Why The Most Innovative Companies Have A Social Conscience

Doing well and doing good aren't mutually exclusive

Today, more than 90% of graduates say they’d take a pay cut to work at a company that values social impact. This is a sea change. Twenty years ago, college students were clamoring for banking or consulting jobs. Now they’re increasingly seeking fulfillment over paydays.

 

Of course, having a social conscience shouldn’t be a priority just because millennials -- who’ll make up half the workforce by 2020 -- are asking for it. It’s worthwhile because it makes sense: companies are in a unique position to actually deliver on it, given the cascading impact of their decisions onto consumers and other stakeholders.
 
Consider Nike’s recent campaign with Colin Kaepernick, wading into a sensitive topic to raise its voice on equality through sports. Or Starbucks, which nominally sells coffee but considers its role as a conduit for positive social dialogue. For every Tom’s Shoes and Warby Parker, whose businesses embed a social good  -- buy 1, give 1 away -- there are others looking up and down their supply chain or core business for opportunities to speak up.
 
At Knotel, a real estate technology startup, we made the decision to offer equity to everyone. There’s no small role here. Additionally, we’re outspoken on a set of issues that impact our staff and members, including immigration reform and recruiting from formerly incarcerated and refugee backgrounds. We also look at how we build, design, and operate offices to align our processes with our values.
 
Not making a choice is actually a choice, and leadership teams would be wise to develop a point of view and how ties to their business. A good starting point is empowering HR teams to have a seat at the table. A strong function can help stitch together business KPIs and impact opportunities by shaping values. These become north stars for evaluating employee performance and business relevance around the question: “are we living into our mission?”
 
There are multiple ways to measure success -- a diverse and engaged workforce; a social conscious supply chain; a relationship to communities; and so on -- all underscoring the idea that the organization does not take this responsibility lightly. “Doing well and also doing good” suggests a tension that must be overcome, as if thoughtfulness bleeds the bottom line. Look no further than Blackrock, the world’s asset manager, for a rejection of this binary: when done well, business and impact should fuel one another.
 
Some ideas, then, of how to operationalize:
 

 
Businesses need to have an eye on our bottom line, but also recognize that they have important choices to make that will affect their talent, culture and our communities. The most successful companies, increasingly, recognize that these values are core to who they are and will never be left as an afterthought.