Anglian wins accolade as "exemplar of purpose-led governance"
Purposeful business expert, Given, has named Anglian Water as an exemplar of purpose-led governance in a new guide, published last week.
The Insider’s Guide To Purpose Volume 2 is targeted at practitioners working for companies with a purpose strategy already in place. It highlights five transformation priorities the most successful organisations tackle as they become more purpose-driven: governance, leadership, colleague engagement, brand and innovation, and metrics and measurement.
In the governance section, Given explains the power governance can have on shifting the way organisations structure, manage and monitor their operations to cement purpose deep into the business. It reports that in 2019, Anglian Water changed its Articles of Association to commit it to delivering against its purpose. Given explains: “Its directors are now legally obliged to consider the business’ long-term impact on customers, communities and the environment, and the board must hold them to account. By baking purpose into its constitutional framework, Anglian Water’s purpose-driven mission is protected for the future – even if new leaders arrive with competing priorities or interests.”
Anglian Water’s director fo brand and communications, Ciaran Nelson, said: “Changing our Articles of Association was the most symbolic way we could show that commitment to our purpose spans all tiers of the organisation. We’ve often said the change simply codified how we always chose to work, but more than that it was about binding shareholders into a contract around purpose, and ensuring that public interest and creating value for our region was baked into our organisation for good. The consequence is anyone wanting to shift direction in the future would need to change the Articles first.”
The first edition of Insiders’ Guide To Purpose sought to support purpose-driven business leaders to take the first steps in their organisation’s purpose journey.
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