Purpose, people and profit

The symptoms

• You find investors are asking tricky questions about ESGs.
• You might be hearing a lot about how your values need to match those of your employees and investors.
• You believe sustainability has to go beyond box ticking and greenwashing.
• But how to align the different strands?
• You may be struggling with digitisation and the disruption and fears it brings.
• Your investment proposition is not getting traction with the rest of your stakeholders.
• You feel that you are generally struggling to move your organisation into the future.

The problem

In any transformation, the pain tends to get a little worse before it will get better. It’s always tempting to change everything a giant leap, but practice suggests many small steps will get you further.

You will need to be careful in choosing who you take on the boat to drive this transformation, and this includes your customers. Climate change and the priorities of a new generation are moving the world from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism. This affects how strategy, culture and brand interact.  In an ever changing world, only aligned businesses will be able to continually adapt and thrive.

You need to break down silos and replace mechanistic structures with living systems. Purpose sits at the intersection of strategy, culture and brand. When it’s meaningful and real, it can be game changing. But careful: as a superficial marketing slogan it will do more harm than help.

How it worked for Accsys

Accsys are specialist chemicals business that manufactures an incredible, sustainable wood product.

We took the company through an inclusive process involving people from all levels and locations. The organisation adopted the business compass, GW+Co’s proprietary strategic tool, to create both a statement of intent and a guide to decision making as it progresses with its ambitious international growth plans. The new strategic framework informs their marketing as much as their annual reporting.

Read more about our work with Accsys