You’re probably already familiar with TOMS Shoes One for One® program. For every pair of
shoes purchased, TOMS gives away a pair to a child in need. You may not be as familiar with Warby Parker, a hip eyewear company founded in 2009 by four Wharton Business School friends.
Amy Bastuga’s first day at Radio Flyer started with a simple task – to onboard a new employee. That task evolved into a program that forever changed the culture of the 99-year-old iconic toy company. Nine years later, Bastuga, now Vice President of Human Resources, leads the company’s “New Flyer Orientation & Assimilation.” Since its inception, the program has had a direct impact on performance. Turnover dropped from 21% to 6%, and employee satisfaction scores reached 100% in 2015.
When you think of manufacturing companies in America, visions of machines spitting out smoke among sooty-faced laborers may come to mind. That image dominated U.S. manufacturing companies for much of the 20th century. But, if you walk into Hunter Industries today, you might mistake it for a fitness club.
What do Neil Young, Taylor Swift, and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi have in common? They are all fans of Taylor Guitars. Neil Young helped put Taylor on the map in 1978. He fell in love with a 12-string he picked up at a music shop while vacationing in Florida. He liked it so much that he ordered a second and featured it in his concert film, “Rust Never Sleeps.”
Walk into Clifton’s Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles, and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into Throwback Thursday and ordered a side of nostalgia. Clifton’s is nothing short of an institution. It opened in 1935, and was billed as the world’s largest cafeteria. At the height of the Depression it became famous as “The Cafeteria of the Golden Rule.”
Regardless of the size of your organization or what industry you’re in, you are more likely to get employees engaged in your business strategy if they are passionate about your purpose. At the heart of any company is its purpose – the difference the company seeks to make in the world. To instill a passion for purpose, the best leaders in the world focus on aligning mission, culture, and brand to empower high performance and maximize employee engagement.