Creating and Measuring Purpose at Viega

At its headquarters in Attendorn, Germany, Viega’s chairwoman Anna Viegener gathered the company’s leadership team to discuss their progress on formalizing purpose-driven leadership as a strategic driver within the organization. Viega manufactured and distributed plumbing, heating, and pipe-joining systems, and had been experiencing rapid growth and financial success during the past decades. Annual sales had doubled in 10 years, and the company had expanded its international presence to include offices around the globe. Still, with growth came an evolution in management and concerns about the ability of executives to instill in employees the values that had been key to the company’s success since its founding by Anna and Walter’s family in 1899. They wondered how they could continue cultivating the company’s purpose: Installing lifelines for the buildings of tomorrow. To do so, Viegener developed a measurement system to quantify managers’ adherence to the company’s purpose and values, with plans to tie managers’ bonuses to this values-based measure.