The Prime Minister has asked Emma Harrison to lead a drive to get troubled families working again. As Emma says in her video update (see http://www.workingfamilieseverywhere.com/ ) troubled families are on the receiving end of all sorts of help – they are ‘poked’, as she puts it, in a variety of ways by well meaning government bodies. Yet they remain troubled – out of work for generations, dependent on benefits, lacking any sort of motivation or self-esteem, and prone to drug and alcohol abuse. Her experience with these families has led her to a simple conclusion; people need purpose. Give them purpose and everything follows – food is cooked, kids are cared for, homes are cleaned, and self-respect is restored. Getting just one member of the household working, even doing voluntary work, is the key to creating this sense of purpose which will put the whole family back on track.
In world of work, there is a serious danger that people lose their sense of purpose during times of change. As new structures or ways of working are introduced people can feel knocked off balance and become unclear about the purpose of what they are doing. So it’s no surprise that companies that have stood the test of time, prospering through good times and bad over many decades, have one thing in common: a clear sense of purpose and strongly held values. That is why the second of The 5 Forces of Change is Purpose.
