It’s Not Too Late To Be A Social Impact Pioneer

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When to build your social impact strategy

Have you ever relaxed next to a roaring waterfall and wondered, “How can I ensure this stays wild?”

Or picked up your child from daycare and thought, “What can I do to strengthen the community that takes care of my child?”

Or perhaps, while crafting your message for the employee all-hands, considered, “How do I guarantee no stakeholder is left behind?”

We can all make a difference, in our own ways, to create the environments, communities, and systems that we want to see. Whether you’re a founder, CFO, board member, or the unofficial rainbow-unicorn-social-impact-pioneer in your office, you have even more tools to make a difference through your employees, your brand influence, or some other super power that your business has developed. And with these tools comes the expectation that you will find a way to make a difference.

So let’s help you figure out how you’re going to make a difference. Close your eyes and take a minute to step back and ask yourself: “What drives me to take action on ESG issues?” The answer to this reflection will help form the backbone of your approach to these sometimes complicated and confusing topics. You are most likely already doing something in your day-to-day that contributes to the greater good, so start by looking there. We’ll get into the how in future posts but for now let’s focus on the why and the when. Ready?

Today we’ll answer two basic questions:

Why should you care about social impact early in your company’s trajectory?

When should you formalize your social impact strategy?

Why should you care about social impact early in your company’s trajectory?

1. Resiliency and Reputation

One of the main reasons to start this work early on in the trajectory of a company is because you will have built a reputation to fall back on in times of duress or challenge (and we all know we’ve been weathering a lot of these over the past few years!). Let’s make performative allyship a thing of the past and double down on giving a sh#t. By taking a stand and being authentic in what you as the founder (or the founders’ trusted team) stand for, you will build resilience for yourself and reputation for your company. So, if you do make a mistake (and we all know we will), you will have a reputation to fall back on, and navigating challenges will be much easier.

Furthermore, it is vital for leaders to think about themselves as one and the same as the brand they’re building. Let’s come back to your thought experiment and start there. What are the areas that you care about personally? How can you incorporate what your employees care about into the plan? And what’s the story you’re crafting for yourself and your company? If you’re ready to start building brand reputation right away, don’t be shy—shout it from the rooftops! Or just get in touch.

2. Recruitment and Retention

We all know that hiring top talent is vicious right now. If you’re looking for an immediate return on investment on ESG activities, look no further: it’s recruitment and retention of top talent. When people work for a company that shares their values and cares about the same things they do, they are 87 percent less likely to leave. Whether this be allowing remote work, offering ways to give back with their money and time, or providing parental leave, employees are demanding a workplace that aligns with their values. And you’d better believe if you aren’t walking the walk on diversity, equity, and inclusion, you’ve tripped and fallen behind. Planning for growth in a sustainable and organized way is the best thing you can do for your overall company culture and brand vision.

3. Community-Building

Companies that have a proven record of investing in the communities where they operate are more likely to succeed; doing so creates social cohesion internally and externally. We see this with brands such as Sama and The Home Depot. Sama creates change by providing jobs across the globe, whereas The Home Depot uses their foundation as a mechanism to support the communities where employees live and work. There are many ways you can contribute to your community that involve leveraging your core competency and a variety of resources and programs. Showing up for your community builds brand advocates, brand awareness, and authentic connections. And if you need to brainstorm ideas, our hotline is always open. Because, as the From Day One conference suggests: “Corporations need to look a decade ahead to stay ahead. Any company that wants to be aligned with the future can’t avoid addressing human rights, animal rights, government actors, health care, sustainability, and the environment.” In other words: think global, act local, and don’t be a jerk.

4. Funding

In a recent meeting with a CEO, we asked, “Why do you want to formalize your social impact program?” He replied, “The cost of capital.” Simply put, doing the work to implement a successful and effective social impact/ESG/sustainability culture reduces risk, thereby reducing the cost of raising capital. And with the capital markets tightening due to Fed rate increases, it‘s suddenly become a very competitive market. In addition, you’ll attract a wider pool of investors and be better prepared to respond to activist investors. Because your values are aligned, they will understand why you consider the greater stakeholder perspective when making decisions about the business, and will possibly afford you a longer time horizon for returns. The right investors help you focus on the right goals. What a concept!

So, when should you formalize your social impact strategy?

Thirty minutes ago. Yesterday. As soon as possible. No, seriously! We know you have a lot going on right now, but if you’re reading this, you’re clearly serious about implementing change and creating social impact. If not now…when?

Do it:

Before you start feeling the stress of scaling headcount.

Before you start feeling the stress of scaling up the number of customers.

As you’re raising money from investors who are more aligned with your values.

While you’re preserving and promoting the culture that you’ve crafted thus far.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to all the benchmarking, metrics-tracking, and systems-building. But first you have to figure out which backbone you’re establishing as well as what is important in your organization and to whom?

And this has to start at the top. Even if you don’t intend to run a “top down” organization, for better or worse, everyone at your company is looking for leadership. For example the team at PagerDuty led by CEO Jennifer Tejada and VP, Global Social Impact & ESG, Olivia Khalil released their second Impact Report, which for the first time combines ESG, CSR, and DEI. This is a good example of a report that establishes metrics, and illustrates what they know and what they don’t know as they begin this journey. This may sound overwhelming, but that’s why we’re here for you.

If you’re ready to get started with your own social impact program, or tune up one that is already running, let’s talk! Whether it be a 30-minute consultation (free!) or the full-fledged plan, we can accommodate your needs and work within your budget. So, exhale, put on your pioneer hat of choice, and let’s create impact!