For 35 years as the field has evolved from the early days of cause marketing to today’s emphasis on purpose, Carol Cone has been a leader in the movement to integrate values and value creation into business management. Throughout her career she has invested in high-value, consumer research-based reports designed to advance the practice of sustainable corporate social impact.

Seeking a way to help brands navigate the Great Resignation, her firm, Carol Cone On Purpose, recently co-authored Purpose Under Pressure, and I reached out to get a bit of the story behind the story.

David Hessekiel: The recently released “Purpose Under Pressure” study is the 31st report you’ve released since 1993. What have you learned along the way about sharing research that is really useful?

Carol Cone: Pick interesting partners to work with, as multiple viewpoints make for more breakthrough findings. In Purpose Under Pressure, we worked with The Harris Poll, whom I’ve partnered with for years. Global PR firm Allison+Partners also joined to add their unique perspective on corporate and brand reputation.

Once you have your partners, start with a hypothesis that is fresh but builds off existing studies so your results add to the purpose body of knowledge. Debate. Debate. Debate…to determine the direction of the hypothesis upon which you’ll develop an in-depth questionnaire. Make sure the questions are very clearly stated.

Let your research partner provide the first cut of the data analysis. Then engage in more vigorous debate about the implications of the results.

Provide more than data to your readers. Clearly explain what the findings mean, and weave in insights based on best practices from real-world case studies. This really brings the findings to life. Then share as liberally as possible: For the first dozen studies I conducted, I was constantly on the road making presentations about this “new strategy” called purpose. It was so new and–frankly–poorly understood as a potential business strategy. Lots of planes, trains and rental cars, media interviews and speeches.

David Hessekiel: There’s a ton of data contained in this report. What would you say are its most important findings?

Purpose Under Pressure research report

Carol Cone: Meaningful work is more important than ever, according to 86% of the respondents. Ninety-one percent say a company’s purpose makes them feel they’re in the right place to weather today’s ongoing challenges. And 84% say they will only work for a purpose-driven company.

Every organization wants top talent, and having a purpose that is authentically activated across the enterprise will be a magnet no matter the economy. The power of purpose that is “mature” in an organization is glue that should help to keep talent with 58% of respondents saying they are not looking for a new job. Employees want companies to “double down” on activating their purpose. This means embed it more thoroughly throughout the organization (77%); behave in ways more aligned with stated purpose (75%); help employees better understand the alignment between their personal values and the company purpose (51%) and make purpose more prominent in customer interactions (43%).

David Hessekiel: I was fascinated by the discrepancy between the nearly universal C-level executive belief in purpose as an important business driver and the much lower levels of faith in purpose reported by mid-level executives especially in marketing and strategy. What do you attribute this to and what can leaders do to change this?

Carol Cone: We are still only in the early innings of discovering an authentic purpose and embedding it throughout an organization. We feel the gap comes from the challenge between a long term view and a short term one.

Purpose well defined and embedded in an organization supports both. It is up to the CEO to be courageous and clear that the organization will be human-centered and care for all its stakeholders: employees first, then consumers and customers, communities, and planet earth, also a key stakeholder. It is a company’s responsibility to create working environments that, well, work!

David Hessekiel: You are always thinking five steps ahead. What are some of the ideas you are pondering for your 32nd report?

Carol Cone: That is kind of you to say. I do like the analogy, skate to where the puck is going! So our next few reports will likely focus on behavior change, deep employee engagement to create inspired and highly energized company “ambassadors" and how to do that in digital and real world environments.