On day two of Spectra, the online conference focusing on reputation management, Deia Campanelli, Chief Communications Officer and Head of Sustainability at Wabtec Corporation, addressed the importance of purpose in driving culture.<\/p>\n
Labelling purpose as one of the most powerful tools of organisation, she explained, \u201cAt its most basic level, purpose expresses what an organisation inspires to be or do. At its most advanced level, it becomes the expression of how an organisation intends to evolve or transform. I think that purpose is not passive; it\u2019s not even linear \u2013 it is transformational and reaps such rewards when promoted in its truest form.\u201d<\/p>\n
Citing examples of how companies like Microsoft and Apple work with purpose, helping transform the world, she said, \u201cAt its core, Microsoft is helping every person achieve more and in doing so, they are fundamentally re-thinking the way that business and partnerships work. Apple started making PCs in the 1970s and today is arguably one of the best-known companies selling billions of mobile phones that we can\u2019t live without. They have also become the world\u2019s largest music store. These companies and so many like them recognise that disruption is everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campanelli further added how businesses are chasing technologies that are evolving at an exponential rate of change every day. It\u2019s companies that view transformation as an ethos that will write and change the future.<\/p>\n
Creating a purposeful culture<\/strong><\/p>\n Campanelli explained the three key pillars to building a purposeful culture in an organisation:<\/p>\n 1. Compelling story<\/strong><\/p>\n Storytelling doesn\u2019t exist for mere entertainment; it connects and shapes feelings, beliefs, and actions in one\u2019s mind. \u201cPeople are focused on conveying the message they want people to know, without tapping into purpose and meaning to cultivate empathy,\u201d she elaborated.<\/p>\n Herein, she mentioned Starbucks, a brand that could easily be described as a coffee company but has become so much more than that. It wants to be the place between home and one that provides safety, protection and comfort, a place that is inviting, community-oriented and where everyone is welcome.<\/p>\n 2. Committed leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMore than two billion search results show up for \u2018leadership\u2019 on Google,\u201d says Campanelli, emphasising that leaders are facing a really difficult task \u2013 looking to bridge the gap between what a company says and does.<\/p>\n According to her, \u201cThat say-do ratio is so important when it comes to purpose. When a company says that it\u2019s committed to innovation, then employees expect the leaders of that company to make time, space and investment to make new ideas, even during a downturn. When a company says that it supports collaboration, then employees expect leaders to support cross-functional relationships. And if a company wants to move at the speed of the world around them, then you have to expect leaders to remove barriers, not create them. It\u2019s when you have that disconnect between the message and the messenger that confusion, resentment and resignation set in. In that very moment, purpose fails.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Employee belief<\/strong><\/p>\n Campanelli stated that the third leg for purposeful behaviour is employee belief, the importance of symbols and rituals in reinforcing a company\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n \u201cEmployees believe in the purpose when it is supported by symbols that show progress and rituals that change behaviour. Symbols are one of the most powerful tools we have to demonstrate the truth behind what we are saying,\u201d she states.<\/p>\n She believes that if a company states that its purpose is knowledge, then it needs to make appropriate spends on training and development to create the best and brightest people. \u201cEverything is based around symbols, whether it\u2019s hiring practices, budgets and investment choices. Even your office design tells a story and communicates symbolic messages. Symbols exist whether you communicate them or not,\u201d she said. Campanelli believes that a company should not only create deliberate symbols but should also avoid or understand accidental ones that could work against the vision the leadership team are building.<\/p>\n \u201cThe flipside is rituals. Rituals can be designed in anything \u2013 they can be part of your onboarding process, they can be about how you give bonuses, how you conduct training and development. This is an area where we can be fun and creative as communicators. A great example of this: innovation was at the core of my previous company\u2019s culture, so much so that the topic of failure \u2013a taboo in some companies \u2013 was openly discussed and in so many ways it was even celebrated. This is because the company knew that creativity and innovation had to co-exist,\u201d she says, in as she finishes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On day two of Spectra, the online conference focusing on reputation management, Deia Campanelli, Chief Communications Officer and Head of Sustainability at Wabtec Corporation, addressed the importance of purpose in driving culture. Labelling purpose as one of the most powerful tools of organisation, she explained, \u201cAt its most basic level, purpose expresses what an organisation inspires to be or do. At its most advanced level, it becomes the expression of how an organisation intends to evolve or transform. I think that purpose is not passive; it\u2019s not even linear \u2013 it is transformational and reaps such rewards when promoted in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event-coverage","category-spectra-2020"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commsnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}