Purpose Beyond Profit

The Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow report 2019 gives a voice to a specially selected group of future’s top talent: the “Leaders of Tomorrow” from the network of the St. Gallen Symposium. More than 1,000 “Leaders of Tomorrow” from all over the world followed this year’s invitation to share their opinions about the role of companies in society and about their expectations and ideas for purpose beyond profit as part of doing business. The complete results will be debated in a special session at the 49th St. Gallen Symposium.

INSIGHTS:
Focusing solely on profits can shrink a company’s talent pool

Most Leaders of Tomorrow believe that businesses should consider employees, society and the environment above profits and they also see work life as an instrument for positive impact. Pursuing a purpose beyond profit may be a decisive factor in the “war for talent”. The Leaders of Tomorrow look for values they can share and an engaging purpose in a job and they seem to “walk the talk”. The Leaders of Tomorrow screen companies for the purposes they pursue. If the company does not fit their values, they may refrain from applying for job openings, turn down interesting job offers from companies, and pick more purposeful jobs at other companies – even at the cost of a lower payment.