Hong Kong event to showcase purpose-driven business success

Patricia Dwyer, founder of The Purpose Business, and John Wood, founder of Room to Read, will speak at the Global Wellness Summit in Hong Kong in October. Photo: Supplied & Jason Leung Collab

The 13th Global Wellness Summit which brings together industry leaders to shape the future of the global wellness economy will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong from 15 to 17 October 2019. At this year’s gathering the world’s top corporate strategy consultants and speakers on emerging business and wellness trends will explore how purpose needs to be at the heart of corporate culture and how it is the future of wellness at work.

This event is held annually in locations across the globe and has previously taken place in Switzerland, Turkey, Bali, the USA, India, Morocco, Mexico, Austria and Italy. Attendees of the summit will discuss how injecting purpose and meaning into work often gets overlooked and the widespread misconception that ‘purpose’ is only for do good nonprofits. In addition, they will look at how purpose-driven companies attract and retain the best employees and are far more profitable, productive and successful businesses.

Who will be at the summit?

Patricia Dwyer, founder of The Purpose Business, a Hong Kong-based network of experts helping businesses across Asia be a force for good and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, will deliver a keynote address on how to create a purpose-driven organization. She says there is growing recognition of the role of wellness in the resilience and growth of companies and individual employees, and finding ways to activate purpose is at the heart of this.

“I’m delighted to share how a purpose-driven organization can help build businesses that are healthier, future-proofed and more sustainable for everyone,”says Dwyer. John Wood, founder of Room to Read, which brings education to 16.8 million children, and who is an advisor on connecting purpose and profitability for companies including Credit Suisse, Facebook, Netflix and Nike, will speak on purpose-driven companies and fast-changing corporate cultures.

“A strong sense of purpose is the key to wellness in the workplace. The age-old model of simply grinding out profits to make rich people richer, no longer excites your potential customers or employees. When we as leaders can prove that our companies embrace both purpose and profitability, that’s when we will build truly great companies and we will also be using the power of capitalism to make the world a better place,” says Wood.

Evidence shows how purpose in business is healthy

Growing evidence shows that purpose at work has an impact on company success. It is estimated that purpose-driven companies drive an annual return on equity of about 13.1%, which is 9% higher than the Standard & Poor. A BetterUp study estimates meaningful work drives an extra $9K per worker per year. Further to this, modern employees, especially millennials, increasingly choose meaning over money. Research by PwC shows that 88% of millennials seek a company whose values reflect their own.

Other research shows that having a purpose in life is strongly tied to people’s longevity with a 15% lower risk of death. Generally, purpose is a rising global wellness trend, as seen in the recent global fascination with the Japanese philosophy of ‘ikigai’ or a lifelong pursuit of finding your passion, meaning and mission, no matter how big or small. So owners, CEOs and management of businesses may have to consider this, as they endeavor for future success.