‘The Purpose, Ethics & Brand Issue’
Salmon. That’s right: salmon. The well-known finned fish – that sometimes lives in fresh water, sometimes lives in ocean water, and is well known, in food culture circles, as being a constituent part of sushi, a decent, if not slightly fancy, addition to scrambled eggs and a luxury mix-in to some pasta dishes (did someone say salmon, crème fraiche and rigatoni!) – is actually something that HR practitioners, we think, might want to pay a little attention to.
Whilst many might think has HR Grapevine lost the plot a little bit, hear us out. It’s all to do with their lifecycle. Freshwater salmon spawn in the upper reaches of rivers, travelling downstream in their adult lives to live out at sea. In the latter period of their life they travel back to the natal river – their sole purpose – to spawn new salmon and die. A, this word again, purposeful journey fraught with danger and difficulty – requiring swimming against the flow of the river and dodging grizzly bears, as well as fisherman – to ensure new life begins again.
Now, HR Grapevine isn’t suggesting that people practitioners head to their nearest river and try and swim against the current, but we do think that the purposeful drive of salmon to ensure the next generation get a fighting chance is something that HR is increasingly going to be tasked with thinking about. Climate changes, societal inequalities and ethical practise are now all key people agenda points and it’s often HR who find themselves having to present these ideas to the Board or figuring out how business practise impacts the company brand and the workforce itself. This issue focuses on how these areas interplay, looking at the people and HR lessons within – with key insights from Quorn, Metro Bank and John Lewis inside.
As ever, stay safe and enjoy.
Daniel Cave - Head of Content
