Being a purpose driven business is becoming more and more important in the world we live in. There is a collective social conscious growing. Employees want to work for socially minded organisations and consumers are increasingly consciously searching and choosing businesses that are stepping up to take care of the world around them.
Becoming a socially purpose driven business, is now as much about business survival, as it is about ‘doing the right thing’.
According to the 2017 Endleman Barometer 75% of people surveyed agreed that
a company can take specific actions that both increase profits and improve the economic and social conditions in the community where it operates
It would be fair to say, that consumers and employees are expecting more from us as businesses!
It’s about engaging in creative philanthropy, to allow us to address social challenges whilst positively supporting business growth.
So how will you drive your business forward in 2020, to achieve social impact through your business purpose?
Are you Purpose Driven?
Is your ‘Business Purpose’, ‘Purpose Driven’?
Social purpose should be intrinsic and part of your business DNA. And not just because it’s the right thing to do – it’s also good for your business.
What social purpose does your product or service support? And we don’t just mean monetary donations here. We’re talking about your actual core purpose for being, helping to fix a social problem.
Can you easily identify how your business does or could support a better society?
We’re talking about weaving social benefit into your business DNA. Your business can build its success in conjunction with your community, not in isolation of it. It’s not profit versus community impact – it’s profit through community impact. Identify where and how your own business model could be reworked for social and business harmony and growth.
It’s about incorporating good old fashioned CSR into the actual DNA of why you do what you do.
CSR shouldn’t be an ‘add on’, it should be the actual fabric of your business.
We talk from lots experience of course! Peter created first Charity Bike Build and then Only 3 elements to support a social goal. We add value to your community through every team building event we run. An idea triggered when Peter, our founder, found himself at an event with no social purpose or value, and with an uncomfortable amount of waste. It was a light bulb moment, or as he calls it ‘A Polystyrene Moment’. Read how Peter’s Polystyrene moment turned into a social goal and created the UK’s first purpose driven team building business… It will inspire you to seek your own ‘Polystyrene Moment’!
Some Inspiration – A Polystyrene Moment
With years of experience in delivering engaging team events, Peter had become aware of a general lack of purpose at these events. Well meaning companies were parting with valuable time and money. While employees had a laugh and got to know each other, Peter could see that they were missing a bigger opportunity. The events left no legacy, nothing to bond the team afterwards, and frequently, there was a lot of waste. It all came together at one particular event on one afternoon. Peter watched a team spend hours creating a polystyrene totem pole to represent their organisation’s values. The team had fun – but what on earth did a polystyrene totem pole have to do with their values? It was just a great big lump of non-recyclable waste that would go straight in the bin. And where is the value in that?
What if the money and energy expended at a team building event, created community value?
Imagine that! that was it – Peter’s ‘Polystyrene Moment’. Shortly afterwards Peter set up Charity Bike Build. And to date, over 2,000 bikes have been built and donated to charities. These bikes support refugees to avoid social isolation and teenagers rehabilitating from cancer. They support young carers to have fun and exercise, helping them to balance the demands in their life. And they have done much more.
And the principles that underpin every team building event that we create? They are adding value, reducing waste and finding innovative solutions to social problems! But, do you know why you do what you do?
Want to find your own Polystyrene moment, become a purpose driven business? Want to create incredible and valuable impact in 2020 (and beyond!)? Book a no obligation discovery call with Peter today.
Creating Employee Advocates
Enhance your employee motivation, advocacy and retention by incorporating social and community benefit into your business purpose. By aligning your business purpose with your employee’s values, employee motivation will follow.
O3e’s social purpose, has attracted a small but very committed core team of experts. Our team share in the community and social goals of our business.
Nail your purpose, and you will gain a loyal and committed team.
I tell everyone about the work we do at o3e, because every event sold, is more support for our community. Whether that’s children with disabilities, teenagers rehabilitating from cancer, children living in poverty or ex-service personnel – every event helps someone and can change a life. It’s why I have loved supporting o3e for over 4 years now
Claire, Marketing Manager at o3e
And by providing a sense of purpose to your employees, you will take the sting out of the mundane parts of their job. Support your employees to find value in every task, by pursuing a compelling social-based business purpose. For example, when we make a bed in our Funky Furniture challenge, it’s not just a piece of furniture. It’s somewhere for a child in the Care System to sleep, to call their own, to feel safe, and to hang their stocking. In fact, a young boy supported by Barnardo’s told us exactly that;
Now I have somewhere to hang my stocking
With this in mind, it’s easy to see how researching the best materials, designs and paints for these rather awesome beds, becomes an incredibly motivating task.
Align your purpose driven goal with employee values to support advocacy. Employee recommendations create valuable and genuine leads for your business.
“76% of individuals surveyed say that they’re more likely to trust content shared by “normal” people than content shared by brands”
What will your 2020 legacy be?
Being set up as a Purpose Driven Business from the start, has given o3e real drive and passion. We have attracted employees that want to work here and do their best. Charity Bike Build pathed the way for Only 3 elements (Business – Charity – Teamwork), and we now offer over 12 CSR team building events. Each event meets a social or community need. Read the real impact that o3e has had, through is purpose driven business approach and get some inspiration for your own business.
What could your business do? Book a no-obligation exploratory call with Peter, to see how you can become purpose driven. Identify your social goals and build a plan to incorporate them into your business fabric. Book a charity inspired team building event to launch your purpose driven goal. It’s a tailor made launch pad, to share your message, share your vision, and engage your organisation AND your community. Be part of o3e’s drive to add over £250k worth of value into our local communities in 2020.
Make 2020 your biggest impact year yet.