A paradigm shift

There was a time when brand reputation (e.g., L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble) alone attracted top profiles. Around the 2010s, startups counterbalanced that with perks and ways of working inspired by Big Tech, drawing in graduates.

Over the last five years, mission‑driven companies—social or environmental—have become especially attractive, as Challenges.fr explains. This is a positive sign:

• The purpose of a company is not only profit; it should deliver a positive impact on society.
• Founders are increasingly building mission‑oriented projects. For instance, the number of startups offering corporate carbon assessments has surged.

Every company has a place

Not every company’s mission is to save the planet.
At the Rencontres Économiques in Aix‑en‑Provence, Alexandre Bompard, Carrefour’s CEO, gave a striking speech about Carrefour’s mission: “I’d love to wake up every morning thinking I’ll save the planet. But that’s not my role. My vocation is to create value.”
This responds to the trend of companies publicly adopting “mission‑driven” status (see the French legal label). He criticizes how the label can be granted too easily, enabling greenwashing.

Not every company should provide meaning in employees’ lives.
As Albert Moukheiber told L’Echo: “What matters is leaving room so work doesn’t define our meaning—the meaning of our life.” Otherwise it can drift into paternalism.
He describes a race among companies to address everything—from mental health to philosophical questions about life’s meaning for employees.

How should I communicate about my company?

Whatever your vocation, communicate your raison d’être—the “why.” It’s frustrating for employees not to know why they work long hours: what’s the end goal? What impact does their work have?

Sébastien Couasnon interviewed Alex Bouaziz, founder of decacorn Deel, who summed up Deel’s mission: “Enable hundreds of millions of people to work for the best companies, regardless of where they’re from.”

Ask yourself about the narrative of your product, the deep problem you solve, and the impact of your solution on users’ daily lives. TechCrunch’s guidance can help: communicate less about features, more about your story.