Purpose is incorporated into the strategic management of companies as a lever for economic recovery

Madrid, 26 November 2020- Transcendent, a consulting firm specialising in corporate social impact, has organised a meeting with Cristina Ruiz, executive director of Minsait, an Indra company; Enrique Ordieres, president of Cinfa; and Meinrad Spenger, CEO of the MasMovil Group, to discuss Leadership and Purpose, within the framework of the APD International Congress of Executives that is being held these days.

The three executives agreed that purpose is more than ever a strategic issue in their organisations. Something that forms part of the future plans and daily management of their companies.  In this regard, Minsait's executive director explained that there is a Sustainability Committee on Indra's Board and that there is a Sustainability Master Plan for 2020-2023, which aims to strengthen the company's leadership in this area. ‘Technology is a lever that, if used for good, can generate a very positive impact on society’, explained Cristina Ruiz.  

Purpose as a long-term strategy

A commitment at the highest level and a long-term priority that Meinrad Spenger, CEO of the MasMovil Group, has also put forward. He acknowledged that dealing with the pandemic and the changes in the production and teleworking model that it has generated ‘has been a challenge’ from a technological point of view since, as he explained, ‘from one day to the next, network traffic doubled and our more than 3,000 call centre employees began to provide service from home’.  

But the company's long-term commitment to continue making its goal of customer satisfaction a reality led it to bring forward its network investments in order to respond quickly to this sharp increase in demand, and continues to drive it in its BCorp certification process, as it is the first telco in Europe to sign a letter of commitment to achieve this global certification for companies that generate a positive impact on society and the environment.

Generates positive results

Something similar to what has happened to Cinfa, whose demand for some medicines increased exponentially in just a few days due to the health crisis, which forced them to optimise the organisation of the entire supply chain to the maximum, prioritising essential medicines, and to reschedule shifts in the workforce to meet this demand, although they were working at full capacity at the time. As its president, Enrique Ordieres, said, ‘it has been complex, but, according to a study, we have managed to be valued by pharmacists as the company in the sector that has responded best to demand’. For Ordieres, this is largely due to the pride of belonging of the employees who have the company's purpose in their day-to-day work and who have given the best of themselves to make it all work.  

And the fact is that the purpose generates an improvement in the long-term results of the companies. This is something that all three executives agreed on. A purpose that must be transversal, coherent, authentic, based on example and on values such as honesty, transparency, motivation and the creation of enthusiasm, especially in the current situation.  

From the institutional to the business level

And the fact is that "at the moment we are living in, leadership with purpose has never been more important", commented Ana Ruiz, co-founder and partner of Transcendent. "It is a matter of putting the long term before the short term. And that's not something that everyone dares to do. But it is something that in the long run has been proven to have an impact on the company and is profitable".    

And this is where the link between purpose and leadership lies. "Because a good leader is essential to ensure that the purpose does not remain at a purely institutional level but becomes part of the heart of a company, in the day-to-day lives of its managers and employees. This leader must understand the opportunity to ‘professionalise’ this purpose and to act with conviction and courage to implement it in the company. And as part of this professionalisation, measurement is key", explained Ana Ruiz.  

Along these lines, Angel Pérez Agenjo, founder and leading partner of Transcendent, closed the debate by assuring that "ethical behaviour is always profitable, but never before has it been so important, nor so socially visible, nor so strategic from a business point of view’."