5. Purpose & Ethics

We live in a time when values govern both consumer choices and career choices. The ability of businesses to show that they are promoting positive social development will become increasingly critical for them to be able to legitimise their very existence. Another of the most important ethical issues of our time involves handling of data, which in a data-driven world is an issue that essentially all businesses must address.

Sven Wolf, CEO and co-founder of the battery-driven taxi company Bzzt

For a growing number of individuals in the developed world, the primary purpose of work is not to make money, but instead to feel that they are making a positive contribution to society. The millennial generation, which will comprise two thirds of the global workforce by 2025, is especially value-driven; in a global study conducted by Deloitte, six out of ten millennials responded that a sense of purpose was one of the reasons they chose to work for their current employer.

Mia Kleregård, former CEO, Plantagon Sverige

In a value-driven workforce, leadership plays an important role in communicating the values of the company. Lernia conducted a survey in which nine out of ten Swedish employees responded that it is important for the manager to clearly communicate the values of the company, and three out of four said that they would have difficulty working for a manager who displayed the wrong values. Many leadership experts hold that it will be increasingly important for the leadership of the future to act as inspirational visionaries who communicate the corporate vision while fostering commitment and a sense of meaning among employees.

Maureen Hoppers head of communications Riksteatern

According to the most recent Jobbhälsoindex [Job Health Index] survey, one in ten employees in Sweden do not find their work to be meaningful. However, the percentages vary greatly among different age groups and industries.

In healthcare, school and social services, only 1 in 20 do not find their jobs to be meaningful, while in manufacturing and retail, 3 of 20 do not find their jobs to be meaningful.

Younger employees are generally less inclined to view their work as meaningful than older employees. Among males age 30 or younger, 16 per cent do not consider their jobs to be meaningful, while the corresponding figure among women age 55 or older is 6 per cent.

Today it is no longer sufficient for businesses to occasionally donate to random charity projects in order to portray themselves as responsible. Such initiatives now tend to be viewed as “purpose washing”. As a result of a series of scandals that have revealed discriminatory internal cultures, the demands for transparency are also increasing. To inspire credibility and loyalty, companies need to demonstrate that they have a higher purpose that defines their identity, one that permeates the entire organisation and that practises what it preaches.

Meanwhile, consumers have realised that “doing good” and “earning money” are not necessarily contradictory; a global survey by Edelman showed that three out of four respondents feel that corporate actions may both increase profits and improve social and economic conditions in the areas where they operate. And social responsibility certainly pays off. In 2017, for example, Unilever's sustainability-classed brands grew almost 50 per cent faster than the others, and accounted for 70 per cent of the company's sales growth.

Anne-Marie Andric, CHRO, iZettle

Harald Cavalli-Björkman, head of communications, Re:newcell.

Many of today’s start-up companies are based on a desire to have some kind of positive impact on society. Ica conducted a survey of 100 Swedish startup companies, in which seven out of ten responded that accepting social responsibility is an important incentive for their operations. One company that was started precisely to fulfil a desire to improve society is the battery-powered taxi company Bzzt. We met co-founder Sven Wolf to discuss the future of social entrepreneurship and the challenges of growing as a purpose-driven company.

I have gradually realised that I want to focus my energy on something bigger than myself and my own wallet. Some friends, including those who later became co-founders of Bzzt, and I had a loose network in which we tossed around various business ideas, and how to combine social benefit with business benefit – for example, in the borderland between sustainability and mobility. We all felt that if we were to start something new, we wanted it to be something that would actually be of benefit to society. This was really the fundamental driving force when we started the company.

I’d like to turn that statement around: how is it possible to even imagine a future in which businesses find it acceptable to exploit people and the planet? For example, how is it possible to justify to customers, partners and subcontractors that, just because we’re a large old established company, it’s okay to use child labour or to deplete the earth's resources faster than is sustainable? You can’t. They will be driven out unless they change their core values. I view this as a temporary fundamental error in the system, like a bug in the entire capitalist system, which is now being rectified.

As the business grows and becomes established in more markets, there is a risk that the purpose itself will be forgotten, or not adhered to internally. Therefore it will be necessary for people to ensure that the visions of the company and its very DNA continue to survive.

If there is no higher purpose in the company’s DNA, then management must approach the customers or the employees to see how the organisation can improve their lot. We often talk about the English word “why” – what is the “why” of the individual and what is the “why” of the organisation? The more they coincide, the more purpose-driven and powerful it becomes.