The importance of being purpose driven

What is your purpose? And, how do you ensure that employees share the same purpose and values as you? The employment market has changed rapidly, and candidates are driven by more than just salary and progression opportunities, instead, they want to feel part of something bigger.

Purpose and values attract candidates

Forbes spoke about this topic in 2020, highlighting that “Organizations face diverse competitive challenges and are fighting to attract and retain the human capital that will increase innovation and productivity. Increasingly, employees are seeking enhanced meaning and purpose in their work and the opportunity to impact the broader society in positive ways.” Everybody wants to feel as though what they are doing is impactful, and this has been heightened even more so in the past two years than ever before. 

We have seen first-hand through The Great Resignation that people are deeply reflecting on what they want from a career that is largely going to take up the majority of their time. The majority of the population spends five out of their seven days at work, so it’s completely understandable why a company with enhanced values and a greater purpose would attract the best candidates. But, although it’s painfully obvious – companies still fail to put this at the forefront of their talent acquisition strategy. 

Communicating this to the market

Taking your purpose and brand vision to market can be difficult to do, especially if you’ve never established your brand values, to begin with. However, having values that aren’t “set in stone” is actually very common, particularly for organisations that have never had to develop them either due to their size, or their tenure within Life Sciences. But, now that this is becoming a key requirement from talent in the market, it’s never too late to re-establish your values so you can take a clear message to market. 

Masterclass produced a compelling article on this, stating “A company’s core values play a critical role in any successful business. Not only do they influence the overall identity of your company, they also function as a beacon for your employees, providing them with a unified ethos and set of clearly defined daily goals.” The same article also has an excellent guide on how you can start to establish your values if you’ve never done this exercise before. 

The beauty of the world of Life Sciences, is that there is always a purpose to talk about. Whether you’re a CRO focussing on some of the most compelling clinical studies worldwide, or you’re a CDMO getting a product ready for market, there’s always a deeper reason behind what an organisation does. It’s just putting the figurative pen to paper, and talking about this externally.

How Apsida can help

Something we have been laser-focused on, particularly in the past few months are our own values and purpose. We have seen first-hand internally what impact this can make when hiring, but also the general morale of current employees. 

We pride ourselves on creating compelling go-to-market strategies for all of our clients, whether on a contingent or a retained basis, although our service agreements do differ depending on your requirements. We are incredibly confident in going above and beyond traditional search methodologies, and instead, creating an exciting external messaging campaign to attract the best talent in the market.

Often, organisations don’t realise how exciting their opportunities are, which is why partnering with an agency that knows how to communicate this comprehensively, correctly, and in an enticing way is crucial for your talent acquisition strategy, as well as how your brand is perceived in the marketplace.

For more information on how we can help you communicate your purpose and values to the market to attract fresh, high-quality talent into your organisation, please contact us directly or reach out to one of our specialist consultants.