I wrote recently about the importance of purpose, both in your individual life and career, but also for organizations.  There are no shortage of companies attempting to trumpet the values they live by, but are they real and justified, or a kind of ‘greenwash’ and little more than a limp PR exercise?

A recent study set out to explore in more depth the topic of purpose and values, and the impact it can have on employees if done well.

“Promoting core values is a way to engage employees and increase their commitment and loyalty to the organization and at the same time encourage ethical decision making,” the authors say.

Employer branding

Much of this branding work around purpose and values comes in the orientation process new hires are put through.  It’s a process that costs organizations around $54 billion per year.  In addition to the onboarding process, values are usually communicated via more traditional internal communications channels such as email, newsletters and enterprise social networks.

The problem comes if employees regard all of this as fluff that is not followed through on by the employer.  It marks the breaking of the psychological contract between employer and employee.  Once this is broken, it typically results in higher turnover, lower satisfaction levels and a general drop in performance.

The author reveals that some companies try and overcome this by connecting up their values to the reward systems they have in place.  It’s part of a more holistic approach to change that I outline in my book, although remuneration and rewards is just one aspect of how our environment can shape our behavior.

The study concludes with a number of recommendations for how an organization can better live its purpose, including:

• Companies should communicate the ethics and value they aspire to in a suitable way, including anecdotes and employee testimonials
• The values should be reviewed regularly to ensure that systems fit squarely with them
• Recruitment and onboarding materials and processes should focus on the values
• Employees should regularly be surveyed to see how well the values are being lived up to

If you’re interested in exploring the role, and development, of purpose in your organization then I can recommend the latest book by Dan Pontefract, The Purpose Effect, where he provides a guide to developing stronger purpose for your organization. You can see Dan talking about his philosophy in the TED talk below.