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Weekly Short
15 July, 2022
From corporate social responsibility to stakeholder capitalism, there are many lenses for understanding the ways that businesses impact the world. One of these is ‘purpose-driven’ – generally taken to mean a business that exists not to maximise profits but to deliver on a purpose that benefits society. We say generally because ‘purpose’ and ‘purpose-driven’ have become somewhat muddled terms of late, and in some cases have been adopted by businesses simply to describe a vague intent to do good.
Lazy use of terminology doesn’t help anyone, which is why there are reasons to welcome t he British Standards Institute’s newly released PAS 808:2022 Standard for purpose-driven organizations (PDOs). It gives guidance to governing bodies on how to operate a purpose-driven organisation, outlining the principles and behaviours of a PDO and providing the basis for developing a strategy and approach to enacting purpose.
It also seeks to clearly define what a purpose is – which given that it can, in some cases, come perilously close to simply being the next iteration of a brand positioning – is needed. The standard sets out that a purpose is “an optimal strategic contribution to long-term wellbeing for all people and planet”. They key here is the ‘optimal’ and the ‘strategic’ – meaning PDOs “focus on solving the problems that they are best placed to address given their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”
For us, this is the heart of what drives a good purpose – it sits at the intersection between what the company does and what the world needs. So a definition that focuses attention on the specific area where you are uniquely positioned to make the greatest impact is a step forward. And the fact that it’s codified by the UK’s national standards body gives it heft.
The standard is not without shortcomings. It’s not particularly easy to read, nor does it actually help much with determining exactly what your purpose should be. But we can (and do!) help with that, so if you are ready to take the next step, you know where to come.
By Louise Podmore