June 10, 2022
The Power of Purpose in Serving Stakeholders
By
The Retail Practice
As the World Retail Congress Knowledge Partner for Leadership in 2022, Spencer Stuart is invested in this year’s theme “roadmap to rebuild a better retail.” A key priority for rebuilding for a strong, sustainable future, say CEOs, is articulating a clear and consistent purpose that serves all stakeholders, including customers, employees and the greater society.
Stakeholder: The customer
The customer is the first and most obvious stakeholder. During the pandemic, some retail organizations bore financial losses in the interest of better serving customer interests, because, sometimes, doing the right thing is more important than short-term revenue — and supports long-term, sustainable customer relationships. Ken Murphy, group chief executive, Tesco, the third-largest international grocery retailer by gross revenue, says: “Doing the right thing for customers was costly short-term but has enabled us to grow our customer base overall. We added another 700,000 customers.”
Stakeholder: The employee
Health and safety have always been important from a physical point of view for employees, but psychological safety and well-being have really come to the forefront over the last couple of years. “In some ways,” says Ashish Dikshit, managing director, Aditya Birla Group, a leading Indian fashion conglomerate, “the whole crisis has brought real human beings out of anonymous employees and organizations. It’s pushing organizations to rethink and evaluate their purpose with greater sensitivity for their employees versus only shareholders.”
Stakeholder: The greater community and the world
Leaders increasingly think in terms of a broad set of stakeholders when driving toward a truly sustainable business strategy, including the environment and society. Every leader today is acutely aware of how their company aligns with community values. A grocery store is no longer just a grocery store, but, as Noel Keeley of Musgrave, Ireland’s leading food retailer, says, “Our purpose at Musgrave is ‘growing good business’ and that means growing businesses that are commercially successful, obviously, but also that ‘do good’ in the community. We can’t think of our jobs as merely operating supermarkets or supply chains, but to actually keep food on the table for the people of Ireland.” In fact, Musgrave feeds one out of three people in Ireland every day, making it not just an essential service but one that is integral to the functioning of the country. Leaning into this big picture of purpose was powerful for every grocery enterprise that successfully weathered the last few years.
Conclusion
This attention to all the different kinds of stakeholders that matter in retail came up again and again in our conversations with leaders. The move from capitalism for shareholders to creating value for all stakeholders is a major point of differentiation today. Leaders must think in terms of a broad set of stakeholders when driving toward a truly sustainable business strategy.
Read more in our full report, The Future of Retail: How CEOs are rebuilding for a strong sustainable future.