B4PN Weekly Announcement
Update #3 — December 4, 2020
1.0 Coffee with Purpose. Following on the heels of other popular series like Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Philip Haid of Public Inc has a new podcast (this is episode 3) on YouTube. Public Inc. | Coffee With Purpose ft. Mike Masserman Philip and the team at Public are doing amazing things in the Profit with Purpose space — check them out.
2.0 December 2, 2020 McKinsey Live event on Purpose vs PR: how business can find meaning in the COVID-19 era. Laura Schnurr attended and shares some highlights from this webinar with senior partners Dame Vivian Hunt and Bruce Simpson.
Importance of moving from theory to action. From purpose statement to purpose narrative. Stats were shared around the gap between how people view the purpose of the corporation and what it should be vs perceived reality (see first screenshot below)
Business for purpose has reached tipping point in 2020 due to Covid
Creating an authentic purpose narrative (see second screenshot):
— Need to explore a company’s heritage and their unique contribution and superpower (and how it intersects with society) to identify purpose.
— Need to pass the authenticity test. Make purpose part of your DNA and THEN talk about it.
5 steps to embedding purpose into your business:
— Portfolio strategy & product: Redefine product portfolio, revise pricing in line with purpose, review portfolio and test purposefulness of individual assets against common criteria. Can be about stopping to do certain things (negative screen)
— People and culture: e.g. recruiting
— Processes and systems: e.g., changing payment terms to suppliers to pay them sooner
— Performance metrics: Example of Shell and their plan for net carbon zero over 5 years, linked to pay of execs and eventually all employees
— Positions and engagement: Affiliations, public statements/comms
Acknowledgement of mistakes made at McKinsey/recent criticism. They are working on client selection criteria.
3.0 Member News
1. Imagine Canada — The State of the Sector: A Look Ahead to 2021. Here is the link to this one hour webinar hosted this week by CharityVillage and moderated by Bruce MacDonald of Imagine Canada. Some great insights on corporate community collaborations and other discussion on trends and predictions on what is happening in the NFP sector.
2. MaRS Impact Week (MIW) discussion with Global Canada on their new report (release scheduled for later in January — stay tuned) entitled: Canadian Voices on the Role of Business in Society. The panel was very well received and my gratitude to B4PN members Robert Greenhill and Brian Gallant for sharing their preliminary findings with this group and on getting us some much needed Canadian data.
All CEOs are deeply aware of global challenges and the potential impact on their businesses — they understand their need for a social licence to operate; Employee are major drivers of the move to purpose — other stakeholders, less so; Many CEO’s expressed concern about their legacy; Unfortunately, there was no indication of a sense of urgency to address our collective challenges
Discussion:
· If the business case for putting purpose at the core of their work is understood, what’s stopping them? A lack of imagination; Stuck in legacy processes (focus on short termism — a theme that came up in many MIW sessions); Lack of peer pressure; And while they are under increasing pressure from many different types of stakeholders — shareholder dominance remains
· What does business need to do? Focus on purpose due to the multiple bottom line opportunities; Make a collective statement (beyond the BRT words); Communicate back to Canadians on how we are advancing the SDGs; Form partnerships across sectors; and Connect into global initiatives
