DSM: Purpose-Led, Performance-Driven

WEBVTT

1
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.000
There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

2
00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:12.640
and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

3
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:18.839
Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

4
00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:23.719
we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

5
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.920
personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five, it's working

6
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:34.960
on purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Thanks for tuning

7
00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.000
in again this week. I'm your
host Elise Cortes, joining from Dallas,

8
00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.159
Texas, which is home base for
me. This program is all about helping

9
00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:45.439
people more meaningfully and productively connect with
their work and equipping leaders to cultivate meaning

10
00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:50.359
and purpose in the workplace to elicit
passion inspired contribution and persevering performance within the

11
00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.960
organization. So I seek out and
bring on guests to a particular perspective,

12
00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:58.640
experience, or expertise that I think
contributes to or expands this conversation. And

13
00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:00.799
as a management consultant and so scientist, I draw in the media, work

14
00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.200
and identity research I've been doing over
the last fifteen years, as well as

15
00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:08.920
from my experience consulting, speaking and
developing workforces across the globe last week.

16
00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:11.560
If you missed the live show,
you can always catch it be a recorded

17
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.480
podcast. We were on the year
with best selling and award winning author,

18
00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.680
transformational speaker and success coach Sheriffalte Williamson. We talked about her stance in helping

19
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.519
women heal themselves in order to give
their best, which cascades to everyone they

20
00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.719
touch in a profoundly positive way,
and some of the examples of how she's

21
00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:30.359
helped coach women to live and work
from their purpose. It was an incredibly

22
00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.920
powerful conversation with lots of energy.
With us this week is Hugh Welsh,

23
00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:40.719
the President and General Counsel of DSM
North America, a global leader in life

24
00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:45.719
sciences and material sciences. Mister Welsh
currently serves on several DSM Global and regional

25
00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:51.280
management teams and as direct responsibilities in
DSM's nutrition and food specialties operations, as

26
00:01:51.319 --> 00:01:56.640
well as responsibility for legal, government
affairs, corporate communications, other shared services,

27
00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.760
corporate partnerships, and DSM sustainability,
inclusion and diverse city issues in the

28
00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:04.920
region. In North America, we'll
be talking about DSM's history and path to

29
00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.319
purpose, how operating for purpose has
increased employee engagement and shareholder value, and

30
00:02:08.360 --> 00:02:12.879
some of the strategic investments DSM has
made across the globe. Governed by its

31
00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:15.639
purpose. He joins us today as
he calls in from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

32
00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:20.759
Normally he's based in New Jersey.
Wow, he welcome to working on

33
00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:24.120
purpose. Thanks. That was a
mouthful. I know I had such an

34
00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:29.560
eclectic job, Well I did.
I've been following you for quite some time.

35
00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:30.599
It's fantastic, are you kidding?
That's wy I had to have you

36
00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:36.800
on the show. Happy to be
here and me too, me too.

37
00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.199
Well, since we first met you
back and I think it was March when

38
00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:46.039
I was moderating you were speaking on
the Leadership Forum. I am tracked your

39
00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:49.759
social media and just been dazzled by
everything that you and DSM has been doing,

40
00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.360
which is why I wanted to have
you on the show. So just

41
00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.319
to give our listeners a little bit
of context. I know that if I

42
00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.360
correct me if I'm wrong in any
of this. I believe you have twenty

43
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.360
one thousand employees worldwide than twelve billion
dollars in annual sales, and your company,

44
00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:07.479
DSM develops, manufacturers and sells nutritional
and food ingredients, biomedical materials,

45
00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:13.199
especially plastics and resins, fibers,
and renewable energy. Wow, is that

46
00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.000
right? And if so, correct, add where you need to add to

47
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:22.479
make it make it complete for us? Now that is correct. We're essentially

48
00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:24.639
the biggest company and nobody's ever heard
of and everybody gets a chance to use

49
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:29.599
our products every day. Isn't that
amazing? Well, how did the company

50
00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:30.960
actually get started? I know you
said it had been around for a while.

51
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:35.599
How did it get started? It's
been around for one hundred and sixteen

52
00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:39.599
years. And the acronym DSM actually
it stands for Dutch State Mines And we

53
00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:44.240
started out as a coal mining company
in the Limberg province of the Netherlands,

54
00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.319
so literally digging coal out of the
ground as a state owned company and delivering

55
00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:52.719
it to people's homes for heating illumination. And we've come a long way since

56
00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.879
then. Yeah, just a couple
of evolutions. And so what I really

57
00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:00.280
want to spotlight for our listeners is
that you've been able to evolve over time

58
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.879
and remain vibrant, not just viable, but vibrant. So how has DSM

59
00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:09.319
evolved over time to stay in business
as long as it has? Yeah,

60
00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:12.400
well, we're certainly out of the
coal mining business. The coal was still

61
00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.360
there, but the mines are closed, and it's you know, it's an

62
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:21.439
interesting history. I mean, it's
a Dutch company that endured two World Wars,

63
00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:27.399
occupation by a foreign power, a
great depression, and with that comes

64
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:31.160
a lot of grit and resilience and
I think adaptability and a lot of those

65
00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:36.439
cultural hallmarks I think remain with the
company today. Additionally, you know,

66
00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:40.959
we've had to make a number of
evolutions over the course of the history of

67
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.360
the company. When the state says
it's going to close down the coal mines,

68
00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:46.160
you can no longer be a coal
mining company. You have to change,

69
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.279
and so we quickly moved into doing
things like industrial chemicals, which weren't

70
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:56.439
so different from coal mining and were
a way for us to use the ability's

71
00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.680
capacity we had in the company at
the time, and that evolution continues.

72
00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.279
We like to refer to that within
the company as future proofing, where we

73
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:06.120
look ahead and we try to figure
out how the world will change, what

74
00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:11.439
the world's changing needs might look like, and adapt not only our strategy but

75
00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:16.439
the portfolio of companies were in to
meet those needs. The way you say

76
00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:20.079
that is so crisp you. However, I can only I can't even quite

77
00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.959
a fath minute only imagine what it
must have taken over these years to make

78
00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000
all of those changes. And maybe
if we've gotten a bit of time,

79
00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:30.360
I want to get into some of
those because what you said about the company

80
00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.279
having grit and resiliency, it's got
to be there for that to happen.

81
00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:35.759
I've got to imagine. I'd be
curious though, too, about the handoffs

82
00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:40.480
between between the leadership, So if
you have anything to say to that before

83
00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.480
we get into the next thing about
how your purpose began, I'd love to

84
00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:46.480
hear that. Yeah, no,
it's not easy, you know, when

85
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.800
you revolve them being a coal mining
company to an industrial chemical company that's predominantly

86
00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:56.800
still Dutch, and then you make
the decision to divest your industrial chemical business

87
00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.759
and you and some of your plastics
business and ultimately your former suitical business and

88
00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.399
your caprolactive business, the things that
had defined the generation of the company to

89
00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:10.439
move into things like nutrition and biomedical
materials and clean energy. That requires a

90
00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:15.839
lot of the grit that you just
referred to, a lot of the resilience

91
00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:18.439
that you made mention of because it's
you know, these are tough decisions.

92
00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:24.160
The easier decision would just be and
maintaining the status quo, focus on working

93
00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:28.639
capital and reducing operating expense and doing
the best you can selling off the old

94
00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:33.600
businesses and buying new businesses. I
think takes a little courage. Well,

95
00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:39.120
what I think about here is the
tremendous amount of chaotic change that had to

96
00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:43.600
come with all that. Not only
I can't imagine that all your employees stayed

97
00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:47.519
intact as those changes took place,
and then there were new wholly different marketplaces

98
00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.600
and only different customers to serve.
I mean, that is just an incredible

99
00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:55.920
amount of change, a huge amount
of change. And you can imagine that

100
00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.680
the necessity to keep the issue of
culture and focus, keep the issue of

101
00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:04.639
culture paramount, and the role that
purpose plays as sort of the loadstone,

102
00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:10.160
the true north in doing that.
Well, let's get into that. That's

103
00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:12.439
one of the main things, of
course, that I wanted to chat about.

104
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.439
Of course, later on we'll talk
about the employee engagement and financial piece

105
00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.040
of this. But you had mentioned
to me when we spoke on the phone

106
00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:23.639
about this conversation that part of this
journey started maybe eleven or years ago,

107
00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.839
so with your new CEO, if
I have that right, so if fill

108
00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:30.360
it in force. When did your
purpose journey begin? Yeah, I think

109
00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.519
it began in earnest about eleveny years
ago when Fikasi was named the CEO of

110
00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:38.000
DSM. He had been on the
managing board of the company for some time,

111
00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:41.879
but was still a relatively young man. He's a biologist by training,

112
00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:46.319
so I think that comes with a
little Darwinian perspective on the world. And

113
00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:55.639
you know, he as a young
CEO first time CEO traveled to Davos,

114
00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.240
Switzerland for the World Economic Foreign Meeting. I mean, you have to be

115
00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:01.399
a CEO to get invited to a
meeting like that with all the movers and

116
00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:07.360
shakers of the world. And he
listened to a speech by a female leader

117
00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.759
of an African country who said,
you know, you and the Western world

118
00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:15.639
are terrible people. You keep sending
us food, You keep sending us carbohydrates,

119
00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.439
which keep my people alive, but
you don't send me nutrition that keeps

120
00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.800
them healthy and productive, and that
leaves me in a worse position than if

121
00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:28.079
they weren't fed at all. And
it really resonated with him, and afterwards

122
00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.920
he went and he spoke to her
and said, look, I'm the CEO

123
00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.840
of the biggest nutrition company in the
world. I think I can help.

124
00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:37.679
And she put them off, you
know, just another Western CEO that wants

125
00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.600
a pr opportunity. But you know, he's a gritty and resilient guy.

126
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.799
And so he followed up and ultimately
he developed a relationship with the World Food

127
00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:52.960
Program, the UN agency that's responsible
for delivering food to refugee camp school feeding

128
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.559
programs and all parts of the developing
world. And we've now had a ten

129
00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:03.399
year partnership with the World Food Program. We help improve the nutrition of the

130
00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.399
food that they delivered. And I
think that that was sort of the catalyst

131
00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:11.440
for him, but also for the
whole enterprise on our purpose led sort of

132
00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:16.960
performance driven journey. I know you
can't speak on his behalf, Hugh,

133
00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:22.399
However, you might have some pretty
keen insight here. Did something get catalyzed

134
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.039
in him? And what she said
was that already present for him in terms

135
00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:28.480
of his view of how he might
be able to help the world and change

136
00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.600
but changed the way business is done. What happened there? Yeah, I

137
00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.600
mean we know each other very well. We're actually here together in Halifax for

138
00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:43.519
these two days with the G seven
Environmental Committee meeting. I think that it

139
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:46.840
was an intellectual pursuit for him at
that World Economic Forum, but it became

140
00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:52.000
very, very real and personal to
him when we got engaged with the World

141
00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.279
Food Program. So soon after we
started, now ten years ago with the

142
00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.480
World Food Program, he traveled to
Bangladesh to see a World Food Program refugee

143
00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:07.159
feeding program in action, and to
this day, I know it's profoundly moved

144
00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.559
him to where he had young mothers
handing their babies to him saying, can

145
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.759
you please take my child with you
when you leave? You know what will

146
00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.679
happen if you leave them behind?
And wow. You know he's recounted that

147
00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:28.039
story countless times when we travel together
to town halls, to external and I

148
00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:31.080
don't think that you can experience something
like that and know that you have within

149
00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:37.679
your organization the capacity to change it
and not do something. And I think

150
00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.200
he's not been the same since that, So I think that it always existed

151
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:46.000
within him, it was it took
an experience like that to catalyze it and

152
00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:52.200
make it really the mission of our
organization. That's so gorgeous, Hugh,

153
00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.799
that's just so gorgeous for those people
out there that are out there listening,

154
00:10:56.879 --> 00:10:58.279
going wow. You know, how
can purpose really make a difference? One

155
00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:01.919
the fact that he the experience that
he did, too, that he keeps

156
00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:05.720
repeating that experience, sharing and reminalizing
that story over and over again. That's

157
00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:09.279
so important to be able to cascade
that kind of a purpose, that kind

158
00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:13.039
of a mission within the organization so
others who didn't have the experience directly can

159
00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:18.039
get it. That's now I'm starting
to see how this is working for DSM.

160
00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:22.960
Yeah, no, and it's working, and we need to have it

161
00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:26.440
continue work to work for the next
one hundred and sixteen years. So for

162
00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.399
me, it's very important that he
recalls those stories and recounts those stories to

163
00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.679
all of our employees when he speaks, because the next generation of leaders needs

164
00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:41.799
to have that same catalytic experience as
well. And so, you know,

165
00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:46.120
we work very hard and we'll touch
on this. I hope at some point

166
00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:50.039
we work very hard to create those
great similar experiences for many of our employees

167
00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:54.639
as we can, so it's not
just something that they're told, it's something

168
00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.799
that they live. And you know, I think that differentiates us from a

169
00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:03.440
lot of other companies. I definitely
want to get into that after we take

170
00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.360
our first break here, but really
quick to situate just what you're saying here

171
00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:11.159
again for our listeners. I spoke
at a leadership women conference a couple weeks

172
00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.919
ago and there was a woman in
the audience, and I'm sure they don't

173
00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.039
mind me saying this. They work
for a company called Esslor, which treats

174
00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:20.679
vision problems, and we were talking
about purpose and she said, oh,

175
00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.320
I know exactly where I stand in
the organization, and I have a mission.

176
00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:28.519
I have a purpose to eradicate vision
problems, just like my CEO says,

177
00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.480
that's what the whole company stands for. And I'm individually connected to that,

178
00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.679
and I can see how my individual
contribution contributes to that purpose. That

179
00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:43.799
is so powerful. Absolutely no,
it's like the powerful. Right. The

180
00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.519
three guys that were sitting in front
of saying I belove it, saying past

181
00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:48.639
cathedral in New York. Yeah,
And they were all breaking stones. And

182
00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.879
the first one, right, what
do you do I work nine to five

183
00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.240
when they get a great paycheck?
Yeah, exactly one, what do you

184
00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:58.000
do? I break stones? The
third one I built cathedrals? Yeah,

185
00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.559
That woman and an altiate every one
thousand in our company. We want to

186
00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:03.960
build the cathedrals together. Yeah,
and that's this. I gave the exact

187
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.159
same example when I spoke as well, here we're totally on the same page.

188
00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.480
Well, you know I've heard you
speak before, and when I was

189
00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.759
talking with people about the show,
I said, you know, you know

190
00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.440
not only do I know this guy
normally speaks what he talks about, what

191
00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.799
his company's up to in the world. He who really comes alive. So

192
00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.240
I want to know for you,
how does purpose guide you as a leader

193
00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:28.519
at DSM. I am the luckiest
guy in the world, I guess after

194
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:35.399
Luke Rick. I get so to
deploy my modest and meager skills and talents

195
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.240
to do something meaningful, which I
would like to think is the repurpose meaning

196
00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.159
of the DSM acronym. To do
something meaningful every day, you know,

197
00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:48.879
be it opening new facilities in Africa, creating new clean energy programs, working

198
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:52.440
with our government to help mitigate issues
like climate change, or create a low

199
00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:58.440
carbon economy. But for me,
the greatest meeting, the greatest purpose I

200
00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.759
find in my job. You know, it came to through time and experience,

201
00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.360
and that it's not my job as
a leader in the organization to have

202
00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:09.720
all the answers, and I'd always
thought it was it's really to create an

203
00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:15.879
environment where everybody has the opportunity to
reach the full potential. And at the

204
00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.559
end of the day, I always
think that that's my purpose, is to

205
00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.399
create an environment that regardless of you
know, your age, your race,

206
00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.840
your creed, your national origin,
your courky perspective on the world, you

207
00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:31.879
have an opportunity to bring your full
self to work every day and help us

208
00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:37.440
realize our vision and our purpose as
a company. How incredibly beautiful is that,

209
00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.639
Hugh, And I think, really
what I want to make sure our

210
00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.480
listeners get is that if they haven't
seen you in person like I have,

211
00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:46.159
and I think it comes across from
your voice. You just live this large.

212
00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.759
When you come into a room,
you you make the room bigger.

213
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.960
And I think, but I think
that part of the rest about that,

214
00:14:54.120 --> 00:14:58.200
But no, I've I've borne witness
to this. I was there, I

215
00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.919
was present, and I think it's
a testament to what it is when we

216
00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:05.159
get to live our purpose. In
your case, you're working and living your

217
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:07.759
purpose across your whole life, which
is what it really is. Living your

218
00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:13.120
purpose, and it shows up in
this magnanimous person with lots of energy and

219
00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.919
passion and purpose. So when we're
living that way, you're right. You

220
00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:20.559
are the luckiest guy in the world. Anybody that gets to work from their

221
00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:22.919
purpose is one of the luckiest people
on the planet. So I want to

222
00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:28.879
celebrate that. It's beautiful. Thank
you. I wake up every morning excited

223
00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:33.879
as I went to bed the night
before. I think that's a beautiful way

224
00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:35.960
to take us into our first break. Hugh, I'm your host, Alist

225
00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.960
Cortez. We've been on the air
with Hugh Welsh, President and General Council

226
00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:43.080
of DSM North America, a global
leader in life sciences and material sciences.

227
00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:46.159
He joins us today from Halifax,
Nova Scotia, where he's traveling for his

228
00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.320
work. We've been talking a bit
about how DSM began as a company,

229
00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:54.000
how it evolved to remain viable and
vibrant as it is today, and how

230
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.200
it works from purpose and everything that
it does. After the break, we're

231
00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:00.519
going to talk about the employee engagement
aspect of how they purposes change them and

232
00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.440
some of the financial resources they results
they've enjoyed as a result of staying with

233
00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.279
their purpose. Stay with us,
We'll be right back. Alis Cortes is

234
00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:14.559
a speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

235
00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:18.840
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She will

236
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:25.399
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce
that will increase employee engagement, performance and

237
00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.519
retention. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

238
00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:34.600
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the opportunity

239
00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:45.600
to help get your employees working on
purpose. This is working on Purpose with

240
00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:51.279
Elise Cortes. To reach our program
today, send an email to a lease

241
00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:59.519
Alise at elisecortes dot com. Now
back to working on purpose if you're just

242
00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:03.000
joining us. My guest is Hugh
Welsh, President and General Council of DSM

243
00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:07.119
North America, which is a global
leader in life sciences and material sciences.

244
00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:14.000
Hugh serves currently on several DSM Global
and regional management teams and as direct responsibilities

245
00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.519
in DSM's Nutrition and Food Specialties operations, as well as responsibility for legal,

246
00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.039
government affairs, corporate communications, other
shared services, corporate partnerships and DSM sustainability

247
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.599
inclusion and diversity initiatives in the region
of North America. In the beginning,

248
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:32.039
we were talking about how the company
began and has evolved over the years,

249
00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:34.680
and this next segment, what we
want to get into is really how the

250
00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:41.359
organization engages with its employees. That
has resulted in increased employee engagement and also

251
00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.559
improved in financial performance. So,
Hugh, so before the break here,

252
00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.839
so much you've talked about. I
just can't even fathom how far this company's

253
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.519
come in one hundred and sixteen years
and where you are today. I can't

254
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.519
imagine what it feels like to stand
on that mountain. Really, it's impressive.

255
00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.359
So it comes with a lot of
responsive ability. I want the place

256
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.720
to be around for another one hundred
and sixteen years. You know, well,

257
00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.119
I got that, and that's really
what I wanted to say. That's

258
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.599
why I gave the description of your
responsibilities and when I reintroduced you back,

259
00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.519
because I wanted listeners to understand just
what it is that you're up to.

260
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.720
It. It's a big job that
you've got there, not for the feint

261
00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:19.839
of heart, right, and not
for somebody certainly who isn't working from purpose.

262
00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:25.319
I don't think No, I don't
think somebody who is not working for

263
00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:29.599
purpose could survive in an environment like
this. I tend to agree just from

264
00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:32.960
what little I can see from the
outside looking in. But you know,

265
00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:36.240
one of the things that really intrigued
me about what you said to me when

266
00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:40.720
we spoke on the phone in preparation
for this conversation was how the employee engagement

267
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:44.400
has increased in DSM. And I
don't know when that started, if it

268
00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.160
was related to when the CEO eleven
years began this truck on purpose, I

269
00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:51.359
don't know, But would you give
us a little bit of story and account

270
00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:53.759
for how you've measured your employee engagement? When did you see it start to

271
00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.400
take up, and to what do
you attribute that to? Sure? No,

272
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.319
I've been with the company for fifteen
and I'd love to say that it's

273
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:04.119
all been sort of roses in Champagne
for that whole fifteen year period, but

274
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.480
I would be a liar. When
I first came to the company, it

275
00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:12.400
was right after DSM had made the
acquisition of Hoffman, the Roche's vitamins business,

276
00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.480
and so we had one part of
the business that was old sort of

277
00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:22.799
chemical company, DSM Fertilizer company DSM, the last remnants of the coal mining

278
00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:30.240
energy DSM, and we had just
bought a part of a big global hoff

279
00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:33.119
and the Roche company that was very
Swiss, very very Swiss oriented, very

280
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:37.279
branded, and so you had two
groups who were very unhappy, one because

281
00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:41.400
they felt as though that they were
being pushed out of the company in some

282
00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:47.240
respects, and another group because they
had left a very proud, long heritage

283
00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:49.599
Hoffman the Roche for this Dutch company
they never heard of. And so at

284
00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:55.559
the time, I would say employee
engagement was very low. No constituency was

285
00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:59.319
happy. We really didn't have that
loadstone, that true north, that central

286
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:03.759
purpose that pulled us all together,
and that more or less continued as we

287
00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:08.960
went through that divested your acquisition process
until the financial crisis, which was you

288
00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:14.960
know, ten years ago this week, and that for me was as moving

289
00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:21.240
and a time when a company's purposes
challenged as any other time, and not

290
00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.359
only DSM one hundred and sixteen year
history, but I think any company's history

291
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:29.640
that came out the other side of
that and through the financial crisis. We

292
00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:34.079
did not go through wholesale reductions in
force like many companies did. We did

293
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:40.240
not go through wholesale reductions and employee
compensation or benefits. We saved the course,

294
00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:44.920
and we communicated with company with employees
about that every day, and I

295
00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:52.279
think that went a long way to
our employee engagement increasing significantly. Where they

296
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.359
believed that we had made an investment
in them, They believed that they were

297
00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:00.440
the most important asset of the company, and they believed that the mission that

298
00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.319
we had begun to articulate, the
purpose we had begun to articulate with respect

299
00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.519
to organizations like the World Food Program
was real because we didn't cut them like

300
00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:12.960
many other companies did in the face
of to an understatement but a very uncertain

301
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.720
future, you know. So for
me that was how you know, employee

302
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.079
engagement began to tick up. And
then with Fika's purpose and then finding ways

303
00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:26.559
for all of the employees in the
company to do something meaningful, either through

304
00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.039
organizations like the World Food Program,
or through partners in food solutions or vitamin

305
00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.400
angels, or working with the Ocean
cleanup and a number of other projects that

306
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:37.480
I'm happy to talk about. We
found ways for employees to express that purpose

307
00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:41.160
in their day to day jobs,
and our employee engagement as which we measure

308
00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:45.400
every year. We're about to go
into the next employee engagement survey cycle is

309
00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:51.400
at as well above industry standards,
and I think that has plays an important

310
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:55.559
role in the financial results of the
company as well. Let's talk about that,

311
00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.440
Hugh, What are you doing to
create this environment where people feel like

312
00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:03.400
there is meaningful? What are first? What are you doing as leaders?

313
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:07.359
And then there must be an operational
processes sort of move here to be able

314
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:14.519
to create that environment for them?
What are you doing? We grossly over

315
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:18.160
communicate on what the company's strategy is. We grossly over communicate on what the

316
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.720
company's purposes. We're about to launch
another purpose communication project beginning in the new

317
00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:30.400
year, so that everybody understands why
we're in this together. Everybody understands why

318
00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:32.720
we're in the businesses we're in and
why we're going to get out of the

319
00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:36.519
businesses we're going to get out in. So everybody understands the type of people

320
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.359
we want to work for our company, and so we grossly over communicate.

321
00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.559
So you know, the CEO and
I will do a town hall here at

322
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:47.279
our facility in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll fly to

323
00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.440
New York and do a town hall
for all of our North American operations.

324
00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:55.599
It'll be simulcasts across thirty three sites
the following day, and so that level

325
00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.519
of communication is very very important to
get the employees engaged. But when you

326
00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:03.920
have twenty one thousand employees fired up
and excited about the purpose of the organization

327
00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:07.599
they belong to, you have to
find ways for them to meaningfully exercise that

328
00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:12.240
excitement. And so we're a founding
member of an organization called Partners and Food

329
00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:17.519
Solutions. So we learned through our
work with the World Food Program that there

330
00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.720
is a massive need for better nutrition, better food in Sub Saharan Africa,

331
00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:26.359
but you can't count on aid agencies
to deliver that. So we wanted to

332
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:32.799
work with local food manufacturers to improve
their processes, and there was really nobody

333
00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:36.079
out there to help us do that, and so together with General Mills and

334
00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:41.319
Cargill and Hershey's and Bueler, we
formed this organization called Partners and Food Solutions.

335
00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:47.799
And what they do is they find
food manufacturers in Africa who need technical

336
00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:52.759
support. They might need an engineer, they might need an expert in safety

337
00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:59.000
or process engineering, or marketing or
finance or human resources, and our people

338
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.039
in DSM are in car or general
mills can volunteer their expertise to that local

339
00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:10.240
African food manufacturer and do that via
Skype or digital photography however, to help

340
00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:14.920
them improve their efficiency, the quality
of the food they produce to meet Western

341
00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:19.240
standards so that they themselves can sell
to the World Food Programs or the USAIDS

342
00:24:19.319 --> 00:24:25.319
or the UNISS and that has become
a very powerful tool to get employees engaged

343
00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.880
in the purpose of the company.
We do similar things with an organization called

344
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:33.200
Vitamin Angels, where we will send
employees to for a short period of time

345
00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:38.640
to work on programs in Honduras or
Indonesia. We'll send folks to volunteer to

346
00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:41.599
work on things like the ocean cleanup
which you may have seen on TV over

347
00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:47.359
the weekend launching from San Francisco that
DSM was involved in from the very early

348
00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:51.279
days, and our employees have been
involved from the engineering process to the launch

349
00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:56.680
out in San Francisco to help clean
up the Grape Pacific garbage patch again just

350
00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:00.119
this past weekend. I want to
go to work for DSM, Come on,

351
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.720
you have a space for me,
Hugh. Of course, we do

352
00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:07.519
it. Would be so off if
you said, no, we don't want

353
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:11.079
you to come to work for us. ELSA. Wow, that is so

354
00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:15.599
exciting. And so I can imagine
that your employees when they say, you

355
00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:17.640
know, who do you work?
When somebody asks them who do you work

356
00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:18.480
for and what do you do?
I can hear them saying I work with

357
00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:22.319
DSM. I help eradicate food hunger
across the globe, I help clean up

358
00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:26.880
oceans. I can imagine them saying
that. And how powerful is that that

359
00:25:26.599 --> 00:25:30.440
you as an organization are there a
conduit to something much much bigger. And

360
00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.599
that is exactly what I mean is
for me, Hugh, is when you

361
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.799
think about how the Gallop Organization says
that across the globe, only fifteen percent

362
00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:41.799
of the globe is fully engaged and
enthusiastic about their work. I think that

363
00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:47.599
is such a crime that the other
eighty five percent are dragging themselves through Monday

364
00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:51.039
through Friday, because that's such a
waste of a precious life. And we

365
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:52.880
know that in the United States the
employee engagement rate is higher than that,

366
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:56.240
and sort of within DSM it's higher
than that. And you're doing something about

367
00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.440
that, And I really applaud that
This just makes happy. I'm so glad

368
00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:04.480
to share you with my listeners across
the globe. I'm grateful for the opportunity.

369
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:11.640
So thinking about those those employees,
then you talk about what it is

370
00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:15.160
that you're doing to help them connect
with DSM's purpose and see their own purpose

371
00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.519
within it. I know what it
looks like when I walk into an employee

372
00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:22.359
and an engaged workforce. But describe
for us here, what does it look

373
00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:27.799
like? What is employees doing that
make us know that they're engaged on a

374
00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:33.079
day to day basis. It's crackling
with energy, rightly, with passion and

375
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:38.160
inspiration and creativity. But if I
could share with you just a couple of

376
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:44.839
anecdotes to how it moves me personally, I'd love the opportunity to do.

377
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:48.160
Bet. I mean one fully,
you know in New Jersey, you know,

378
00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:52.559
just six years ago, you know, I had just signed a big

379
00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.559
deal, an acquisition of the company, six hundred and sixty million dollars acquisition

380
00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:59.200
of company called Ford Tech. And
I was in my office in Parsipany,

381
00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:03.359
New Jersey, in October six years
ago, and I came out and it

382
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:07.440
was an all nighter kind of adventure, and there was nobody there. And

383
00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:11.200
it was like a Tuesday afternoon or
something, and I turned on the TV

384
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.680
and it was the day that Hurricane
Sandy was hitting New Jersey, and I

385
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:17.160
panicked. I'm like, what the
heck, nobody's here. This is the

386
00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:18.720
building. It should be five hundred
people in this building today, you know.

387
00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.720
And I did what any any person
does when they're caught in a situation

388
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:26.599
where they don't know what to do. I called my father and he said,

389
00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:30.640
you know, you worked for this
big, fancy multinational company. I'm

390
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:33.880
sure they have a crisis management manual. I said, of course, we

391
00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:37.000
do, very proud and I ran
down the hole. I got it,

392
00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:42.319
brought it back. He said,
throw it away. It's useless. He

393
00:27:42.359 --> 00:27:47.880
said, look, your purpose,
your job here is easy. You take

394
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:51.839
care of the people, will take
care of the business. And he hung

395
00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:53.480
up, and I was like great. My dad's like Yoda. You know

396
00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:56.799
this anology is dropping on me.
But I thought about it, and you

397
00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.640
know, he was absolutely right.
I had power, I had heat,

398
00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:04.400
I had food, I had showers
in our gym. I had electricity and

399
00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:08.039
nobody else did. So I started
texting all of my management team and said,

400
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:11.519
just bring your people to the building
right, bring your employees, their

401
00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.920
families, their kids, their grandparents, whomever. We have heat, shelter,

402
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:18.799
light, electricity, showers, whatever
they need. They could stay as

403
00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:22.599
long as they want. People started
showing up with the families. It was

404
00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:26.680
wonderful, and then the magic happened. I didn't even have to ask a

405
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:32.319
single person. They started getting laptops
and desktops and putting them in conference rooms.

406
00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.559
We never missed a payroll, We
never missed an account's payable or accounts

407
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:40.279
receivable cycle. It was amazing.
In the midst of one of the biggest

408
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:45.119
natural disasters to hit New Jersey,
we never missed a beat where everybody else

409
00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:48.319
was frolling away, And to me, that is an engaged workforce. I

410
00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:52.720
experienced the exact same thing this past
weekend when Hurricane Florence, who was bearing

411
00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:56.079
down on North Carolina and South Carolina. You know, we have big production

412
00:28:56.200 --> 00:29:00.559
sites in Greenville, North Carolina,
and Stanley, North Carolina, King Street,

413
00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:06.640
South Carolina, and I watched employees
hourly, employees who work shift volunteer

414
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:10.880
to stay with the plant so that
other employees who had families could be home

415
00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:14.799
with their families to keep them safe
while they maintained the safety of our facility

416
00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:18.839
and make sure that our customers got
product that is an engaged workforce. Nobody

417
00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:22.880
had to ask them, They volunteered
to do that. I couldn't be more

418
00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:26.680
proud than to work for a company
that has people that behave in that way.

419
00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:30.359
Far more proud than the work we
do with the World Food Program or

420
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:36.039
Vitamin Angels or on climate change.
You work for a company where folks step

421
00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:40.759
up like that, you can't work
anywhere else. A couple things to you

422
00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:45.200
that is, that's a beautiful way
to exemplify what what does it look like

423
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:48.920
to having an engage workforce? So
thank you for that. Second, what

424
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.480
I want to say in how what
I'm hearing and what you just narrated is

425
00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:56.200
that you and your organization working from
purpose. What that does is it allows

426
00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.400
you to stand from a place of
passion and inspiration, and that's irresistible to

427
00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:03.880
people. People have a really hard
time saying now I think I'm good on

428
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.880
that. I'm just going to go
ahead and turn the TV on instead.

429
00:30:07.480 --> 00:30:11.720
Right, It's really hard to pass
to pass it up. It is authentic

430
00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:15.440
and that's what we're getting. We
are it's not greenwashing. It's authentic and

431
00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:18.799
people want to be part of something
bigger than themselves and that's just not cliche.

432
00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:22.119
And when you give them an opportunity
to do that in an authentic way,

433
00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:26.519
they never leave. They don't go
work for more compensation, they don't

434
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:29.960
go work for a better job title. They work for each other. And

435
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:32.759
it took me a long time to
learn that, but I'm happy that I

436
00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:34.960
finally did. I am thrilled that
you have as well. I know that

437
00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.880
from my research and the work that
I do with organizations as well, Hugh.

438
00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.720
And that's why so much I wanted
to share with my listeners because I

439
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:45.799
think you guys are doing it right. It's just great. And if we

440
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:48.640
quickly go to the next piece of
the conversation that I wanted to get to

441
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.559
here, we can actually show that
you're doing that right, because this is

442
00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:55.519
not just really feel good stuff,
right and how great it is to come

443
00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:59.160
to work, but you have bottom
line results with this that are really impressive.

444
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.079
I want to ask you go into
the numbers per se, but you

445
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:07.200
mentioned in our conversation that your revenues
and your stock price I've enjoyed a nice

446
00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:11.960
hit. Your stock price alone is
hitt an all time high. So how

447
00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:15.200
do you connect those performance results to
your purpose? Yeah, I mean doing

448
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.839
well and doing good are mutually exclusive. Our share price closed over ninety euros

449
00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:23.000
to share today. It's very close
to the all time high. You know,

450
00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:26.880
we've reported Q two earnings back in
August. You know, organic sales

451
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:30.680
growth was up over ten percent adjusted
EBITDA was up over forty five percent year

452
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.119
of a year. That profit up
over one hundred and three percent year over

453
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.720
year, and twenty seventeen was a
record year for US. So business is

454
00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:42.960
good and you know, you know, again it's a cliche, but the

455
00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.440
biggest asset of any organization is its
people. And if you can deploy twenty

456
00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:51.759
one thousand people all pulling in the
same direction, you can accomplish anything.

457
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:55.200
And when I look at what we've
managed to accomplish, not just over the

458
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:56.519
course of the last ten years,
but really in the course of the last

459
00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:02.480
eighteen months, it's been us in
where you know, many folks had seen

460
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:07.960
us as peaking in our operational performance, and we showed that we can do

461
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.519
even more, and we continue to
do even more the remainder of the of

462
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:14.400
twenty eighteen, I can say you
know, without reservation is going to be

463
00:32:14.599 --> 00:32:20.119
pretty good as well. All of
that sounds incredibly compelling to me. Sold,

464
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:22.720
got it, I'm on deck.
I'm on board. Are there anything

465
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:27.920
go by USM shares you know on
the incident stocking change or we do have

466
00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:30.599
ADRs on the US stock Exchange.
We just increased our dividends twenty five percent,

467
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:35.680
so it's at a healthy two year
thirty cents to share. It's it's

468
00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:38.400
not a bad investment. That I
like to get the word out there because

469
00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:43.400
I think many folks still see us
as a chemical company, you know,

470
00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:46.559
looking at the long and storied history
of DSM that it's hard to change people's

471
00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:50.720
minds that we're a growth company today. And if you look at the businesses

472
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.640
we're in, be it a nutrition
or food ingredients, biomedical materials, clean

473
00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:58.519
energy, these are growth areas.
Yet we still trade at a multiple that

474
00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:01.640
is more reflective of a commodity based
chemical company. So I'd love to have

475
00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:06.160
the opportunity to talk about the financials. It's not always as sexy or as

476
00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:09.359
exciting as as some of the other
work we do, but it's just as

477
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:13.200
important, and if we weren't successful
in that space, we would never get

478
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:17.279
the opportunity to do the meaningful work
in climate change or nutrition or energy that

479
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:22.839
we do otherwise, beautifully said,
beautifully said to you. And of course,

480
00:33:22.920 --> 00:33:24.039
part of the reason that I wanted
you to talk about that is because

481
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:30.920
I think some people have the misunderstanding
that purpose is fluffy. They don't understand

482
00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:34.359
how it does and can relate to
the bottom line, which is another reason

483
00:33:34.359 --> 00:33:36.559
that I wanted you to share that
part of what you're up to there at

484
00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:38.799
DSM. So you mentioned a lot
of things already, but is there are

485
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:44.400
there any other financial indicators that you
connect with your purpose led efforts or initiatives.

486
00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:47.480
Yeah, I mean, just to
close the circle on the last part.

487
00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:51.400
I mean, if in DSM we're
a fluffy marketing pr thing, then

488
00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:54.720
we're failing miserably and I'm terrible at
my job because nobody's ever heard of DSM.

489
00:33:55.160 --> 00:33:59.839
So you know, it's certainly not
something we're doing from a marketing perspective.

490
00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:04.039
We're really doing it because it's good
business, it's smart business, and

491
00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:07.359
it's a means by which for us
to engage with all of our employees,

492
00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:09.639
regardless of their function and the business
that they're working in. Today. As

493
00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:15.519
far as other financial indicators, there
are a couple. One is putting a

494
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:20.000
price on carbon, and so within
VSM we have an internal price on carbon

495
00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:24.159
of fifty euros a ton. And
so whenever somebody comes to our executive committee

496
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.599
with a proposal for a large capital
project, so to build a new plant,

497
00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:30.920
or to open a new operation,
or to do a new deal,

498
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:36.000
right to acquire a company, they
have to build into the business case a

499
00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:39.199
fifty euro a ton price on carbon. And we see that as a means

500
00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:44.440
to future prove our organization against what
will be the next trends, and that

501
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:46.800
is a carbon tax, a price
on carbon, a carbon transfer agreement.

502
00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:51.639
And when you're working in things where
you're deploying a large amount of capital over

503
00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:54.760
a significant period of time, you
better account for that today. And we

504
00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:58.199
see that as not just the right
thing to do, we see it as

505
00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:02.559
creating competitive advantage for us was going
forward. Another area would be without getting

506
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:07.800
too wonk ish, you know,
we just renewed a billion euro revolver or

507
00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:12.119
our credit facility, and we did
it, I think differently than any company

508
00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:15.840
I've ever seen do it. We
tied the interest rate, which is floating,

509
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:21.599
not to libor or to the treasury
rate, but to our greenhouse gas

510
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:25.559
emissions, and we found the syndicative
banks that we're willing to work with us

511
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:31.679
on that, seeing that our relative
risk was just as predictable based on our

512
00:35:31.719 --> 00:35:37.199
greenhouse gas emissions as it might be
on sort of objective external metrics like libor.

513
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.639
I think we're going to see more
of that going forward, and I'm

514
00:35:40.679 --> 00:35:45.079
pretty proud that DSM had the opportunity
to be a thought leader in that area.

515
00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:49.480
Just exhilerating you. I love every
bit of this. It's so great

516
00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:52.079
what you're sharing with our listeners,
and I love the fresh perspective and the

517
00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:55.679
ways you're looking at how to contribute
to the world and also be able to

518
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.360
bring in real measures of how this
actual shows up for you in relation to

519
00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:04.400
what you're up to for your objectives
and for your bottom line. Gorgeous share.

520
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:08.880
Thank you so much, Thanks again
for the opportunity. Yep, you're

521
00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:13.079
welcome. Let's grab our last break
here. I'm Elise Cortez, your host.

522
00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:15.519
We'd on the air with Hugh Welsh, who is the President and General

523
00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:20.119
Counsel of DSM North America, a
global leader in life sciences and material Sciences.

524
00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:22.679
He joined us today from Halifax,
Nova Scotia, normally coming from New

525
00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:29.239
Jersey. He's traveling today. We've
been talking a bit about how purpose infuses

526
00:36:29.360 --> 00:36:34.519
everything that they do and impacts and
increases employee engagement and financial results. After

527
00:36:34.519 --> 00:36:38.119
the break, we're going to talk
about their approach to global investments from their

528
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:43.119
stance of purpose. Stay with us, we'll be right back. Alis Cortez

529
00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:47.519
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

530
00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:52.519
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She

531
00:36:52.599 --> 00:36:59.119
will help ignite meaningful development within your
workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance

532
00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:02.440
and retention. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

533
00:37:02.599 --> 00:37:07.840
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the

534
00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:20.400
opportunity to help get your employees working
on purpose. This is working on Purpose

535
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:23.840
with Elise Cortes. To reach our
program today, send an email to a

536
00:37:23.920 --> 00:37:32.519
lease Alise at Aleasecortes dot com.
Now back to working on Purpose. If

537
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:36.519
you're just tuning in, my guest
is Hugh Welsh, President and General Counsel

538
00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:39.800
of DSM North America, a global
leader in life sciences and material sciences.

539
00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:45.639
Mister Welsh currently serves on several DSM
Global and regional management teams and has direct

540
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:51.039
responsibilities in DSM's Nutrition and Food Specialties
operations, as well as responsibility for legal,

541
00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:54.800
government affairs, corporate communications, other
shared services, corporate partnerships, and

542
00:37:54.880 --> 00:38:00.360
DSM sustainability, inclusion and diverse initiatives
in the region of North America. I'm

543
00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:04.559
your host at least Cortez. So
before the break, we were talking about

544
00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:08.079
all of that really yummy employee engagement
stuff that shows up and how your company

545
00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:13.800
is run and the gorgeous financial results
that come from that. Next, I

546
00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:17.960
want to get into how purpose governs, how you choose your investments across the

547
00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.519
globe, and some of the impact
that that's had. So one of the

548
00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:25.880
things that you said to me when
we were chatting on the phone here was

549
00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:31.199
you said that you talked about how
your purpose driven initiatives are tied to compensation.

550
00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:37.800
That's very compelling. What do you
mean by that? Yeah, I

551
00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:40.719
think that really sets us apart from
everybody else, not just in the public

552
00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:49.039
company space, but generally. And
this is really where rhetoric is different than

553
00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:52.440
remuneration. And when you want to
talk about the eleven year journey and driving

554
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:58.840
purpose in the organization bottom up,
it was pretty easy by working on employee

555
00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:02.760
engagement, talking about communications creating opportunities
for all employees to do something meaningful.

556
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.920
But you also have to break through
another constituency, which is the executives that

557
00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.679
run the company, that run the
plants, run sales and marketing, run

558
00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:16.159
commercial management. And you know,
they hear this purpose talk, and many

559
00:39:16.199 --> 00:39:21.599
of them are from outside the company, either came to DSM through acquisition or

560
00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:24.920
were hired by DSM, and you
know, almost to a person, you

561
00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:27.760
know, they say, yep,
yep, I heard this before. I

562
00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:31.400
heard this corporate social responsibility stuff before
great, you know, new corporate folks

563
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:36.719
carry on with the good work,
and then you're immediately struck with it with

564
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:40.800
a new reality. And the reality
is that half of their short term compensation,

565
00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:45.320
which is their annual bonus, and
half of their long term compensation,

566
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:50.880
their stock options aren't tied to financial
performance. They're tied to sustainability targets.

567
00:39:51.400 --> 00:39:54.599
They're tied to things like employee engagement. They're tied to things like reduction and

568
00:39:54.639 --> 00:40:00.320
greenhouse gas emissions reduction in wastewater production, in plastic reduction, in the number

569
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:04.480
of materials we send the landfill.
And I could go on and on with

570
00:40:04.480 --> 00:40:07.360
the different metrics that apply. And
that is a wake up call for the

571
00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:12.480
executive community like you would never believe, because all of them immediately throw their

572
00:40:12.599 --> 00:40:15.679
arms up in the air. I
am not here to work on this stuff.

573
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:21.320
I'm here to work on EBDA or
working capital. And we have to

574
00:40:21.320 --> 00:40:22.559
tell them, no, you're not. You are, of course here to

575
00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:27.159
work on those things, and you're
going to help us make the world a

576
00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:31.280
better place by being an example and
delivery against these other metrics as well.

577
00:40:32.119 --> 00:40:37.639
And you can imagine that did not
go down so easily when we first introduced

578
00:40:37.679 --> 00:40:42.679
this new compensation system. But today, I think it's a differentiator for us

579
00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:45.679
that not only creates better leaders,
but attracts better leaders to come to work

580
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:51.519
for our organization. Folks come to
work for us that are super talented because

581
00:40:51.519 --> 00:40:54.519
they want targets like that, not
because they want to avoid them. And

582
00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:58.079
you know, I'm proud that.
You know, some years I don't get

583
00:40:58.119 --> 00:41:00.920
my full bonus because we didn't hit
our greenhouse gas emission target. Or a

584
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:06.679
renewable energy target, and that inspires
me to be more creative and more innovative

585
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:10.800
in finding different ways we can do
those things that that you know, we

586
00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:15.440
might not have thought about without without
it being top of mind because of compensation.

587
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:21.199
Just one simple example is, you
know, we have a manufacturing plant

588
00:41:21.320 --> 00:41:24.000
Velvetyere, New Jersey, which makes
vitamins, you know, makes nutritional mixes,

589
00:41:24.119 --> 00:41:30.079
vitamin B complex or economic acid which
goes into things like infant formula.

590
00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:37.760
And that plant today has a solar
field that produces a massive amount of renewable

591
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:40.000
electricity, and soon, hopefully by
the end of the year, we'll have

592
00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:45.079
a second solar field which will at
peak capacity generate one hundred percent of the

593
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:50.239
electricity needed to run a manufacturing plant. It will be the biggest solar field

594
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:52.400
of you know, east of the
Mississippi, other than one that Apple has

595
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:57.039
in South Carolina. Now, you
don't get that kind of commitment, that

596
00:41:57.159 --> 00:42:00.599
kind of capital commitment, engineering commitment, et cetera, unless you have tied

597
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:06.079
to the playet managers bonus sustainability target. So, I mean it's a little

598
00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:08.280
bit long when did, but it's
something I'm very excited about and I think

599
00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:13.599
as we all collectively try to reimagine
capitalism. This is one of the things

600
00:42:13.599 --> 00:42:16.679
we should be thinking about. Oh
my gosh, that is spectacular. You

601
00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:21.360
I mean, I'll tell you,
I don't know that I've ever heard anybody

602
00:42:21.480 --> 00:42:28.000
articulate the breadth and depth of how
you are literally living and breathing and working

603
00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:30.880
from a purpose vantage point. It's
really exactly what I was hoping in this

604
00:42:30.920 --> 00:42:36.719
conversation. So thank you, Hugh. It's just terrific. So we've gotten

605
00:42:36.760 --> 00:42:39.280
not too much time left here,
so I just want to hear maybe let's

606
00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:44.119
talk about if we can. One
of viewer investments across the globe that I

607
00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:47.079
know that you mentioned is definitely from
a purpose driven stance, and that's the

608
00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:52.920
Africa Improved Foods Consort Partnership in Rwanda. If I've got that right, Will

609
00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:54.559
you say a little bit about this
initiative and its impact? How did it

610
00:42:54.639 --> 00:43:00.079
start? What are you doing?
How is it impactful? Sure? And

611
00:43:00.119 --> 00:43:04.320
so through our experience with the World
Food Program, we came to understand the

612
00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:07.400
need for better nutrition in the developing
world, and that you know, a

613
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:13.039
significant We're talking hundreds and hundreds of
millions of children in the world. Never

614
00:43:13.079 --> 00:43:17.639
have an opportunity to reach their full
potential because they're stunted simply because they don't

615
00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:21.280
get enough nutrition. They might get
enough calories, but they don't get enough

616
00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:24.639
vitamins, minerals and zimest and we
have the ability to fix that at a

617
00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:29.079
very low cost. We tried to
do that through partners and food solutions,

618
00:43:29.079 --> 00:43:32.920
and we continue to do so by
trying to build up African businesses to produce

619
00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:37.960
at a higher quality, a higher
safety standard, et cetera. But we

620
00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:40.719
can never get them to scale.
And so we thought, why don't we

621
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:49.920
build a nutritious food manufacturing plant in
Africa? And President Kagami and Rwanda talk

622
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:52.440
to us. He talked to me
and he said, you know, look,

623
00:43:52.519 --> 00:43:55.679
I have the highest childhood stunting rate
in Sub Saharan Africa at thirty six

624
00:43:55.719 --> 00:44:00.320
percent. I could spend all the
money in the world on infrastructure, on

625
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:05.360
roads, electricity, etc. But
if my children still fail to reach their

626
00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:08.079
full potential at that level, it
will mean nothing. Can you build your

627
00:44:08.119 --> 00:44:12.280
first facility in Pegui? And we
said, okay, now it's not the

628
00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:15.840
biggest market. Now Aethiopia might have
made more sense, or Nigeria, but

629
00:44:16.559 --> 00:44:21.800
it's where the biggest issue was and
so together with some non traditional partners like

630
00:44:21.840 --> 00:44:24.880
the CDC in the UK, FMO
and the Netherlands IFC, which is the

631
00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:29.639
development arm of the World Bank,
we built what we call now African Proof

632
00:44:29.639 --> 00:44:35.199
Foods Rwanda, and we built a
large scale food manufacturing planet produces a porridge

633
00:44:35.800 --> 00:44:38.880
that's fortified with all of the requisite
vitamins, minerals, etc. And a

634
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:43.079
portion of that is sold to the
World Food program which they use in their

635
00:44:43.079 --> 00:44:46.159
school feeding programs and refugee camps.
A portion is sold to the Government of

636
00:44:46.199 --> 00:44:50.800
Rwanda, which it uses in its
own school feeding programs, and then a

637
00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:52.639
lot of it's sold on the public
market. Because this isn't a charity,

638
00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:57.639
this isn't a philanthropy. It's a
for profit enterprise because we know if it's

639
00:44:57.639 --> 00:45:02.199
not for profit, it can't be
sustainable. And we employ four hundred Rwandans

640
00:45:02.199 --> 00:45:06.880
network in the facility. All of
the raw materials are locally sourced, so

641
00:45:06.920 --> 00:45:10.360
the mains the SOI comes from ten
thousand rewanded small older farmers, which we

642
00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:15.159
also think raises the entire economy of
Rwanda, and we've seen that already.

643
00:45:15.159 --> 00:45:20.840
We've seen a significant production increase in
agriculture in Rwanda as a consequence, and

644
00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:24.199
today we said two and a half
million U want in children through this facility.

645
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:29.440
And what we think the beauty is
it's not only that it's a profitable

646
00:45:29.599 --> 00:45:31.880
enterprise, but it's replicable that you
can do the same thing in a place

647
00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:37.679
like Ethiopia or Zambia or Uganda.
And we look forward to working on that

648
00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:40.559
down the road and hopefully attract some
more private to partners to do that with

649
00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:47.400
us. That is breathtaking you And
when I hear that narration, when I

650
00:45:47.480 --> 00:45:52.400
really get present to is just the
power and possibility of what we really can

651
00:45:52.480 --> 00:45:54.880
do at work. That's my domain. That's what I That's what fires me

652
00:45:54.960 --> 00:46:00.920
up. And you are giving us
a whole view of vantage point of possibility

653
00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:04.639
that I think a lot of listeners
have probably never had access to. So

654
00:46:05.239 --> 00:46:09.840
beautiful share. We are already almost
out of time. It just evaporates,

655
00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:13.159
doesn't it. And I would love
to have you back because I know we

656
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.199
didn't get even close to the surface
with you. But you know what the

657
00:46:16.239 --> 00:46:20.039
show is about, you. The
show is about helping listeners across the globe

658
00:46:20.079 --> 00:46:22.519
more meaningfully and productively connect with their
work and equip leaders to be able to

659
00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:27.360
cultivate meaning and purpose in the workplace, to elicit that passion even talking about

660
00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:30.880
that inspired contribution persevering performance. What
would you like to leave our listeners with,

661
00:46:31.599 --> 00:46:37.039
Yeah, that the world is changing
faster than management practices that you know,

662
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:39.800
I'd like to know say that the
sm stands produce something meaningful. But

663
00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:45.599
you know, look that applies to
anybody in their job in any enterprise anywhere

664
00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:49.760
in the world, that if you're
not doing something meaningful, find something else

665
00:46:49.800 --> 00:46:54.880
to do. Capitalism is about that
would be reimagined. Investors are asking for

666
00:46:55.000 --> 00:47:00.559
more purpose driven companies because they see
the long term returns of companies that embrace

667
00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:05.880
these practices is far superior to than
those who are operating quarter to quarter.

668
00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:10.119
I'd encourage people to take a little
bit of a risk. I don't think

669
00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:15.920
it's as big a risk as it
might seem at first glance, and to

670
00:47:15.519 --> 00:47:20.039
never forget that if you're in a
leadership position, that is your job to

671
00:47:20.119 --> 00:47:23.039
create an environment where everybody has the
opportunity to reach the full potential. And

672
00:47:23.079 --> 00:47:27.840
you know, we met at a
at a Witness leadership conference in Philadelphia in

673
00:47:27.880 --> 00:47:31.039
the pharmaceutical industry, and it's an
issue that's become very important to me,

674
00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:35.559
more now so than ever, because
as a leader, it's my job not

675
00:47:35.679 --> 00:47:38.519
to just deliver the bottom line,
but to deliver the next generation of leaders

676
00:47:38.519 --> 00:47:44.360
that don't all look like me,
and that requires reimagining our approach to work

677
00:47:44.360 --> 00:47:46.400
a little bit. So it sounds
a little long winded, but I think

678
00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:50.360
it's apropos for somebody with as long
a title it seems as I have.

679
00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:54.519
I just encourage everybody to do something
meaningful, find their own purpose, and

680
00:47:54.679 --> 00:48:00.840
work for an organization that's purpose grown
beautiful way to finish. I really want

681
00:48:00.840 --> 00:48:04.159
to thank you so much for sharing
your heart, soul, spirit and purpose

682
00:48:04.199 --> 00:48:07.880
with me and our listeners. It's
been an absolute delight. Thank you.

683
00:48:08.079 --> 00:48:13.000
Thanks. If you want to learn
more about DSM, Hugh Welch or the

684
00:48:13.039 --> 00:48:15.199
Workey and his team are doing across
the globe doing the world a better place,

685
00:48:15.599 --> 00:48:20.920
visit their website. It's just simply
DSM dot com. Think about that.

686
00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:22.360
Do something meaningful, like he said, is what it stands for.

687
00:48:22.559 --> 00:48:25.719
That's one of the acronyms. And
join us next week when we talk with

688
00:48:25.800 --> 00:48:29.960
Aaron Hurst, who is the author
of the Purpose Economy and the founder of

689
00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:34.559
the widely successful Taproot Foundation be talking
about his book and White belize we are

690
00:48:34.559 --> 00:48:37.559
now living in the age of purpose. See you there. Remember that work

691
00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:42.559
is at least one through our life, So let's work on purpose. We

692
00:48:42.679 --> 00:48:45.679
hope you've enjoyed this week's program.
Be sure to tune in to Working on

693
00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:52.440
Purpose, featuring your host Alis Cortes, each week on the Voice America Empowerment

694
00:48:52.519 --> 00:49:14.559
Channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work to completely