Our speakers this time are:
Charlotte Rayner, Professor of Human Resource Management at Portsmouth Business School
Anand Pillai, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Quality, Talent Transformation and Leadership Development, HCL Technologies
Claire McCartney, Adviser Resourcing and Talent Planning, CIPD
Ian Mintram, Glaxo Smithkline-Senior Vice President, HR leadership of Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific and Japanese.
First we hear some definitions of ‘shared purpose’ from Claire McCartney of the CIPD and Charlotte Rayner from Portsmouth University.
Claire’s definition encompasses a wide remit and Charlotte calls it the ‘golden thread’. As you listen further, you can find out how this translates into wider benefits to staff, employees and other groups in the organisations’ orbit.
CIPD research show that while three quarters of employees understand the purpose of their organisation, less than one third believes it is shared throughout the organisation. This research also shows that understanding shared purpose is key to better organisational performance.
Charlotte goes on to discuss why we go to work and says that the ‘rewards’ of work can mean different things to different people. Listen to her explain how shared purpose must be present and drive the organisation in both charity and commercial fields.
Philippa Lamb, our interviewer, wonders how you can reel in some of this ‘golden thread’ for your workplace. First, listen Claire explain what must be done and then to Anand Pilai, who illustrates the point with his company’s ‘three Es’ initiative, and how it is key to better all-round performance and employee fulfillment.
Philippa points out that the strategies for attaining shared purpose must be genuine and convincing. How to do it? Listen and find out – it may surprise you. How would you feel about having your 360 degree appraisal posted on your company intranet for all to see?
Next the speakers discuss how shared purpose might be taken global. If this is your current interest in an increasingly international context listen to Glaxo SmithKline’s Ian Mintram explain what considerations there were and how a change of strategy helped stimulated a sense of value and purpose.
Does age have any bearing on the purpose of work, Philippa wonders. Charlotte laughs, but in the end she thinks that older groups can be enthusiastic and purposful too. Anand Pilai finds from surveys that he has done in his multinational companies, that assessing motivation gives different results and should be taken to a high degree of granularity to take advantage of what turns people on in different parts of the world and in different age groups.
Claire agrees with Anand, saying that the research that CIPD has done for the Shaping the Future project, bears this out. Charlotte thinks that in turbulent and changing times her golden thread is something that employees can grasp to help them through.
Useful links to further information
Shared purpose and sustainable organisation performance
A CIPD report and case study on the benefits of creating a shared sense of purpose within organisations
The latest report from the Shaping the Future project is:
How to drive sustainable organisation performance:key insights & practical tools
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Next Generation Asia
Our report paints a picture of a regional HR profession that can overtake current global best practice to deliver uniquely Asian HR strategies that are truly growth-oriented
Shared purpose: the golden thread?
This study was undertaken by YouGov on behalf of the CIPD and looks at organisation purpose and engagement and satisfaction as drivers.
Next time the podcast will look at organisation agility through times good and bad.