“You don't need to be a corporate giant
with hundreds of thousands of contacts
and clients. From SMEs to individuals,
we all have networks we can tap into
to help us amplify the good.”
Part Three: Chapter 17
Weconomy Impact Engineering, Step Three: Engage Your Networks
By Craig Kielburger
Power to the people: Leverage your networks for big impacts
From C-suite to mud hut, it was a serious skills swap: a lesson in small business management delivered by one of the world's top accountants, in exchange for a demonstration on cooking chapati from a woman who wanted to sell her snacks.
Inside a small dwelling in the village of Udawad in northern India, Bill Thomas, now chairman of KPMG International, watched Ganeshi Bai, a shy amateur cook, expertly shape dough into a ball before flattening it on a round pan that rested over an open fire. She motioned to him to try. As Thomas leaned in, so did those around him, including junior accountants, middle managers, their accompanying family members, and several curious goats. As Thomas pancaked the dough, his would-be chapati crumbled. Bai whispered to the translator that he would never get married with those culinary skills. When she learned Thomas's wife was actually there, she turned to her and empathetically quipped, “How unfortunate for you.”
The cooking lesson over, they got down to business. Or more precisely, to questions about business and how to scale. Bai had many questions. How do you get the best price for flour? If other women also sell chapatis, will it saturate the market and drive down prices? Should she diversify, embrace technology, invest in a cellphone, and charge others who want to use it?
Watch Thomas make the link between business and development: Click for video
For Thomas, who at the time was CEO of KPMG Canada and typically worked on multi-million- or multi-billion-dollar government audits and the acquisition of large corporations, this was small potatoes, er, chapatis. Cross-legged on the floor, he kindly gave his best advice.
Community engagement is considered a core competency at KPMG, alongside team leadership and building client relationships. Thomas went above and beyond to exemplify those values to his team during a ME to WE trip to northern India, the farthest leg on the company's long journey with us to boost team values and satisfaction.
Watch highlights from a ME to WE trip to India to see what the group experienced: Click for video
KPMG, one of the “Big Four” professional services networks in the world, performs scrupulous audits for major corporations, organizations, and governments (the firm certified the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1994).1 It measures complex data and scrutinizes the tiniest of details in financial deals. So, several years ago when they asked us to a meeting to discuss a partnership, we arrived equipped with piles of metrics and third-party studies to show the impact of our domestic and international programming. “Quantifiable data only” had been our mantra.
When I finished, the executives in the room exchanged knowing glances.
“We're in. But for more than the reasons you just mentioned.”
To my pleasant surprise, they had brought us in, in part, to help with staff engagement. Of course, social change was the primary goal of the charity partnership. Toward that outcome, KPMG had already researched and approved of our impact model and organizational efficiency—those requirements were table-stakes, and passing that muster got us through the door to deliver our pitch. They were seeking more from a full charity partnership, a way to meaningfully engage KPMG partners, staff, clients, and loved ones. KPMG wanted to create volunteer experiences for their employees and their families. In this case, the cause and action plan fulfilled an HR objective.
90 percent of partners reported that the purpose plan increased their sense of pride for KPMG.2
The firm wanted a plan that would speak to its 180,000 people worldwide—executives, midlevel management, and junior associates. Like any big organization, KPMG has distinct layers: a one-size-fits-all approach would not work for the team, let alone its massive network of contacts, clients, suppliers, and families. In such a large company, there were so many diverse talents and interests, a virtual army of caring people ready and eager to help a good cause. So together we tailored a strategy to fit each tier. Every large company has an existing HR system for amplification, engagement, and recognition. A good purpose plan or partnership leverages all of those resources to amplify the good, giving employees the chance to find more meaning at work.
Now that you have your cause and an action plan, it's time to look at the third phase of WEconomy Impact Engineering: Engage Your Networks. Whether you are the CEO rallying the company, or a team member approaching coworkers and stakeholders with your action plan, we'll help you recruit. Use our engagement blueprint to come up with a plan to amplify your internal cause, or give it to your partner charity to execute.
With KPMG serving as our corporate model, we'll start with a plan for employees or colleagues, then we'll move on to customers, suppliers, business partners, and the wider community. We'll consider case studies and examples that offer lessons for any situation.
Let's first consider how to customize engagement for team members based on their position at the office. You don't need to be a corporate giant with hundreds of thousands of contacts and clients. From SMEs to individuals, we all have networks we can tap into to help us amplify the good. If you have a small workplace with flat management, you can pick and choose which level of involvement you seek. You could cut your pyramid into different layers, but for the sake of ease, these are the most common structures for medium and large businesses and how to best engage each team in a corporate social mission.
Catering to each group with unique volunteer or campaign opportunities ensures that everyone participates to help the cause, which lends human capital, but also staying power. An action plan executed at every level is much more effective than one managed from the top down. Get your whole team invested in purpose; consider what suits them best and what will encourage them to be most involved.
Employee Engagement by the Tier: A Pyramid
C-Suite
Wants and Needs
CEOs have control over capital, internal influence, and wide networks, but they have very little time. Executives are not going to read through fundraising campaign kits and offer detailed instructions to staff. They want high-touch: customized delivery options that leverage their unique ability to shine a spotlight within the company. Executives are role models for the entire team and ambassadors for the brand.
KPMG Cause Commitment
Lynne Doughtie, U.S. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KPMG, joined us as co-chair for WE Day UN in 2017. One of Doughtie's passions is women's empowerment; she joined Liberian President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to address 6,000 student leaders attending WE Day UN at New York City's iconic Madison Square Garden Theater. Throughout the year, Doughtie leveraged her scarce free time to provide WE Charity with advice and guidance on growing its presence in New York City. She also hosted information sessions for prospective supporters to achieve the same goal. Doughtie shared messages among her fellow partners and staff to rally volunteers from KPMG to join in the year-long WE Schools service programs and WE Day stadium celebration.
See a clip of Doughtie on the WE Day stage: Click for video
Mid-Level Management
Wants and Needs
Mid-level executives manage and motivate teams. They have a bit more time, but not loads of it, and it's more difficult for them to leave the office for a purpose project, having more direct reports than top management. They want moderate touch: customized offerings and tools to incentivize that they can easily distribute to teams within the office. This group is also keen for more one-on-one time with clients. And every group, from the top down, wants to spend more time with their families.
KPMG Cause Commitment
KPMG hosted WE Family workshops at offices throughout North America to enable participants to create a customized family action plan. These sessions are held in the office, on lunch or after hours to ease planning and lesson time commitments. KPMG staff and their families join clients along with their own families for a unique bonding opportunity unrelated to work. Experienced facilitators help each family design a personalized action plan to make change on an issue they care about most. Staff often stay involved outside the office when they find and help a personal cause. The chance to leave a legacy as a family motivates more actions on weekends and evenings, getting more people working for good on their own time.
Starting Staff and Associates
Wants and Needs
This team has more time to volunteer on an ongoing basis. Resources can involve less customization but must have a tangible and profound connection to the cause. Every employee is seeking more meaning at work, hoping to clock in for a company that cares to engage their values. This group has a bit more time to read a pamphlet or fundraising kit, especially if it is tied to career-building incentives. The expectation is that the steps are still simple, though not hand-delivered as with the executives.
KPMG Cause Commitment
Many KPMG employees are involved with our service campaigns, including WE Read Together. Staff read to students and run other literacy workshops in at-risk schools, where much of the student population comes from low-income families. This partnership was a natural extension of KPMG's Family for Literacy program, a larger initiative that involves regular book drives and donations. Since the program's launch, KPMG has donated three million books to kids across America.
WE helped KPMG develop an action plan that got employees even more revved up about the company leadership in the cause of literacy. That passion helped generate more social impact. With KPMG's support, more than 3,800 U.S. schools received free resources with the service campaign WE Read Together, which encourages older students and volunteers to read to younger peers. At one WE Day event, KPMG donated 20,000 books to Los Angeles–area schools—one book in honor of every student in attendance. Donations were linked to a hashtag #TheBookThat, which garnered 11.3 million social media impressions, in large part because engaged staff used their own social platforms to discuss the importance of literacy, tweet about their favorite books, and get their own personal networks involved. As is evident at KPMG, workers on every tier will appreciate more meaningful time to connect to a cause, facilitated by the office.
“With great purpose and passion, we apply our collective skills to improve our communities, drive inclusion and diversity, develop next-generation leaders, and advance environmental sustainability.”
—Lynne Doughtie, U.S. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KPMG
For managers, there is an additional opportunity to use purpose as an incentive tool.
Frontline Worker Incentives: Purpose Can Increase Productivity
Klick Health is a digital marketing agency with big pharma clients. Headquartered in Toronto, the company offers custom web development, e-learning modules, and other training resources with a team of 450 across North America. Rather than bill by the hour, Klick tracks projects. The idea is to avoid low-performers meandering, taking frequent trips to the water cooler or to Facebook, and generally running out the clock. With these potential distractions, one hour is not an equal amount of work for everyone. Instead, the agency calculated the average number of hours it would take a mid-level performer to complete any given task. Let's say that it takes 100 hours to build a website (this is my estimate; I don't know how to code). That is the amount of time allotted to the team to complete the project. Of course, managers and client representatives ensure efficiencies and keep everyone on task.
That left a problem. High performers can wind up doing more projects at a faster rate of completion, all for the same pay per project as average performers. There's no financial incentive to work at peak performance and finish early. Like many offices, Klick offers opportunities for annual bonuses and the occasional promotion. These larger incentive tools are more expensive, and delivered less frequently. Klick needed a daily motivator that was relatively less expensive, but still meaningful recognition for top staff. The company devised a solution for those who finished a 100-hour project in 80 hours, or anything under the benchmark time. Employees bank the difference—in this case, 20 hours—to save up “Klick dollars,” which are redeemed as donations to a charity of their choice, including ours. In short: Employees can purchase social impact with their banked time. Efficiency is directly linked to the incentive of helping a good cause.
Bake Purpose Into Your Staff Experience
Include your cause in:
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Onboarding materials and training |
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Mentorship systems that use your team's skills for good |
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Mission statements |
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Public materials, including websites and annual reports |
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Internal surveys to seek ideas for improvement |
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Incentives and awards that offer public recognition for purpose-engaged staff |
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Quarterly reviews to assess the intervention then pivot, if necessary |
You don't have to implement a complex, specific, or long-term system to reward positive actions with a charitable connection. You might offer top performers the chance to make a donation to their favorite charity, or offer them an additional paid day off to volunteer.
For Klick, what started as a solution to an efficiency problem also led to increased employee engagement as staff became more involved with various charities. The program increased the team's connection to the local community, and to service. It also helps with recruitment and keeps staff morale high. And, the company told us that top performers have increased productivity even further.
External Networks: Customer Engagement
Doing good is made better when everybody knows how to get involved. You already have a marketing budget; make sure some of it is earmarked as a platform for your cause. Standard cause-marketing is a company trying to flaunt that it's doing good. Even better, now companies are starting to treat ads like an engagement plan to involve customers in their mission, inviting customers to take specific actions to create change.
Many big businesses use awareness campaigns to promote better health and safety practices, or green habits to protect the environment. At H&M, shoppers can offload outdated fashions—no matter what brand or condition—in exchange for a discount on future purchases. Old material is upcycled into new creations or donated to charity. The retail giant connects with customers over the message to recycle and reclaim. Of course, the next time they do buy new, they'll probably do so with their discount code at H&M. Similarly, many electronics retailers offer cell phone upgrades when you return old hardware.
Perhaps the most drastic example of an about-face from product- to values-based marketing is beer commercials. Once known to flaunt bad decisions and debauchery on TV, brewers now send out pleas: “Moderate Drinkers Wanted,” says one ad for Heineken. Industries from beverage makers to comms companies are now acting as agents for self-regulation, asking consumers to be more responsible.
In the age of digital distractions, texting and driving is a huge threat to public safety. Every day in the U.S., eight people die in crashes reported to involve distracted drivers.3 Dallas-based communications giant AT&T started the It Can Wait campaign in 2010 to discourage people from driving while otherwise occupied. Part of the campaign is an online pledge, signed by users who promise not to text and drive. Internal research shows the program is building momentum, with more than half of AT&T survey respondents saying they honor the pledge and no longer use their smartphones while driving.4 A telecommunications company helped to thwart dangerous behavior. And it used more aspects of the business to support this change. A free, downloadable app developed by AT&T, called DriveMode, will silence cell phone alerts and send automatic replies that the user is on the road. These are big commitments involving ad budgets and mobile app development, all for an issue that isn't directly related to increasing subscriber rates. Instead, these efforts influence the choices people make that relate to a cause. Marketing functions are huge machines meant to drive certain actions. Use those powers to reach a wider audience for good.
In many cases, inviting customers to join you in positive actions can also serve a business goal. Wise companies know it's important to be recognized as good corporate citizens. They also know how to identify and dodge potential threats. Texting while driving is already banned in most U.S. states, but can you imagine the implications for telecom providers if, say, the law banned cell phones in cars altogether? Instead of silencing phones on car trips, people would have to store them in trunks or stop traveling with them altogether, and usage would drop drastically. For a telecommunications conglomerate, it makes more sense to get ahead of this issue than to be regulated. Awareness and positive behavior are in the company's best interest.
Supplier Relations
We've said it before: no company is an island. Every business feeds on a complex network of environmental and social factors to keep running. Part of that ecosystem extends to other companies in the food chain. An organization might work with hundreds, if not thousands of other companies, sourcing and selling, depending on its size. Why not tap into that sphere of influence for a good cause? Any company can engage its network of suppliers, from small companies sourcing fair-trade coffee beans for the break room to large retailers moving the needle in an entire industry. Business-to-business purchases that are socially responsible can exponentially amplify that positive impact. Individual consumers can also encourage positive corporate actions through daily purchases.
In terms of influencing an entire industry, at the front of the pack is Unilever, with purpose-driven CEO Paul Polman at the helm. The venerable Polman once considered priesthood, and now the New York Times calls him a “sustainability evangelist” for preaching stricter industry regulations and condemning a short-term profit mentality.5 In the midst of the financial crisis, Polman put shareholders on notice that quarterly reports would be scrapped. It was his first day as CEO; Polman dropped this bomb early because he reasoned he couldn't be fired on his first day.6 Under his leadership, the company is thinking long term about its footprint, with a rigorous goal to source 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. That's no small feat for the world's third-largest consumer goods company and its long roster of brands, which are used by 2.5 billion consumers every single day. Among the big names are Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Lipton tea, Lifebuoy soap, and Hellmann's mayonnaise.
A key ingredient in mayonnaise is soybean oil, which in Hellmann's case comes from soybeans grown in the U.S. Despite regulations elsewhere in the world, the U.S. had no existing standard for certified soy production. Unilever created its own metrics for sustainability, working closely with American farmers on a plan to reduce water consumption and increase nutrient density near the soil surface. Unilever brought on soy industry associations and the World Wildlife Fund agreed to act as scientific consultants to form the standards. Farmers changed daily habits, decreasing tractor fuel usage and storing harvests in silos closer to fields to prevent unnecessary transport. They also shared data about their crops and submitted to testing. In return, farmers were offered 10 cents more per bushel of soybeans and increased access to state subsidies—in addition to the capacity-building support network that launched the program.7
For context, this is one ingredient in one product—a small star in the Unilever universe. The company's ambitious 100 percent sustainable sourcing goal works with 70,000 suppliers and 1.5 million farmers, with a transport network that travels more than one billion miles each year. In the case of a huge parent company (Unilever is worth just over US$140 billion8), other brands will inevitably be swayed by its gravitational pull. When Unilever certified tea leaves for Lipton with the Rainforest Alliance, competitors Twinings and Tata followed.9 “Hopefully [our brands] will drive transformational change in the industry,” Polman says. “For example, Lipton has a wonderful story about working with small-hold tea farmers, but we also need to look at how to convert the whole tea industry to sustainable farming. If Unilever achieves all of these wonderful things and nobody else does, it still doesn't solve the problem.”
See more on Unilever's commitment to sustainability in its supply chain: Click for video
This was a complex process for a conglomerate that sources an overwhelming number of ingredients. Still, the principles can be applied elsewhere, especially in terms of thinking beyond natural resources. Environmental preservation is a huge consideration in the supply chain—perhaps the biggest for manufacturers. Of course, Holly devoted a whole chapter to sustainable sourcing at Virgin Atlantic Airlines, so I won't belabor the point. Like Virgin and Unilever, don't forget social factors when looking at your own (or your organization's own) suppliers.
It's not just multinationals that are able to sway networks. Small and medium businesses often have a lot of influence over regional suppliers. If your organization issues Requests for Proposals (RFPs) prior to purchasing products or services, why not make sustainability or fair treatment of animals mandatory elements for all bids? You might also look for suppliers that have equal opportunity hiring practices.
You can hire sustainable food vendors in the cafeteria or order team lunches from caterers who use local ingredients. You can work with companies that offer training for marginalized groups such as at-risk youth, or encourage their own employees to volunteer in the community.
Even if you're not in charge of buying, you can do your own research on suppliers and vouch for the ones that act with a conscience. And, postpurchase, think about the lifecycle of the things your workplace does decide to buy: you could start a recycling program, or coordinate the donation of old office equipment to a charity when your organization upgrades.
From individuals to corporate teams, we all have the ability to support companies that care.