Gen Zs and younger employees increasingly cite purpose as one of the characteristics of organisations they want to work for.
“We have this focus on purpose grow significantly, especially in the last two years, and it’s not just Gen Zs and younger employers, though it is more predominant among them,” says Mary Connaughton, director of CIPD Ireland.
The pandemic has intensified the desire for it, she feels. “Previously people were in an office, maybe in a nice environment. When you are at home at the kitchen table, why you are actually doing your work becomes more important to you than ever. It’s why there is currently much more conversation in business around the issue of purpose; employers are aware that the traditional purpose of a business, to make a profit, is not good enough.”
It is, in part, why organisations are so keen to promote their environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities.
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“Large organisations are reporting on ESG and that is going to grow, so more employers are going to have to start talking about what they are going to do in relation to ESG, about what their purpose is, and in what ways they are giving back to society. Purpose has moved to a much more central position,” she says.
CIPD Ireland, the professional organisation for human resources practitioners, keeps close contact with the country’s third-level institutions. “We know from talking to the universities how much they are hearing from their students about the importance of purpose, particularly around the sustainability piece and care for the environment,” she says.
That is the case regardless of sector. Whereas traditionally those looking for a career with purpose might have gravitated towards the not-for-profit, social enterprise or charity sector, that is no longer the case.
It means that to be an employer of choice you must make clear the good that you do. In sectors such as pharmaceuticals or life sciences, where you are healing the sick, or in renewable energy where you are saving the planet, that sense of purpose is clear.
Others have to outsource this mission through corporate and social, CSR, initiatives, whether giving staff days off to volunteer for charity or providing direct assistance to communities.
Much of what the younger generation is concerned about is environmental but it’s about standing for something, not just profit
“There are growing number of role models out there putting people and planet first,” says Connaughton, pointing to the latest and most high-profile example of Patagonia. In September its founder Yvon Chouinard gave the multibillion clothing brand business away, transferring ownership to a specially designed trust and a not-for-profit organisation to ensure its profits go to protect the environment.
There is a generational aspect to the rise in interest in an employer’s ESG agenda, says Russell Smyth, head of sustainable futures at KPMG.
“One reason is that there are more opportunities to study and read at third-level education on sustainability and ESG, therefore graduates entering the workforce are better informed about these topics than graduates of 20 or 40 years ago,” he says.
“New generations are also more used to having access to a plethora of information about corporates and organisations, and they will seek it out through social media as well as the websites of companies. And even if prospective employees are not specifically interested in ESG, they are interested in working for organisations with good reputations and that align with their values.”
For employers, properly communicating purpose, in a way that resonates with the labour market, will pay dividends. “It is very much a calling card for an organisation, knowing what do you stand for in a society, and how do you provide leadership to reflect those values into society,” says Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig, chief commercial officer at Sigmar Recruitment.
“Much of what the younger generation is concerned about is environmental but it’s about standing for something, not just profit. It’s often called woke capitalism, which is not a term I like. For me it’s about responsible capitalism. Patagonia is the big story on that front because its owner has done it. But in general there is a sense that shareholder supremacy in capitalism doesn’t gel well with the younger generation. They want to see the organisation do more.”
