Tying Purpose to Performance

In an interview with MIT Sloan Management Review, John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, discusses the importance of corporate purpose in driving alignment and performance. Pearson simplifies DHL's traditional four pillars into a three-letter framework: P (people), Q (quality), and G (growth). He emphasizes that people are at the center of everything DHL does, and purpose is what motivates employees to show up and deliver results.

There are two aspects to DHL's purpose: the daily work of connecting people and businesses, and the company's commitment to social impact through employee volunteering programs like GoTeach, GoHelp, GoTrade, and DHL's Got Heart. Pearson notes that young employees are particularly motivated by the second aspect, which often leads them to request more volunteering time.

Corporate purpose does factor into managerial evaluations at DHL. Leaders are asked to self-assess their performance on six leadership attributes, with one of them being how well they manifest and develop the company's purpose. Over time, Pearson has seen a shift in how executives view purpose, with the number of low marks for purpose decreasing from around 60% to 20%.

When advising leaders on expressing their organization's purpose through action, Pearson suggests leveraging the unique assets that the company possesses. For DHL, these assets include its extensive fleet of aircraft, trucks, and vans, as well as its global presence in 219 countries. An example of this is DHL's involvement in the GARD (Get Airports Ready for Disaster) program, which partners with the United Nations to help airports worldwide be better prepared to handle humanitarian aid and personnel during disaster response situations.