Purnaa’s 5 Core Values
by Mitch Kraft
When someone has a clear objective and direction in life, they can be a very powerful agent for change in the world. At Purnaa, our mission statement is, “To provide world-class, ethical manufacturing which empowers marginalized people and survivors of exploitation to fresh starts and fulfilled lives.” We believe in this statement, and we live it out by focusing on our five core values. We strive to implement love, excellence, beauty, integrity, and justice into our business and lives. These values affect all that we do at Purnaa.
Since working at Purnaa I have seen all of these values active in the lives of our employees and how we do business. The staff at Purnaa are inspiring to me, as they pursue fresh starts that employment can provide. Here are some ways I have seen the community of Purnaa demonstrates our values.
Love
Love, as defined by Purnaa, is choosing what is best for the other person and treating them how we would want to be treated. This might be one of the easiest values to be seen enacted at Purnaa. In a country where the community is so important, the staff at Purnaa have created an additional community for themselves at work. It is common to hear about an employee helping another employee. Whether that be in the small things of moving a box when it is not one’s job or explaining directions patiently to someone, or larger things like helping with doctor bills or checking in on someone who is sick, love is alive and well at Purnaa.
Excellence
Purnaa believes that excellence should be a part of one’s whole life, at work and at home. We strive to keep improving even in small things. Recently I have seen many hard, complicated processes become documented and refined to give our customers a top-notch working experience. Purnaa’s customer service is some of the best I have seen. Purnaa’s staff have implemented this value in their lives as well, as some have learned how to budget or taken extra classes to better themselves and their families. Several staff members have learned how to drive while working with us. This can be very impactful for a family, as a scooter or motorcycle can cut travel time to work in half, giving them an hour or more at home with their families each day.
Beauty
We foster beauty in our products, our workplace, our staff, and our environment. Although we focus on many areas of beauty, it is the beauty in our staff that has the most impact on me. It is a beautiful thing to see someone who had little to no hope for future change when given a job that brings dignity and stability. I have heard many times from staff in the last few months that their job at Purnaa came just at the right time, giving them hope, preventing them from doing something risky, and bringing more respect from their communities. I think the most beautiful thing I have heard and seen at Purnaa was in the social impact survey we take every year to ensure we are completing our social objectives. We have seen through quotes and observations that after about 2 years of working at Purnaa many staff are switching from being the ones that need help to being able and eager to help others. I have seen this transformation happen even quicker in the last 6 months with several new hires being willing and eager to help fellow friends out with hospital bills and being a good friend in difficult times.
