181 CEOs Agree it is Not All About Profit
At a Business Roundtable meeting, CEOs agree that employees, customers and partners are just as essential as shareholders.
In August 2019, 181 CEOs, from Apple to MasterCard and Johnson & Johnson, gathered for a Business Roundtable meeting to redefine the priorities of operating a business or corporation.
After the meeting, the business leaders released a Principles of Corporate Governance (PCG) statement determining that the livelihood of their employees, customers and partners, is just as essential as catering to their shareholders.
For decades, many global workforces have lived in a society where businesses and corporations only operate to ensure shareholders are satisfied. Business Roundtable, a dominant business lobby in the United States, has been releasing PCG statements since the late 1990s with language that supports this economic outlook.
However, as the global workforce evolves, hard-working people are concluding that earning a paycheck is not enough to satisfy their needs.
“[People] deserve an economy that allows each person to succeed through hard work and creativity and to lead a life of meaning and dignity,” the statement reads.
Societal Impact Drives our Human Purpose
Executive leaders are realizing that hard work deserves recognition, and people want to feel as if they are having a positive impact on their community and the world at large.
The statement also outlines commitments to customer service, ethical dealings with suppliers, community support, and training and education for their employees in an ever-changing work environment.
For this very reason, here at BRM Institute we’ve adopted a Triple Bottom Line of People, Purpose, Planet in which Purpose encompasses profit.
The single, global BRM community is actively driving a cultural shift in the global workforce.
This does not discredit the importance of shareholders and profit, which provide a means to allow organizations to thrive, create room for innovation, and give employees economic security.
By prioritizing this collective of values, we are establishing a workforce dedicated to purpose. There is intention behind the work we do, which leaves us feeling fulfilled personally and professionally. Although this requires a significant shift in perspective, we are redefining business engagement as we know it to create lasting, global change.
