said, “We’ve seen the technology advance to a state where people can legitimately work anywhere in the world.”

Think about ways that your company helps make your employees’ lives better and be ready to talk about them with potential employees. What initiatives has your company implemented in recent years due to technology or changing demographics that show how you support your teams? Whether you provide flexible hours, the opportunity to work remotely, or compensation for relocation, consider what actions you can highlight to share with candidates and then tie them back to the company’s mission.

Make Your Career Site a Purpose Site

Every organization should have an interactive career website as a testimonial to its purpose-driven culture. Career websites should be highly engaging and easy to navigate while effectively providing job seekers with a genuine feel for the organization and what it stands for. Ask yourself: Does my company’s employment website engage prospective talent? Does it show meaningful, purposeful work in action? Does it provide clear and compelling statements about our values and what we stand for? Does it show opportunities to learn, grow, contribute, and make the world a better place? Does it provide a behind-the-scenes look into what it’s like to work here? Do you feature the voice of the employee so that job seekers can see and hear from people like themselves how great your company is to work for? If you can’t answer yes to most of these questions, it’s time to consider updating the site.

Put Purpose at Center Stage

Airbnb, which won Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work in 2016, part of Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards, features one of the best career websites we have ever seen. When you visit the careers section of the Airbnb website, the company purpose, Create a world that inspires human connection, tops the page.⁸ Note that there is no mention about hotel alternatives, short-term lodging, or vacation rentals. Instead they highlight the connection of the team and the company’s goal to start a movement: “No global movement springs from individuals. It takes an entire team united behind something big.”

The website refers to caring for others, building with the long term in mind, participating in the community and culture, and demonstrating an ability to grow. It appeals to what matters to the purpose-driven workforce by showing what they can be and do at Airbnb. The company summarizes these ideas through a simple credo: Create. Learn. Play.

Photos and videos on the site show employees in an open, warm, and unconventional organizational setting, with couches, colorful décor, and a variety of work spaces. Included is a section of YouTube videos featuring employees talking about why they like working for Airbnb. They mention such aspects as a sense of community, feeling at home and like they belong, and knowing that the work their team does really touches the lives of their guests, fulfilling the company’s mission and purpose. Other videos show colleagues interacting, as well as testimonials from interns and employees describing opportunities to contribute, grow, and experience a sense of family at Airbnb.

Airbnb also gives prospective recruits a behind-the-scenes look at meaningful work in action. Another website video showcases the development of the Airbnb iPhone app and features the actual engineers who worked on the project. The employees narrate and walk the viewer through the process of developing the app. It shows smart, highly engaged people working together for a meaningful cause. The video gives job seekers an inside look at Airbnb’s open-space format, teamwork, creative process, and employee enthusiasm as the engineers design groundbreaking technology for their customers.

MAKE EMPLOYEES PURPOSE AMBASSADORS

Whether showcasing your purpose, proving that your mission is authentic, providing evidence of how you care about your employees, or designing an engaging website, your goal is to generate top talent’s interest. We have found that one of the most effective ways to accomplish this objective is with your employees’ support. Just like employees are your best brand ambassadors for customers, they are also your greatest talent brand ambassadors.

But what is your talent brand? What stories, experiences, and images are associated with working for your company? How do job candidates see the company making a difference in the world? How do employees find meaning and purpose working for you? The most believable ambassadors for your company are the people who already work there. After top talent read up on your organization and check your website to see what your company is all about, they will look to social media and their social networks to learn what it means to work for you—in fact, they may even start there.

Film candid videos—like those featured on your career website— of current team members talking about what the company’s purpose means to them and how they contribute to that purpose in their work. Post these videos on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media sites, especially in conjunction with job posts to increase your reach. The 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report points out that, according to PeopleScout, “Job postings on Facebook that feature videos receive 36 percent more applications.”¹⁰

Expedia UK, which received Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work in 2017, features several employee videos on social media describing how the company’s purpose, culture, and values are important to them. One employee says, “Travel as a force for good in the world inspires people at Expedia. We have a great culture, but it all begins with purpose. We believe travel helps make the world smaller and it enriches people’s experiences…but that travel also has an impact on society. As Mark Twain once wrote, ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,’ and if we can also contribute to that, then we’re extremely proud.”¹¹

Encourage employees to “share the good” through social media— and make it easy for them to do that. Stories directly from employees who experience purpose at work are an incredible magnet for attracting new talent. Provide your employees with links, pictures, and information about events they were part of or the result of projects they worked on. This material could be regarding a community outreach or volunteer program or more directly linked to how the company’s products and services are helping others. Also supply employees with stories and examples of the good you are doing that they will be excited to share with people in their networks. Encourage employees to post such information on YouTube or other social media sites through first-person testimonials.

Of course, not every aspect of employees’ efforts as talent brand ambassadors needs to be online, nor should it be. You should help employees expand their networks and influence a larger pool of potential candidates. Reid Hoffman, cofounder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, encourages organizations to extend beyond the company’s boundaries by “subsidizing the building of employee networks outside of the organization.”¹²

As your best ambassadors, employees increase your reach through strong employee networks, so it makes sense to encourage and pay for employees to attend conferences, present papers, sit on committees and boards, and have a strong presence in the broader landscape. When they’re out there in person, showing their support of your company’s efforts, employees from other organizations take notice. The more your people are involved, the more awareness they raise about the company and the company’s mission and purpose.

Another way to support and maintain an employee network is to establish an alumni group to keep in touch with past employees. Sponsor events to function as reunions to bring people together and maintain their sense of family and history with your company. Build a lifetime relationship with your talent, as you never know where they’ll end up and whom they’ll connect with and influence. Your employee network therefore serves as a recruiting tool, especially if not just current but also past employees are singing your company’s praises and spreading the message that you’re serious about purpose.

As talent brand ambassadors, your employees play a critical role in your company’s future. Through mutual support, both the organization’s and the individuals’ long-term goals can be met and even surpassed. By helping employees help you attract the best and brightest talent, a cooperative relationship is formed, benefiting everyone involved. Your current employees are also in tune with what potential employees want out of their jobs. I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now: It’s not just financial reward. It’s passion, meaningful work, and the opportunity for growth and contributing to the greater good.

3M Magnet for Talent

For a good example of how purpose can become a talent magnet, take a closer look at 3M, which has more than 90,000 team members around the world. The company has grown from a small mining operation founded in Minnesota in 1902 to become one of the most diversified science-based manufacturing companies in the world. Its original name was the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, which long ago was shortened to 3M. It has always been characterized by a certain Midwestern humility. You won’t see 3M bragging very much, but its sense of purpose is palpable, as the company is tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. One thing it isn’t shy to talk about is how working to create a sustainable present and future has become its rallying cry.

Caring about the environment has been a way of life for 3M, dating as far back as 1975, when it introduced the Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) program. Although the idea had been around for some time, the company made it central to the enterprise. 3P seeks to eliminate pollution at the source through product reformulation, process modification, equipment redesign, and recycling and reuse of waste materials. Over the ensuing years, 3M prevented billions of pounds of pollutants from entering the ecosystem while saving billions of dollars both internally and for the businesses it serves.

3M has an inspiring, clearly articulated, purpose: 3M technology advancing every company, 3M products enhancing every home, and 3M innovation improving every life. We think it is among the best examples of a company’s purpose being an almost perfect fit both to its core business and to thriving in the age of social good. While that purpose is advanced in thousands of products that help businesses, homes, and individuals get things done, the company has increasingly focused on environmental sustainability as a key part of its purpose.

When Inge Thulin became the CEO in 2012, he called more than 40 other CEOs, present and former, to ask them what they would have done differently and what advice they would give him. His takeaway was to have a clear vision right from the start. He began working on that vision while he was the chief operating officer and introduced it his second day in office. Sustainability was a key part of that vision.

A focus on taking care of nature was deeply embedded in Thulin from his upbringing in Sweden, where being outdoors is part of the national identity. Sustainability seemed a natural focus because it was an issue 3M clients were struggling with; it was also a cause that the company could tackle internally while also helping every business, home, and person find solutions. “Many people saw the sustainability challenge as a threat, but to us it was an opportunity.”

Thulin is unequivocal about both the role of senior leaders in driving purpose and the importance of embedding sustainability into everything we do as leaders: “Every time I am doing a presentation, I try to talk about sustainability, try to make it the first question I ask people. We ask every division to have clear goals around sustainability, and I do everything I can to reinforce the purpose.” He admits that the company has a long way to go but is proud of the progress they have made thus far. 3M has made great strides toward reducing energy use and waste while setting ambitious targets to help its clients reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 250 million tons.

The exciting thing is that people are noticing—especially the young talent 3M will need to fulfill its grand ambition of improving every life. In its 2017 annual report, the company noted that in a survey by the National Institute of High School Scholars, 3M was ranked as the top place to work for millennials. Not at all surprising, in the purpose revolution the best talent want more than a paycheck, and improving every life and helping solve some of the world’s biggest problems sounds like a pretty good reason to get up in the morning.

BEST PRACTICES FOR
RECRUITING PURPOSE-DRIVEN TALENT

   In your company’s job descriptions and on the career page of your website, show candidates your compelling mission and purpose to motivate them to want to work for you. Do not focus the job description on what they will do but rather how they will find meaning and help you change the world.

   On applications and during interviews, feature your company’s values and purpose so that candidates see them front and center and immediately understand the role they play in your organization.

   When developing job descriptions, describe the company’s story, what’s important to you, and how your company’s purpose ties to your employees’ own values and goals.

   In the interview process, whether written or verbal, ask candidates questions that signal what matters most to the company in terms of purpose.

   Connect job candidates with current employees—both those in the candidate’s potential team as well as in other depart-ments—to show how the company’s purpose permeates the entire culture and is not just specific to one division or team.

   Explain any flexible work alternatives so that candidates can see how your company supports your workers through enriching their lifestyles and standards of living. Help them understand how this indirectly or directly connects to your company’s purpose.

   Feature testimonials from your employees, interns, and customers on the company’s career website and via social media, describing their experiences and how your company’s work makes a difference to them personally and to the world.

   Post candid videos to social media of current team members talking about what the company’s purpose means to them and how they get to contribute to that purpose in their work.

   Encourage employees to share on social media the good that your company is doing, and make it easy for them by providing them with content related to events they took part in or the results of their work.

   Establish company alumni groups to keep in touch with past employees to maintain them as your talent brand ambassadors.