DSM: Purpose-Led, Performance-Driven

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five, it's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Thanks for tuning

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in again this week. I'm your
host, Elise Cortez, joining from Dallas,

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Texas, which is home based for
me. This program is all about

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helping people more meaningfully and productively connect
with their work and equipping leaders to cultivate

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meaning and purpose in the workplace to
elicit passion inspired contribution and persevering performance within

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the organization. So I seek out
and bring on guests to a particular perspective,

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experience, or expertise that I think
contributes to or expands this conversation.

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And as a management consultant and so
scientist, I draw nomania work and identity

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research I've been doing over the last
fifteen years, as well as from my

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experience consulting, speaking and developing workforces
across the globe. Last week. If

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you miss the live show, you
can always catch it recorded podcast. We

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were around the air with best selling
and award winning author, transformational speaker and

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success coach Sharf Polote Williamson. We
talked about her stance in helping women heal

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themselves in order to give their best, which cascades to everyone they touch in

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a profoundly positive way, on some
of the examples of how she's helped coachwomen

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to live and work from their purpose. It was an incredibly powerful conversation with

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lots of energy. With us this
week is Hugh Welsh, the President and

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General Council of DSM North America,
a global later in life sciences and material

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sciences. Mister Welsh currently serves on
several DSM Global and regional management teams and

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as direct responsibilities in DSM's Nutrition and
Food Specialties operations, as well as responsibility

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for legal, government affairs, corporate
communications, other shared services, corporate partnerships,

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and DSM sustainability, inclusion and diverse
city issues in the region. In

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North America, we'll be talking about
DSM's history and path to purpose, how

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operating for my Purpose has increased employee
engagement, a shareholder value, and some

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of the strategic investments DSM has made
across the globe. Governed by its purpose.

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He joins us today as he calls
in from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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Normally he's based in New Jersey.
Wow, he welcome to working on purpose.

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Thanks. That was a mouthful.
I know I had such an eclectic

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job. Oh oh, well,
I did. I've been following you for

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quite some time. It's fantastic,
are you kidding? That's why I had

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to have you on the show.
I'm happy to be here and me too,

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me too. Well, since we
first met you back and I think

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it was March when I was moderating
you were speaking on the Leadership Forum,

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I am tracked your social media and
just been dazzled by everything that you and

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DSM has been doing, which is
why I wanted to have me on the

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show. So just to give our
listeners a little bit of context, I

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know that if I correct me if
I'm wrong in any of this. I

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believe you have twenty one thousand employees
worldwide and twelve billion dollars in annual sales,

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and your company, DSM develops manufacturers
and sells nutritional and food ingredients,

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biomedical materials, specialty plastics and resins, fibers, and renewable energy. Wow

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is that right? And if so, correct me add where you need to

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add to it make it complete for
us? Now that is correct. We're

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essentially the biggest company nobody's ever heard
of and everybody gets a chance to use

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our products every day. Isn't that
amazing? Well, how did the company

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actually get started? I know you
said it had been around for a while.

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How did it get started? It's
been around for one hundred and sixteen

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years. And the acronym DSM actually
it stands for Dutch State Minds And we

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started out as a coal mining company
in the Limburg province of the Netherlands,

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so literally digging coal out of the
ground as a state owned company and delivering

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it to people's homes for heating illumination. And we've come a long way since

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then. Yeah, just a couple
of evolutions. And so what I really

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want to spotlight for our listeners is
that you've been able to evolve over time

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and remain vibrant, not just viable, but vibrant. So how has DSAM

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evolved over time to stay in business
as long as it has While we're certainly

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out of the coal mining business.
The coal was still there, but the

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minds are closed and it's you know, it's an interesting history. I mean,

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it's a Dutch company that endured two
World Wars, occupation by a foreign

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power, a great depression, and
with that comes a lot of grit and

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resilience and I think adaptability and a
lot of those cultural hallmarks I think remain

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with the company today. Additionally,
you know, we've had to make a

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number of evolutions over the course of
the history of the company. When when

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the state says it's going to close
down the coal mines, you can no

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longer be a coal mining company.
You have to change, and so we

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quickly moved into doing things like industrial
chemicals, which weren't so different from coal

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mining, and we're away for us
to use the ability's capacity we had in

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the company at the time, and
that evolution continues. We like to refer

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to that within the company as future
proofing, where we look ahead and we

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try to figure out how the world
will change, what the world's changing needs

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might look like, and adapt not
only our strategy but the portfolio of companies

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were in to meet those needs.
The way you say that is so crisp

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you. However, I can only
I can't even quite a fine only imagine

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what it must have taken over these
years to make all of those changes.

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And maybe if we've gotten a bit
of time, I want to get into

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some of those because what you said
about the company having grit and resiliency,

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it's got to be there for that
to happen. I've got to imagine.

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I'd be curious though, too,
about the handoffs between between the leadership,

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So if you have anything to say
to that before we get into the next

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thing about how your purpose began,
I'd love to hear that. So,

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yeah, no, it's not easy. You know, when you when you

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revolved in being a coal money company
to an industrial chemical company that's predominantly still

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Dutch, and then you make the
decision to divest your industrial chemical business and

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you and some of your plastics business
and ultimately your pharmerical business and your capitalacting

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business, the things that had defined
the generation of the company to move into

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things like nutrition and biomedical materials and
clean energy. That requires a lot of

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the grit that you just referred to, a lot of the resilience that you

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made mention of because it's you know, these are tough decisions. The easier

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decision would just be and maintained the
status quo, focus on working capital and

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reducing operating expense and doing the best
you can selling off the old businesses and

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buying new businesses. I think takes
at a little courage. Well, what

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I think about here is the tremendous
amount of chaotic change that had to come

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with all that. Not only I
can't imagine that all your employees stayed intact

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as those changes took place, and
then there were new, wholly different marketplaces

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and wholly different customers to serve.
I mean, that is just an incredible

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amount of change, a huge amount
of change. And you can imagine that

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the necessity to keep the issue of
culture focus, keep the issue of culture

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paramount, and the world that purpose
plays as sort of the loadstone, the

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true north in doing that. Well, let's get into that. That's one

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of the main things, of course, that I wanted to chat about.

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Of course, later on we'll talk
about the employee engagement and financial piece of

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this, but you had mentioned to
me when we spoke on the phone about

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this conversation that part of this journey
started maybe eleven or years ago, so

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with your new CEO, if I
have that right, So if fill it

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in for us, when did your
purpose journey begin? Yeah? I think

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it began in earnest about eleven years
ago when Fika Sibisma was named the CEO

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of DSM. He had been on
the managing board of the company for some

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time, but was still a relatively
young man. He's a biologist by training,

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so I think that comes with a
little Darwinian perspective on the world.

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And you know, he as a
young CEO first time CEO traveled to Davos,

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Switzerland for the World Economic Forum meeting. I mean, you have to

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be a CEO to get invited to
a meeting like that with all the movers

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and shakers of the world. And
he listened to a speech by a female

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leader of an African country who said, you know, you in the Western

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world are terrible people. You keep
sending us food. You keep sending us

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carbohydrates, which keep my people alive, but you don't send me nutrition that

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keeps them healthy and productive, and
that leaves me in a worse position than

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if they weren't fed at all.
And it really resonated with him, and

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afterwards he went and he spoke to
her and said, look, I'm the

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CEO of the biggest nutrition company in
the world. I think I can help.

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And she put them off, you
know, just another Western CEO that

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wants a pr opportunity. But you
know, he's a goody and resilient guy.

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And so he followed up and ultimately
he developed a relationship with the World

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Food Program, the UN agency that's
responsible for delivering food to refugee camp school

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feeding programs and all parts of the
developing world. And we've now had a

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ten year partnership with the World Food
Program. We help improve the nutrition of

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the food that they delivered. And
I think that that was sort of the

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catalyst for him, but also for
the whole enterprise on our purpose led sort

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of performance driven journey. I know
you can't speak on his behalf. You,

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however, you might have some pretty
keen insight here. Did something get

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catalyzed in him? And what she
said was that already present for him in

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terms of his view of how he
might be able to help the world and

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change but change the way business is
done. What happened there, Yeah,

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I mean we know each other very
well. We're actually here together in Halifax

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for these two days for the G
seven of Ournmental Committee meeting. I think

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that it was an intellectual pursuit for
him at that World Economic form, but

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it became very, very real and
personal to him when we got engaged with

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the World Food Program. So soon
after we started, now ten years ago

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with the World Food Program, he
traveled to Bangladesh to see a World Food

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Program refugee feeding program in action,
and to this day, I know it's

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profoundly moved him to where he had
young mothers handing their babies to him,

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saying, can you please take my
child with you when you leave? You

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know what will happen if you leave
them behind? And wow, I you

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know he's recounted that story countless times
when we traveled together to town halls to

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externally. And I don't think that
you can experience something like that and know

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that you have within your organization the
capacity to change it and not do something.

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And I think he's not been the
same since that, So I think

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that it always existed within him,
it was it took an experience like that

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to catalyze it and make it make
it really the mission of our organization.

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That's so gorgeous. H that's just
so gorgeous for it for those people out

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there that are out there listening,
going wow, you know, how can

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purpose really make a difference? One
the fact that he the experience that he

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did too, that he keeps repeating
that experience, sharing and revitalizing that story

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over and over again. That's so
important to be able to cascade that kind

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of a purpose, that kind of
a mission within the organization so others who

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did have the experience directly can get
it. That's now I'm starting to see

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how this is working for DSM.
Yeah. No, and it's working,

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and we need to have it continue
work to work for the next sixteen years.

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So for me, it's very important
that he recalls those stories and recounts

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those stories to all of our employees
when he speaks, because the next generation

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of leaders needs to have that same
catalytic experience as well. And so you

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know, it's we work very hard
and we'll touch on this. I hope

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at some point we work very hard
to create those create similar experiences for many

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of our employees as we can,
so it's not just something that they're told,

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it's something that they live. And
you know, I think that differentiates

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us from a lot of other companies. I definitely want to get into at

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after we take our first break here, but really quick to situate just what

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you're saying here again for our listeners. I spoke at a leadership women conference

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a couple weeks ago and there was
a woman in the audience, and I'm

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sure they don't mind me saying this. They work for a company called Esslora,

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which treats vision problems, and we
were talking about purpose and she said,

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oh, I know exactly where I
stand in the organization, and I

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have a mission. I have a
purpose to eradicate vision problems, just like

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my CEO says, that's what the
whole company stands for it. I'm individually

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connected to that, and I can
see how my individual contribution contributes to that

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purpose. That is so powerful.
Absolutely no, it's like it's like the

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powerable. Right. The three guys
that we're sitting in front of Saint my

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Beloved saying Asters Cathedral in New York. Yeah, and they will all break

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in stones. And the first one, right, what do you do I

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work nine to five when they get
a great paycheck? Yeah, second one,

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what do you do? I break
stones? The third one, I

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build cathedrals. Yeah, that woman
and an old two one thousand in our

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company, we want to building cathedrals
together. Yeah, and that's this.

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I gave the exact same example when
I spoke as well, here we're totally

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in the same page. Well,
you know, I've heard you speak before,

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and when I was talking with people
about the show, I said,

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you know, you know not only
do I know? This guy normally speaks

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what he talks about, what is
company's up to in the world. He

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who really comes alive. So I
want to know for you, how does

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purpose guide you as a leader at
DSM. I am the luckiest guy in

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the world, I guess you after
Luke Garrick. I get so to deploy

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my modest and meager skills and talents
to do something meaningful, which I'd like

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to think is the repurpose meaning of
the DSM acronym. To do something meaningful

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every day, you know, be
an opening new facilities in Africa, creating

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new clean energy programs, working with
our government to help mitigate issues like climate

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change, or create a low carbon
economy. But for me, the greatest

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meeting, the greatest purpose I find
it in my job, you know,

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it came to through time and experience
and that it's it's not my job as

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a leader in the organization to have
all the answers, and I had always

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thought it was. It's really to
create an environment where everybody has the opportunity

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to reach the full potential. And
at the end of the day, I

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always think that that's my purpose,
is to create an environment that regardless of

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you know, your age, your
race, your creed, your national large

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and your quirky perspective on the world, you have an opportunity to bring your

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full self to work every day and
help us realize our vision and our purpose

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as a company. How incredibly beautiful
is that, Hugh? And I think,

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really what I want to make sure
our listeners get is that if they

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haven't seen you in person like I
have, and I think it comes across

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from your voice. You just live
this large. When you come into a

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room here, you make the room
bigger. And I think, but I

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think that part of the rest about
that, But no, I I'm born

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witness to this. I was there, I was present, and I think

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it's a testament to what it is
when we get to live our purpose.

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In your case, you're working and
living your purpose across your whole life,

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which is what it really is,
living your purpose, and it shows up

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in this magnanimous person with lots of
energy and passion and purpose. So when

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we're living that way, you're right. You are the luckiest guy in the

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world. Anybody that gets to work
from their purpose is one of the luckiest

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people on the planet. So I
want to celebrate that. It's beautiful.

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Thank you. I wake up every
morning excited as I went to bed the

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night before. I think that's a
beautiful way to take us into our first

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break. Que I'm your host Elis
Cortez. We've been on the air with

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Hugh Welsh, President and General Council
of DSM North America, a global leader

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in life sciences and material sciences.
He joins it today from Halifax, Nova

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Scotia, where he's traveling for his
work. We've been talking a bit about

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how DSM began as a company,
how it evolved to remain viable and vibrant

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as it is today, and how
it works from purpose and everything that it

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does. After the break, we're
going to talk about the employee engagement aspect

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of how they purposes change them and
some of the financial resorts, they've results

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they've enjoyed as a result of staying
with their purpose. Stay with us,

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00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:11.960
We'll be right back. Elise Cortez
as a speaker and engagement and development catalyst.

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00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:17.399
She designs and delivers professional development,
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring

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her expertise to your organization. She
will help ignite meaningful development within your workforce

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00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.320
that will increase employee engagement, performance
and retention. To learn more or to

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00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.039
invite a lease to speak to your
organization, please visit her at www dot

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00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:37.000
Elise Cortez dot com. She would
welcome the opportunity to help get your employees

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00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:48.519
working on purpose. This is working
on purpose with Elise Cortez. To reach

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00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:55.480
our program today, send an email
to Elise Alis at Elise Cortez dot com.

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00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:00.440
Now back to working on purpose if
you're just joining us. My guest

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is Hugh Welsh, President and General
Council of DSM North America, which is

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a global leader in life sciences and
material sciences. Hugh serves currently as on

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several DSM Global and Regional management teams
and as direct responsibilities in DSMS Nutrition and

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Food Specialties operations, as well as
responsibility for legal, government affairs, corporate

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communications, other shared services, corporate
partnerships, and DSM sustainability, inclusion and

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diversity initiatives in the region of North
America. In the beginning, we were

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talking about how the company began and
has evolved over the years, and this

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next segment, what we want to
get into is really how the organization engages

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with its employees. That has resulted
in increased employee engagement and also improved in

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financial performance. So, Hugh,
so before the break here, so much

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you've talked about. I just can't
even fathom how far this company is common

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one hundred and sixteen years and where
you are today. I can't imagine what

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it feels like to stand on that
mountain. It really it's impressive. So,

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I mean comes with a lot of
responsive ability. I want to be

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I want the place to be around
for another one hundred and sixteen years.

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You know, well I got that, and that's really what I wanted to

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say. That's why I gave the
description of your responsibilities and when I reintroduced

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you back because I want to listen
to understand just what it is that you're

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up to. It's it's a big
job that you've got there not for the

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faint of heart, right, and
not for somebody certainly who isn't working from

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purpose. I don't think. I
don't think somebody who is not working for

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purpose could survive in an environment like
this. I tend to agree just from

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what little I can see from the
outside looking in. But you know,

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one of the things that really intrigued
me about what you said to me when

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we spoke on the phone in preparation
for this conversation was how the employee engagement

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has increased at DSM. And I
don't know when that started. If it

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was related to when the CEO eleven
years began this truck on purpose, I

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don't know. But would you give
us a little bit of story and account

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for how you've measured your employee engagement? When did you see it start to

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take up, and to what do
you attribute that to? Sure, Now,

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I've been with the company for fifteen
years, and I'd love to say

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that it's all been sort of roses
in Champagne for that whole fifteen year period,

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but I would be a liar.
When I first came to the company,

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it was right after DSM had made
the acquisition of Hoffman. The roches

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might have been's business. And so
we had one part of the business that

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was old sort of chemical company DSM, fertilizer company DSM, the last remnants

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of the coal mining energy DSM,
and we had just bought a part of

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a big global hoff and the Roche
company that was very Swiss, very very

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Swiss oriented, very branded. And
so you had two groups who were very

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unhappy, one because they felt as
though that they were being pushed out of

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the company in some respects, and
another group because they had left a very

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proud, long heritage Hoffman the Roche
for this Dutch company they never heard of.

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And so at the time, I
would say employee engagement was very low.

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No constituency was happy. We really
didn't have that loadstone, that true

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north, that central purpose that pulled
us all together, and that more or

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less continued as we went through that
by vestage or acquisition process until the financial

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crisis, which was ten years ago
this week, and that for me was

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as moving and a time when a
company's purposes challenged as any other time,

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and not only d sim's hundred and
sixteen year history, but I think any

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company's history that came out the other
side of that, and through the financial

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crisis. We did not go through
wholesale reductions and force like many companies did.

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We did not go through wholesale reductions
and employee compensation or benefits. We

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saved the course and we communicated with
company with employees about that every day,

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and I think that went a long
way to our employee engagement increasing significantly.

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Where they believed that we had made
an investment in them, They believed that

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they were the most important asset of
the company, and they believed that the

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mission that we had begun to articulate, the purpose we had begun to articulate

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with respect the organizations like the World
Food Program was real because we didn't cut

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them like many other companies did in
the face of an understatement but a very

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uncertain future, you know. So
for me, that was how you employee

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engagement began to tick up. And
then with fika's purpose and then finding ways

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for all of the employees in the
company to do something meaningful, either through

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organizations like the World Food Program,
or through partners in food solutions or vitamin

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angels, or working with the Ocean
Cleanup and a number of other projects that

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I'm happy to talk about. We
found ways for employees to express that purpose

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in their day to day jobs.
And our employee engagements, which we measure

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every year. We're about to go
into the next employee engagement survey cycle is

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at as well above industry standards,
and I think that has plays an important

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role in the financial results of the
company as well. Let's talk about that.

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You what are you doing to create
this environment where people feel like there

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is meaningful What's what are first?
What are you doing as leaders? And

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then there must be an operational processes
sort of move here to be able to

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create that environment for them? What
are you doing? We grossly over communicate

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on what the company's strategy is.
We grossly over communicate on what the company's

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purposes. We're about to launch another
purpose communication project beginning in the new year,

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so that everybody understands why we're in
this together. Everybody understands why we're

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in the businesses we're in and why
we're going to get out of the businesses

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we're going to get out in.
So everybody understands the type of people we

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want to work for our company,
and so we grossly over communicate. So

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you know, the CEO and I
will do a town hall here at our

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facility in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,
tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll fly to New

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York and do a town hall for
all of our North American operations. It

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will be simulcast across thirty three sites
the following day, and so that level

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of communication is very, very important
to get the employees engaged. But when

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you have twenty one thousand employees fired
up and excited about the purpose of the

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organization they belong to, you have
to find ways for them to meaningfully exercise

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that excitement. And so we're a
founding member of an organization called Partners and

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Food Solutions. So we learned through
our work with the World Food Program that

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there is a massive need for better
nutrition, better food in Sub Saharan Africa,

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but you can't count on aid agencies
to deliver that. So we wanted

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to work with local food manufacturers to
improve their processes, and there was really

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nobody out there to help us do
that, and so together with General Mills

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and Cargill and Hershey's and Fueller,
we form this organization called Partners and Food

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Solutions, And what they do is
they find food manufacturers in Africa who need

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technical support. They might need an
engineer. They might need an expert in

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safety or process engineering, or marketing
or finance or human resources. And our

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people in DSM or or general Mills
can volunteer their expertise to that local African

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food manufacturer and do that via Skype
or digital photography however, to help them

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improve their efficiency the quality of the
food they produce to meet Western standards so

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that they themselves can sell to the
World Food Programs or the USAIDS or the

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UNSS. And that has become a
very powerful tool to get employees engaged in

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the purpose of the company. We
do similar things with an organization called Vitamin

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Angels. Well, we'll send employees
for a short period of time to work

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on programs in Ondorus or Indonesia.
We'll send folks to volunteer to work on

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things like the ocean cleanup which you
may have seen on TV over the weekend

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launching from San Francisco that DSM was
involved in from the very early days,

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and our employees have been involved from
the engineering process to the launch in San

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Francisco to help clean up the Grape
Pacific garbage patch again just this past weekend.

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I want to go to work for
DSM, Come on, do you

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have a space for me you?
Of course we do. It would be

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so off if you said no,
we don't want you to come to work

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for us. At least. Wow, that is so exciting. And so

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I can imagine that your employees when
they say, you know, who do

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you work with? Somebody asks them
who do you work for? And what

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do you do? I can hear
them saying, I work with DSM.

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I help eradicate food hunger across the
globe, I help clean up oceans.

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I can imagine them saying that.
And how powerful is that that you as

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an organization are there a conduit to
something much much bigger. And that is

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exactly what I mean is for me. You is when you think about how

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the GAP organization says that across the
globe, only fifteen percent of the globe

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is fully engaged in enthusiastic about their
work. I think that is such a

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crime that the other eighty five percent
are dragging themselves through Monday through Friday,

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because that's such a waste of a
precious life. And we know that in

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the United States the employee engagement rate
is higher than that, and sort of

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within DSM it's higher than that,
and you're doing something about that, And

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I really applaud that. This just
makes happy. I'm so glad to share

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you with my listeners across the globe. I'm grateful for the opportunity, so

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so thinking about those those employees.
Then you talk about what it is that

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you're doing to help them connect with
DSM's purpose and see their own purpose within

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it. I know what it looks
like when I walk into an employee an

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engaged workforce, But describe for us
here what does it look like? What

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are his employees doing that make us
know that they're engaged on a day to

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day basis. It's crackling with energy, with passion and inspiration and creativity.

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But if I could share with you
just a couple of anecdotes to how it

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moves me personally, I'd love the
opportunity to do thatt, I mean one

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for me. You know in New
Jersey, you know, just six years

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ago, you know, I had
just signed a big deal and an acquisition

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of a company, six hundred and
sixty million dollars acquisition of company called ford

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At Tech. And I was in
my office in Parsiffani, New Jersey,

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in October six years ago, and
I came out and it was an all

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nighter kind of adventure and there was
nobody there, and it was like a

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Tuesday afternoon or something. And I
turned on the TV and it was the

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day that Hurricane Sandy was hitting New
Jersey. And I panicked. I'm like,

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what the heck, nobody's here.
This is the building. There should

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be five hundred people in this building
today, you know. And I did

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what any any person does when they're
caught in a situation where they don't know

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what to do. I called my
father and he said, you know,

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you worked for this big, fancy
multinational company. I'm sure they have a

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crisis management manual. I said,
of course, we do, very proud

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and I ran down the hall,
I got it, brought it back.

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He said, throw it away.
It's useless. He said, look,

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your purpose you your job here is
easy. You take care of the people,

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it will take care of the business. And he hung up, and

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I was like great. My dad's
like Yoda. You know this technology is

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00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:57.039
dropping on me. But I thought
about it, and you know, he

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was absolutely right. I had power, I had heat, I had food,

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I had showers in our gym,
I had electricity and nobody else did.

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So I started texting all of my
management team and said, just bring

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your people to the building, right, bring your employees, their families,

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00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:17.039
their kids, their grandparents, whomever. We have heat, shelter, light,

403
00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:19.079
electricity, showers, whatever they need. They could stay as long as

404
00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:23.119
they want. People started showing up
with the families. It was wonderful,

405
00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:27.279
and then the magic happened. I
didn't even have to ask a single person.

406
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:32.279
They started getting laptops and desktops out
and putting them in conference rooms.

407
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:36.000
We never missed a payroll, We
never missed an accounts payable or accounts receivable

408
00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:38.839
cycle. It was amazing. In
the midst of you know, one of

409
00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:44.480
the biggest natural disasters to hit New
Jersey, we never missed a beat where

410
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.759
everybody else was falling away. And
to me, that is an engaged workforce.

411
00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:52.279
I experienced the exact same thing this
past weekend when Hurricane Florence, who

412
00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:56.240
was bearing down on North Carolina and
South Carolina. You know, we have

413
00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:59.880
big production sites in Greenville, North
Carolina, and Stanley, North Carolina,

414
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:04.359
King Street, South Carolina, and
I watched employees hourly, employees who work

415
00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:10.599
shift volunteer to stay with the plan
so that other employees who had families could

416
00:29:10.599 --> 00:29:14.119
be home with their families to keep
them safe while they maintain the safety of

417
00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:17.880
our facility and make sure that our
customers got product. That is an engage

418
00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:22.119
workforce. Nobody had to ask them. They volunteered to do that. I

419
00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:26.160
couldn't be more proud than to work
for a company that has people that behave

420
00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:30.640
in that way, Far more proud
than the work we do with the World

421
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:34.240
Food Program or Vitamin Angels are on
climate change. You work for a company

422
00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:40.359
where folks step up like that,
you can't work anywhere else. A couple

423
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:44.880
of things here that is, that's
a beautiful way to exemplify what does it

424
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.960
look like to have an engage workforce. So thank you for that second one

425
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.200
I want to say, and how
what I'm hearing and what you just narrated

426
00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:56.680
is that you and your organization working
from purpose. What that does is it

427
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.279
allows you to stand from a place
of passion and inspiration, and that's irresistible

428
00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:03.559
to people. People have a really
hard time saying no, I think I'm

429
00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:06.839
good on then I'm just going to
go ahead and turn the TV on instead.

430
00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:11.000
Right, It's really hard to pass
it, pass it up. It

431
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:15.319
is authentic, and that's what we're
getting are It's not greenwashing, it's authentic

432
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:18.759
and and people want to be part
of something bigger than themselves and that's just

433
00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:22.319
not cliche. And when you give
them an opportunity to do that in an

434
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:26.119
authentic way, they never leave.
They don't go work for more compensation,

435
00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:29.359
they don't go work for a better
job title. They work for each other.

436
00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.559
And it took me a long time
to learn that, but I'm happy

437
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:34.839
that I finally did. I'm thrilled
that you have as well. I know

438
00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:37.720
that from my research and the work
that I do with organizations as well you

439
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.920
And that's why so much I wanted
to share with my listeners because I think

440
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:45.240
you guys are doing it right.
It's just great. And if we quickly

441
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:48.960
go to the next piece of the
conversation that I wanted to get to here,

442
00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:52.680
we can actually show that you're doing
that right, because this is not

443
00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:55.599
just really feel good stuff, right
and how great it is to come to

444
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.119
work, but you have bottom line
results with this that are really impressive.

445
00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:02.440
I want to ask you go into
the numbers per se, but you mentioned

446
00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:07.440
in our conversation that your revenues in
your stock price have enjoyed a nice hit.

447
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:11.000
Your stark price alone is at an
all time high. So how do

448
00:31:11.079 --> 00:31:15.359
you connect those performance results to your
purpose? Yeah, I mean doing well

449
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:19.839
and doing good are mutually exclusive.
Our share price closed over ninety euros a

450
00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:22.960
share today, it's very close to
the all time high. You know,

451
00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:27.640
we've reported Q two earnings back in
August. Organic sales growth was up over

452
00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.799
ten percent. Adjust that Ebada was
up over forty five percent year over a

453
00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:33.400
year, and that profit up over
one hundred and three percent year over year.

454
00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:38.000
And twenty seventeen was a record year
for US. So business is good

455
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:44.279
and you know, you know,
again it's a cliche, but the biggest

456
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:48.559
asset of any organization is its people. And if you can deploy twenty one

457
00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:52.559
thousand people all pulling in the same
direction, you can accomplish anything. And

458
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:55.400
when I look at what we've managed
to accomplish, not just over the course

459
00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:56.880
of the last ten years, but
really in the course of the last eighteen

460
00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:02.920
months, it's been magnet where you
know, many folks had seen us as

461
00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:07.720
peeking and our operational performance, and
we showed that we can do even more,

462
00:32:08.079 --> 00:32:10.799
and we continue to do even more, and the remainder of of twenty

463
00:32:10.839 --> 00:32:14.279
eighteen, I can say, you
know, without reservation is going to be

464
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:19.279
pretty good as well. All of
that sounds were incredibly compelling to me.

465
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:22.640
Sold got it, I'm on deck. I'm on board. Are there any

466
00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:28.480
BYSM shares you know on the Incident
Stock Exchange or we do have a DRS

467
00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:30.599
on the US Stock Exchange. We
just increased our dividends twenty five percent,

468
00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:35.599
so it's at a healthy two year
or thirty cents to share. It's it's

469
00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:38.359
not a bad investment. But I'd
like to get the word out there because

470
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:43.359
I think many folks still see us
as a chemical company, you know,

471
00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.519
looking at the long and storied history
of DSM that it's hard to change people's

472
00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:50.880
minds that were growth company today.
And if you look at the businesses we're

473
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.960
in, being in nutrition or food
ingredients, biomedical materials, clean energy,

474
00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:59.279
these are growth areas. Yet we
still trade at a multiple that is more

475
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:02.400
reflective of a commodity based chemical company. So I'd love to have the opportunity

476
00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:06.920
to talk about the financials. It's
not always as sexy or as exciting as

477
00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:09.880
some of the other work we do, but it's just as important, and

478
00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:14.079
if we weren't successful in that space, we would never get the opportunity to

479
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:19.000
do the meaningful work in climate change
or nutrition or energy that we do otherwise,

480
00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:22.079
beautifully said, beautifully said to you. And of course, part of

481
00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.440
the reason that I wanted you to
talk about that is because I think some

482
00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:30.440
people have the misunderstanding that purpose is
fluffy. They don't understand how it does

483
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:34.759
and can relate to the bottom line, which is another reason that I wanted

484
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:37.319
you to share that part of what
you're up to there at DSM. So

485
00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:39.720
you mentioned a lot of things already, but there are there any other financial

486
00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:45.039
indicators that you connect with your purpose
led efforts or initiatives. Yeah, I

487
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.680
mean, just to close the circle
on the last part. I mean,

488
00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:52.759
if in DSMIT we're a fluffy marketing
pr thing, then we're failing miserably and

489
00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:55.680
I'm terrible at my job because nobody's
ever heard of DSM. So you know,

490
00:33:55.799 --> 00:34:00.720
it's certainly not something we're doing from
a marketing perspective. We're really doing

491
00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:04.680
it because it's good business, it's
smart business, and it's a means by

492
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.519
which for us to engage with all
of our employees regardless of their function of

493
00:34:07.559 --> 00:34:12.119
the business that they're working in today. As far as other financial indicators,

494
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:15.800
there are a couple. One is
putting a price on carbon, and so

495
00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:21.599
within DSM we have an internal price
on carbon of fifty euros a ton.

496
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:25.559
And so whenever somebody comes to our
executive committee with a proposal for a large

497
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:30.079
capital project, so to build a
new plant, or to open a new

498
00:34:30.119 --> 00:34:32.440
operation, or to do a new
deal, right to acquire a company,

499
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:37.280
they have to build into the business
case a fifty euro price on carbon.

500
00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:42.639
And we see that as a means
to future proof our organization against what will

501
00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:45.880
be the next trends, and that
is a carbon tax, a price on

502
00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:49.800
carbon, a carbon transfer agreement,
and when you're working in things where you're

503
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.840
deploying a large amount of capital over
significant period of time, you have better

504
00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:57.199
account for that today. And we
see that as not just the right thing

505
00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:00.840
to do, we see it as
creating competitive advantage for us was going forward.

506
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:04.360
Another area would be, without getting
too wonkish, you know, we

507
00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:09.559
just renewed a billion euro revolvers or
our credit facility, and we did it,

508
00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:13.920
I think differently than any company I've
ever seen do it. We tied

509
00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:19.960
the interest rate, which is floating
not to libor or to the Treasury rate,

510
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:23.639
but to our greenhouse gas emissions,
and we found the syndicate of banks

511
00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:28.840
that we're willing to work with us
on that, seeing that our relative risk

512
00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:34.960
was just as predictable based on our
greenhouse gas emissions as it might be on

513
00:35:35.639 --> 00:35:38.599
sort of objective external metrics like libory. I think we're going to see more

514
00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:43.719
of that going forward, and I'm
pretty proud that DSM had the opportunity to

515
00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:46.719
be a thought leader in that area. This is just exhilarating you. I

516
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:50.440
love every bit of this. It's
so great what you're sharing with our listeners,

517
00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:52.800
and I love the fresh perspective and
the ways you're looking at how to

518
00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:59.519
contribute to the world and also be
able to bring in real measures of how

519
00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:01.000
this actual shows up for you in
relation to what you're up to, for

520
00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:05.239
your objectives and for your bottom line. Gorgeous share. Thank you so much,

521
00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:10.159
Thanks again for the opportunity. Yep, you're welcome. Let's grab our

522
00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:13.679
last break here. I'm Elise Cortez, your host. We're on the air

523
00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:15.760
with Hugh Welsh, who was the
President and General Council of DSM. North

524
00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:20.840
America, a global leader in life
sciences and material sciences. He joins us

525
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:24.079
today from Halifax, Nova Scotia,
normally coming from New Jersey. He's traveling

526
00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:30.239
today. We've been talking a bit
about how purpose infuses everything that they do

527
00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:35.000
and impacts and increases employee engagement and
financial results. After the break, we're

528
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.039
going to talk about their approach to
global investments from their stance of purpose.

529
00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:43.880
Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Elise Cortez is a speaker and

530
00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:50.079
engagement and development catalyst. She designs
and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement

531
00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:53.880
workshops and can bring her expertise to
your organization. She will help ignite meaningful

532
00:36:53.920 --> 00:37:00.320
development within your workforce that will increase
employee engagement, performance and retention. To

533
00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:04.320
learn more or to invite Elise to
speak to your organization, please visit her

534
00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:08.840
at www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would welcome the opportunity to help

535
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:21.519
get your employees working on purpose.
This is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

536
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:27.119
To reach our program today, send
an email to Elise ali Se at

537
00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:32.719
Elise Cortez dot com. Now back
to working on purpose. If you're just

538
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:37.320
tuning in my guest is Hugh Welsh, President and General Council of DSM North

539
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:40.960
America, a global leader in life
sciences and material sciences. Mister Welsh currently

540
00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:46.079
serves on several DSM Global and Regional
management Teams and as direct responsibilities in DSMS

541
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:52.039
Nutrition and Food Specialties operations, as
well as responsibility for legal, government affairs,

542
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:57.559
corporate communications, other shared services,
corporate partnerships and DSM Sustainability, inclusion

543
00:37:57.559 --> 00:38:00.039
and diverse initiatives in the region of
North America. I'm your host, Alice

544
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:05.320
Quartez. So before the break,
we were talking about all of that really

545
00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:09.280
yummy employee engagement stuff that shows up
and how your company is run and the

546
00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:14.840
gorgeous financial results that come from that. Next, I want to get into

547
00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:19.440
how purpose governs, how you choose
your investments across the globe, and some

548
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:23.840
of the impact that that's had.
So one of the things that you said

549
00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:29.320
to me when we're chatting on a
phone here was you said that you talked

550
00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:34.559
about how your purpose driven initiatives are
tied to compensation. That's very compelling.

551
00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:38.079
What do you mean by that?
Yeah, I think that really sets us

552
00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:42.719
apart from from everybody else, not
just in the public company space, but

553
00:38:43.079 --> 00:38:50.039
generally, and you know, this
is really where rhetoric is different than remuneration.

554
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:52.719
And when you want to talk about
the eleven year journey and driving purpose

555
00:38:52.800 --> 00:38:59.320
in the organization bottom up, it
was pretty easy by working on employee engagement,

556
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.440
talking about communications creating opportunities for all
employees to do something meaningful. But

557
00:39:05.079 --> 00:39:08.480
you also have to break through another
constituency, which is the executives that run

558
00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:13.199
the company, that run the plants, run sales and marketing, run commercial

559
00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:16.239
management. And you know, they
hear this purpose talk, and many of

560
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:22.679
them are from outside the company,
either came to DSM through acquisition or hired

561
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:25.000
by DSM, and you know,
almost to a person, you know,

562
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:28.000
they say, yep, yep,
I heard this before. I heard this

563
00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:32.280
corporate social responsibility stuff before. Great, you know, new corporate folks carry

564
00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:36.840
on with the good work, and
then it immediately struck with it with a

565
00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:40.840
new reality. And the reality is
that half of their short term compensation,

566
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:45.840
which is their annual bonus, and
half of their long term compensation their stock

567
00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:51.800
options aren't tied to financial performance.
They're tied to sustainability targets. They're tied

568
00:39:51.840 --> 00:39:55.320
to things like employee engagement, they're
tied to things like reduction in greenhouse gas

569
00:39:55.360 --> 00:40:00.400
emissions, reduction in wastewater production,
in plastic production, in the number of

570
00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:04.480
materials we send in the landfill.
And I could go on and on with

571
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.280
the different metrics that apply. And
that is a wake up call for the

572
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:12.480
executive community like you would never believe, because all of them immediately throw their

573
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:15.599
arms up in the air. I
am not here to work on this stuff.

574
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:21.280
I'm here to work on EBADA or
working capital, and we have to

575
00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:22.559
tell them, no, you're not. You are, of course here to

576
00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:27.159
work on those things, and you're
going to help us make the world a

577
00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:31.199
better place by being an example and
delivery against these other metrics as well.

578
00:40:32.039 --> 00:40:37.639
And you can imagine that did not
go down so easily when we first introduced

579
00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:42.679
this new compensation system. But today, I think it's a differentiator for us

580
00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:45.639
that not only creates better leaders,
but attracts better leaders to come to work

581
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:51.480
for our organization. Folks come to
work for us that are super talented because

582
00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:54.559
they want targets like that, not
because they want to avoid them. And

583
00:40:54.760 --> 00:40:58.039
you know, I'm proud that.
You know, some years I don't get

584
00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:01.880
my full bonus because we didn't hit
our greenhouse gas emission target or renewable energy

585
00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:07.840
target, and that inspires me to
be more creative and more innovative in finding

586
00:41:07.880 --> 00:41:12.400
different ways we can do those things
that you know, we might not have

587
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:16.800
thought about without without it being top
of mind because of compensation. Just one

588
00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:21.840
simple example is, you know,
we have a manufacturing plant Belvidere, New

589
00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:28.000
Jersey, which makes vitamins, makes
nutritional mixes, vitamin B, complex rocodonic

590
00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:32.360
acid, which goes into things like
infant formula. And that plant today has

591
00:41:34.280 --> 00:41:37.800
a solar field that produces a massive
amount of renewable electricity, and soon,

592
00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:42.880
hopefully by the end of the year, we'll have a second solar field which

593
00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:46.880
will at peak capacity, generate one
percent of the electricity needed to run a

594
00:41:46.880 --> 00:41:50.920
manufacturing plant. It will be the
biggest solar field of it, you know,

595
00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:53.239
east of the Mississippi, other than
one that Apple has in South Carolina.

596
00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:58.000
Now, you don't get that kind
of commitment, that kind of capital

597
00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:01.079
commitment, engineering commitment, et cetera, unless you have tied to the plant

598
00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:06.039
manager's bonus a sustainability to target.
So, I mean, it's a little

599
00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:07.920
bit long, we did, but
it's something I'm very excited about, and

600
00:42:07.960 --> 00:42:13.199
I think as we all collectively try
to reimagine capitalism, this is one of

601
00:42:13.199 --> 00:42:16.360
the things we should be thinking about. Oh my gosh, that is spectacular

602
00:42:16.519 --> 00:42:20.400
you. I mean, I'll tell
you, I don't know that I've ever

603
00:42:20.440 --> 00:42:27.400
heard anybody articulate the breadth and depth
of how you are literally living and breathing

604
00:42:27.400 --> 00:42:30.719
and working from a purpose vantage point. It's really exactly what I was hoping

605
00:42:30.719 --> 00:42:35.840
in this conversation. So thank you, Hugh. It's just terrific. So

606
00:42:36.199 --> 00:42:38.239
we've got not too much time left
here, so I just want to hear.

607
00:42:38.280 --> 00:42:43.599
Maybe let's talk about if we can. One of viewer investments across the

608
00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:46.119
globe that I know that you mentioned
is definitely from a purpose driven stance,

609
00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:52.480
and that's the Africa Improved Foods Consource
Partnership in Rwanda. If I've got that

610
00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:54.119
right, Will you say a little
bit about this initiative and it's impact.

611
00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:58.360
How did it start? What are
you doing? How is it impactful?

612
00:42:59.320 --> 00:43:01.159
For sure? I mean, so
you know, through our experience with the

613
00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:06.840
World Food Program, we came to
understand the need for better nutrition in the

614
00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:10.199
developing world, and that you know
as significant. We're talking hundreds and hundreds

615
00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:14.599
of millions of children in the world
never have an opportunity to reach their full

616
00:43:14.599 --> 00:43:19.840
potential because they're stunted simply because they
don't get enough nutrition. They might get

617
00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:22.639
enough calories, but they don't get
enough vitamins, minerals, hand lines,

618
00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:25.360
except and we have the ability to
fix that at a very low cost.

619
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:29.800
We tried to do that through partners
and food solutions, and we continue to

620
00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:34.880
do so by trying to build up
African businesses to produce at a higher quality,

621
00:43:35.079 --> 00:43:38.280
higher safety standard, etc. But
we can never get them to scale.

622
00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:45.119
And so we thought, why don't
we build a nutritious food manufacturing plant

623
00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:50.840
in Africa? And President Kagami and
Rwanda talk to us. He talked to

624
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:52.800
me and he said, you know, look, I have the highest childhood

625
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:58.480
stunting rate in Sub Saharan Africa at
thirty six percent. I could spend all

626
00:43:58.519 --> 00:44:00.639
the money in the world on infrastructure, on roads, electricity, etc.

627
00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:06.719
But if my children still fail to
reach their full potential at that level,

628
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:09.599
it will mean nothing. Can you
build your first facility in Kigali? And

629
00:44:09.639 --> 00:44:14.559
we said, okay, now it's
not the biggest market. Now Aethiopium might

630
00:44:14.599 --> 00:44:17.800
have made more sense. Or Nigeria, but it's where the biggest issue was.

631
00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:22.920
And so together with some non traditional
partners like the CDC in the UK,

632
00:44:22.239 --> 00:44:25.960
FMO and the Netherlands IFC, which
is the development arm of the World

633
00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:30.639
Bank, we built what we call
now African Proof Foods Rwanda, and we

634
00:44:30.719 --> 00:44:37.079
built a large scale food manufacturing plant
produces a pardge that's fortified with all of

635
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:39.960
the requisite vitamin's, minerals, etc. And a portion of that is sold

636
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:45.159
to the World Food program which they
use in their school feeding programs and refugee

637
00:44:45.159 --> 00:44:47.320
camps. A portion is sold to
the Government of Rwanda, which it uses

638
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:51.480
in its own school feeding programs,
and then a lot of it's sold on

639
00:44:51.519 --> 00:44:53.639
the public market. Because this isn't
a charity, this isn't a philanthropy.

640
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:59.199
It's a for profit enterprise because we
know if it's not for profit it can't

641
00:44:59.199 --> 00:45:04.199
be sustainable. And we employ four
hundred wantons at work in the facility.

642
00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:07.280
All of the raw materials are locally
sourced, so the mains the soy comes

643
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:10.880
from ten thousand. We wanted small, older farmers, which we also think

644
00:45:12.280 --> 00:45:15.719
raises the entire economy of Rwanda,
and we've seen that already we've seen a

645
00:45:15.760 --> 00:45:21.519
significant production increase in agriculture in Rwanda
as a consequence, and today we're you

646
00:45:21.559 --> 00:45:24.719
know, we said two and a
half million land in children through this facility.

647
00:45:24.920 --> 00:45:29.440
And what we think the beauty is
it's not only that it's a profitable

648
00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:31.599
enterprise, but it's replicable. But
you can do the same thing in a

649
00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:37.440
place like Ethiopia or Zambia or Uganda. And we look forward to working on

650
00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:40.320
that down the road and hopefully attract
some more private tick departners to do that

651
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:47.239
with us. That is breathtaking to
and when I hear that narration, when

652
00:45:47.239 --> 00:45:51.840
I really get present too, it's
just the power and possibility of what we

653
00:45:51.880 --> 00:45:54.760
really can do at work. That's
my domain, that's what that's what fires

654
00:45:54.760 --> 00:46:00.320
me up. And you are giving
us a whole view of vantage point of

655
00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:04.719
possibility that I think a lot of
listeners have probably never had access to so

656
00:46:05.199 --> 00:46:09.800
beautiful. Share. We are already
almost out of time. It just evaporates,

657
00:46:09.800 --> 00:46:12.760
doesn't it. And I would love
to have you back, because I

658
00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:15.920
know we're not. We didn't get
even close to the surface with you.

659
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.000
But you know what the show is
about you. This show is about helping

660
00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:22.920
listeners across the globe more meaningfully and
productively connect with their work and equip leaders

661
00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:24.960
to be able to cultivate meaning and
purpose in the workplace, to elicit that

662
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:30.039
passion even talking about that inspired contribution
persevering performance. What would you like to

663
00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:35.320
leave our listeners with, Yeah,
that the world is changing faster than management

664
00:46:35.480 --> 00:46:38.519
practices that you know, I'd like
to know say that d SM stands would

665
00:46:38.519 --> 00:46:44.079
do something meaningful. But you know
that applies to anybody in their job,

666
00:46:44.199 --> 00:46:47.440
in any enterprise anywhere in the world, that if you're not doing something meaningful,

667
00:46:47.880 --> 00:46:53.880
find something else to do. Capitalism
is about to be reimagined. Investors

668
00:46:53.920 --> 00:47:00.559
are asking for more purpose driven companies
because they see the long term returns of

669
00:47:00.599 --> 00:47:05.159
companies that embrace these practices is far
superior, so then those who are operating

670
00:47:05.199 --> 00:47:08.679
quarter to quarter. I'd encourage people
to take a little bit of a risk.

671
00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:14.320
I don't think it's as big a
risk as it might seem at first

672
00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:17.719
glance, and to never forget that
if you're in a leadership position, that

673
00:47:17.760 --> 00:47:22.840
is your job to create an environment
where everybody has the opportunity to reach the

674
00:47:22.880 --> 00:47:25.760
full potential. And you know,
we met at at what is leadership conference

675
00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:30.800
in Philadelphia in the pharmaceutical industry,
and it's an issue that's become very important

676
00:47:30.840 --> 00:47:34.840
to me, more now so than
ever, because as a leader, it's

677
00:47:34.840 --> 00:47:37.480
my job not to just deliver the
bottom line, but to deliver the next

678
00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:43.719
generation of leaders that don't all look
like me, and that requires reimagining our

679
00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:45.840
approach to work a little bit.
So it sound a little long linded,

680
00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:49.920
but I think it's a proposed for
somebody with as long a title it seems

681
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:53.239
as I have. I just encourage
everybody to do something meaningful, find their

682
00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:59.639
own purpose, and work for an
organization that's purpose driven. Beautiful way to

683
00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:01.559
finish you, I really want to
thank you so much for sharing your heart,

684
00:48:01.719 --> 00:48:06.440
soul, spirit and purpose with me
and our listeners. It's been an

685
00:48:06.440 --> 00:48:10.320
absolute delight. Thank you. Thank
you. If you want to learn more

686
00:48:10.320 --> 00:48:14.599
about DSM Hugh Welsh or the work
he and his team are doing across the

687
00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:17.239
globe doing the world a better place, visit their website. It's just simply

688
00:48:17.400 --> 00:48:22.400
DSM dot com. Think about that, do something meaningful, like he said,

689
00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:24.239
it is what it stands for.
That's one of the acronyms. And

690
00:48:24.320 --> 00:48:28.159
join us next week when we talk
with Aaron Hurst, who is the author

691
00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:31.360
of The Purpose Economy and the founder
of the widely successful Taproot Foundation. Be

692
00:48:31.400 --> 00:48:35.719
talking about his book and why believes
we are now living in the age of

693
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:37.480
Purpose. See you there. Remember
that work was at least one through our

694
00:48:37.480 --> 00:48:44.760
life, So let's work on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's program.

695
00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:47.920
Be sure to tune in to Working
on Purpose, featuring your host Alice

696
00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:53.440
Cortez, each week on the Voice
America Empowerment Channel. This week, find

697
00:48:53.480 --> 00:48:55.519
your life's purpose at work