Honesty > Purpose
Research: Employees respond better to authentic self-interest than pretensions of serving the greater good.
Companies often like to remind us that they have a nobler purpose beyond profit, though the two goals are less commonly at odds than many think. Indeed, one has to wonder whether an oil giant like BP would be chasing net zero carbon emissions by 2050 were there not sound investor, customer or commercial incentives for doing so.
But it’s not just good for PR - sharing a common, publicly-stated goal is known to be a way of uniting and motivating employees.
With this in mind, leaders sometimes appeal to the corporate purpose in order to get employees to behave in a certain way.
