Month: July 2021

Mieke Evans

Often we see established brands incorporate ‘good’ into their corporate strategies, which is great to see and of huge significance. There is immense pressure for brands to deliver social impact in their daily operations, but this should be more than a PR exercise, it needs to be genuine and built in from the core of the organisation.

Today’s customers, and Millennials and Gen Z specifically, now have an expectation for businesses to have stances on social or political issues. A report highlighted that, doing nothing purposeful with your work will leave you tailing behind and open to criticism.

But wouldn’t it be easier if ‘doing good’ was more than just a bolt on, and a brand kicked-off with purpose from the get-go? It’s crucial for brands to figure out their purpose from the offset. As a new brand you have a unique opportunity to embed your purpose from the beginning. You can do that, by asking yourself these important questions:

1. What do you want to be known for in years to come?
2. What’s important to you, your team and crucially, your customers?
3. What local, regional or national issues exist within the areas you operate and how do you think can help overcome these?
4. Are there personal stories of interest within your team that you want to raise awareness of, like inequality, mental health, exclusion? If so, how might these help drive positive change?
5. What can you do within your products and services to have a positive difference on society? e.g. using less water when creating products or only working with suppliers who support similar values to you

Teamwork makes the dreamwork

Once you have answered the above questions, you can then develop your organisational values – but the key is to take on a collaborative approach, with your team, to help you understand what you stand for, your purpose and what positive impact you can have on your communities.

Once you have, these values should be integrated into how you operate, from recruitment to retention, and your day-to-day operations.

Authenticity is key. So, ask your team what they want, what change they want to see and how they can support. This enables you the chance to create a culture of openness and transparency, so your team feel safe to speak up, particularly if the issues you are trying to combat have personal connections to them. Ask the senior team to also speak up; a CEO sharing their personal story of a challenge is a powerful message to show that vulnerability is OK and often, others follow suit.

Keep it simple

Don’t complicate matters. Give it the time and consideration it deserves.

Pick one or two things that really stand out, and that you know you can commit to investing time, money and resources into over several years to really make change. These things will have come from your collaboration and thoughts prior to this step.

Remember that there are so many issues out there in the world and you can’t fix them all.

You may have lots of ideas for your purpose but work tirelessly to strip it back and really figure out what you want to focus your efforts on and then make a plan for how you can continually bring this to life.

Doing it, and doing it right, can result in huge financial reward for any business, too. A Neilson report found that those who do it well can look to gain far more from sponsorship, 11% more, which must surely help win boardroom support over and above the fact it’s ‘good to improve the world’.

The Journey

The journey is as important as the destination. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, it could take several years, or longer to achieve lasting impact. The process you go through is an important part of it as your organisation may well need to change internally before you can begin to make an impact externally.

The world is constantly in a period of flux, it’s unpredictable and ‘doing good’ can lead an organisation to having to be flexible around the needs of their team, customers, and all stakeholders.

As a business, you have a crucial role to play in supporting some of the world’s most complex issues, in and around your communities. Companies must go above and beyond just making statements, to actually making positive and lasting impact.

Pete Fitzboydon

Now, more than ever, being a responsible business matters.

The support that companies have offered during the pandemic to their employees, the public and those most vulnerable speaks volumes. Those who acted responsibly are best positioned to flourish on the other side of this crisis. 

There is a growing obligation for businesses to incorporate supporting communities into their business plans. 

Why? Because humanity has become more in tune with our individual and collective responsibility to the planet and its communities, undoubtedly accelerated by the pandemic. Businesses are no different. What a business stands for – its values, its integrity, its authenticity, and therefore its connection to the people and communities they serve – has become inseparable from their brand image.

COVID-19 has accelerated the erosion of trust around the world. There is a global crisis of leadership, epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world. Edleman’s study showed that businesses are trusted and when government is perceived as being absent, people expect business to step in, and address and solve today’s challenges.

The stakes are high. How can businesses manage the expectation?

Businesses both have a growing responsibility to show to their customers that what they are doing has a clear positive impact on something or someone, and not purely profiting for the benefit of their shareholders. 

Part of this growing responsibility has come to light because of global disasters, the loss of human life because of systemic inequality, or the realisation that we are in a race to protect our planet from irreversible harm. 

It has also stemmed out of the growing demand from customers and the public; for businesses to put social consciousness on a par with profits. 

Sport and physical activity are becoming some of the most popular avenues to deliver social responsibility. Not for the sake of sport per se, but due to its unique abilities to bring about change. Sport is a universal language that can be used to work on systemic issues like racism, social mobility, and poverty with incredible effectiveness. 

How can sport benefit communities?

Sport has enormous power to positively benefit both individuals and the communities. 

At thinkBeyond, we have seen first-hand the power of sport to divert young people away from being involved in gangs and serious youth violence, and instead, into sports programmes. What’s more, these young people themselves become role models within their communities, mentoring other young people away from crime and into a better life they deserve. 

We have seen other examples of former athletes talk about their mental health challenges on topics like self-harm, suicide and depression, and instead use this turmoil to help businesses develop mental health programmes that help millions during COVID-19. 

The potential is endless, limited only my imagination, and thanks to its reach and ability to engage people it can have profoundly positive effects on people and the communities that more traditional interventions simply can’t match.

How can businesses integrate sport for social good into their corporate strategies?

This, of course, will vary from business to business as it depends on their objectives, the type of work they do, and the values under which they operate. 

However, all businesses should start by exploring their values, and using them as a foundation to build a socially good strategy that might work for them. Examine challenges in the communities around you and those you serve, business challenges you are facing and identify ways to utilise sport and its reach to combat those issues.

For example, a business that prides itself in connectivity might want to use sport to bring people from different backgrounds together, to build bridges and social bonds. 

For anyone doubting the significance of why they should do this, there are countless benefits for businesses, including:

•    Brand recognition and reputation are by-products of your social good work. 
•    A greater ability to attract and retain talent because of operating in a socially conscious way. 

In direct response to implementing these strategies, we often see businesses become more creative in their thinking and operations along the way, as well as increases in their profitability. Whilst some businesses might be scared about upfront costs associated with working in a socially conscious way, those that do this work long term absolutely see the financial benefits in the long run. 

Why now?

COVID-19 has presented businesses with challenge after challenge to work through – and at all levels. But what we have also seen is that it has opened up the opportunity to think differently, consider what their businesses are doing and most importantly; how and why. 

Organisations are completely transforming overnight, with many taking a stand on systemic issues like never before. A lot of the time, this change has derived from demand from customers and employees.

The coronavirus pandemic has also exacerbated the mental health and physical activity crisis like never seen before, with 65% of Brits saying that the past 12 months have damaged their mental health. Far too often we see companies hide away from the sensitivities of topics like mental health. But they are so important, and the demand is increasing to get involved. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises that sport and physical activity have a direct benefit for “hearts, bodies and minds”, whilst “physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety.”  

Sport, health and wellbeing will come back even stronger, and with even more of a spotlight on it, as it continues to prove its worth for people and communities, and that presents unrivalled opportunities for like-minded businesses.