Purpose and the employee

WHAT IS THE meaning of mayonnaise? For , a consumer-goods giant whose products are all meant to stand for something, the purpose of its Hellmann’s brand is to reduce food waste by making leftovers tasty. For Terry Smith, a fund manager fed up with Unilever’s dipping share price, this is crazy. “The Hellmann’s brand has existed since 1913,” he wrote earlier this month. “So we would guess that by now consumers have figured out its purpose (spoiler alert—salads and sandwiches).”Mr Smith’s concern is the financial performance of Unilever (in the face of investor disquiet, the firm is now planning management cuts and an overhaul of its operating model). But his underlying point, that doing the obvious job well can be purpose enough, is one that has much wider application. For it is true of colleagues as well as condiments.