CIPR welcomes Chartered Management Institute white paper on 'Purpose'
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations has welcomed The Chartered Management Institute’s report; ‘The What, The Why and The How of Purpose’ and its definition of organisational purpose.
The paper defines organisational purpose as;
“An organisation’s meaningful and enduring reason to exist that aligns with long-term financial performance, provides a clear context for daily decision making, and unifies and motivates relevant stakeholders.”
The paper highlights the benefits of embedding purpose within an organisation and outlines the risk of benchmarking organisational performance exclusively through a financial lens.
The paper criticises attempts by business to “cynically uphold a respectable image” through the “weak and outdated” approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The report heralds 'purpose' as a powerful business tool which can:
- Increase legitimacy
- Attract and retain talent
- Drive strong stakeholder and customer relationships
- Increase employee psychological welfare
- Increase business performance
CIPR's President-elect, Emma Leech, commented;
This report is a welcome and essential resource for business leaders. It confirms the CIPR’s position on social purpose as a proactive approach to maximising business performance whilst minimising risk. Customers, stakeholders and employees are increasingly demanding more than just a focus on financial performance and, in an age of transparency, it is increasingly difficult to convince them if this is not happening.
Accountable Leadership and Social Purpose will form the focus on this year's CIPR’s 2018 National Conference on Thursday 29 November at The British Library. On Monday November 26 CIPR President, Sarah Hall, will be speaking at the CIPR sponsored Debating Group debate on the topic of social purpose.
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas. The CIPR is the largest membership organisation for PR practitioners outside of North America. By size of turnover and number of individually registered members, we are the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).