Why 2014 will be the Best Year Yet: A Letter from the President

We’re looking forward to a great year at Savage. Last year, Savage Brands renewed its commitment to purpose: We believe that by helping companies deliver on their purpose, we are revolutionizing Corporate America.

Recruiting and retaining the right people

A company can have the best growth plan in the world, but if they don’t have the right people in place to execute, it’s not going to happen. We want to see our clients putting the right amount of time and effort into their own cultures, creating a place that inspires people to come to work and makes people want to stay.

Prioritizing time, effort and money

It’s easy, as a company, to get into the habit of taking on too much ‰- doing too much at any given time. When you know your purpose, you can select the most important things, the things that will have the most impact on delivering on that purpose, and do them with your full attention and effectiveness.

Reputation, trust and differentiation

The companies we work with are amazing ‰- but there is unfortunately a general lack of trust in Corporate America that is painting some of these businesses unfairly. If they are able to clearly show what they’re really committed to ‰- what value they contribute to the world, every day ‰- they can overcome reputation issues and at the same time really differentiate themselves.

Purpose is being talked about a lot these days because when it works ‰- when leadership is truly committed to it and when employees believe in it and act it out ‰- it makes any business more effective and more meaningful. What we hope is that the purpose conversation will go beyond talk, and that companies will commit to the collaborative process of rediscovering and communicating their purpose.

We understand that this process isn’t easy because we’re continually going through it ourselves, shaping our company into the kind of organization we have to be to support purposeful work. We’re bringing in Savage Thinkers ‰- smart, inquisitive people who really listen and bring a fresh perspective. We’re rethinking our relationships with clients so that they’re closer, more like partnerships. And we’re constantly seeing with new eyes the value we provide to our clients and the impact our work can have on their companies.

I feel a lot of empathy for our clients as they go through this process of reshaping their focus and their culture. It’s very hard. As a leader, you see the vision so clearly, and it seems obvious to you why people should believe in it, how the culture should support it, what the priorities should be ‰- but bringing all your people along can be a real challenge.

But we promise it’s worth it.