ESG investing - what else is going on out there?

Every now and again I am reminded the the social enterprise world is not the only movement looking for ways of combining social and environmental achievements with commercial goals. CSR (or CR or sustainability as it is now more often known as) and social intrapreneurship are examples of related movements that have realted aspirations. Social finance or impact investing is also increasingly gaining in prominence.

Further back in the public's consciousness lies the land of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing. It is populated by asset managers, bankers, private equity investors and pension funds, who wield influence behind the scenes, through the often substantial sums they can invest (or not). Whilst many of these investments still happen with a need for (near) commercial returns, ESG considerations are making more and more of a mark.

This November, London will be the backdrop for the TBLI Conference, a major annual conference in this field. Encouragingly, the conference includes a session on social entrepreneurs and social investing and On Purpose plans to be a part of it.

These different movements, which are all working to achieve social and environmental outcomes through commercial means, will need to come together more and more if serious system-level change is to happen.

Tom

Big Business ... Big Responsibilities...

It's easy to slip into thinking that all big corporate organisations have a devastating impact on both the global economy and the planets resources... but here's a book to challenge that train of thought ..

How about thinking that because of their scale Big business has more potential to impact the world for good?!

It feels like it's book week at On Purpose as we celebrate the launch of this book last night. Big Business Big Responsibilities is written by a trio of forward thinking influencers:

ANDY WALES is Global Head of Sustainable Development for SABMiller, one of the world’s largest brewers. He is a board member of a number of key global water initiatives, and also leads a strategy encouraging local enterprise development across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009 and in 2010 was appointed a London Sustainable Development Commissioner. He has previously been Sustainability Director for Severn Trent plc and for Interface, Inc.  

MATTHEW GORMAN is Director of Corporate Responsibility& Environment at BAA Ltd, the UK’s leading airport operator and an expert on climate change policy. He is deputy chair of the UK aviation industry’s sustainability strategy (‘Sustainable Aviation’). Prior to BAA, Matthew worked at Forum for the Future, a leading UK not-for-profit organisation. He has worked extensively advising FTSE 100 companies on corporate responsibility.  

DUNSTAN HOPE is Managing Director of the Information and Communications Technology practice at BSR, a non-profit, business membership organization that advises Fortune 500 companies. Prior to BSR Dunstan spent five years in the corporate responsibility team at British Telecommunications. Dunstan has worked extensively on human rights and corporate accountability in Europe, the USA and Asia.

You can read more about the book here.... we think it looks like a good read!

What do you think? 

Recruiting all social enterprise leaders of the future....

Are you interested in social enterprise?

Are you highly talented and looking for your next challenge?

Have you read our website to find out more and thought how much you'd like to be one of our Associates during 2011?

Are you free on Wednesday evening and can get to central London?

If you're reading this thinking Yes - Yes - YES ... then please join us on Wednesday evening where we're holding a recruitment event in Central London.

To come along please register by sending an email to rsvp@onpurpose.uk.com and we'll send you details.

Different ....

We liked this - it's different!

Half time at On Purpose...

Last week our current Associates left their 1st Placement organisations and kicked off their new projects - (well those that aren't sunning it up as they take a breather in between placements!)

Halfway through our first year and it's clear that the Associates are beginning to look towards the future and what they may be doing - but what of our Placement organisations? How is their On Purpose experience?

We took some time recently to review with the placement organisations their experiences of the first cohort of On Purpose Associates and we're delighted that they're proving a resounding success.  For all of the current Associates who are moving into their second placements we received the following feedback.  They have all exceeded the expectations of the host organisations, they've added value beyond the scope of their objectives and they've had a positive impact on the teams that they're in. Most of them have brought skills into the organisations that they don't otherwise have access to and have challenged organisational thinking in a positive way.

All of this is exactly as we expect to hear - the concept is working well and proving valuable to both the placement organisations and our Associates - we're running a review with how the Associates value their On Purpose experience and will be sharing that with you soon.

But I've saved the best until last - aside from the organisational impact that our Associates have had we are delighted that they are already saving their organisations on average in excess of 3 times their cost each.

Marketing magic

Our training last week was on Marketing. Nadine Walter (ex McKinsey and now a Professor at Pforzheim Business School in Germany) took us through the basics of how to develop a marketing plan. Ranging from the internal company and external market analysis over the consumer segmentation to the marketing strategy, mix and implementation.

It was  whirlwind, whistle-stop tour of the major frameworks in the field and really great to understand, at a high level, how all the various concepts (that you often only hear of in isolation) fit together. From PESTEL and Porter's 5 Forces over 7S and the BCG matrix to the Ansoff matrix we must have done more frame work than you can in an afternoon at the National Gallery!

As always, the real guru doesn't necessarily use all the frameworks, but knows when (and when not) to apply them and how to take the thinking from various ones to pull together real insight. And it's always refreshing to hear about situations where people achieved success by not following the traditional approach, like Red Bull.

Who do you think are the best social enterprise marketeers? Innocent stands out, of course, and (RED) is a big brand now; I like One Water's 'When you drink One Africa drinks too'. Interestingly though, 2 of these 3 examples are cause-related marketing schemes (what I sometimes call philanthropic rather than social enterprises) and the last, Innocent, is a business with a strong social influence. Thinking of more 'classic' social enterprise (that achieve direct social impact rather than through contributing profits to a charity) that are really well marketed is much more difficult. Do you know of any?

The case for talent

Sir Ronald Cohen was recently praising, in the Daily Telegraph, the virtues of the innovative social impact bond and predicting the rise of social finance.

Along with it, he emphasises both the importance of attracting the best people to social enterprise and the commitment that many people feel towards this field: 

"Some of the most talented people are being drawn to it [social finance and social enterprise]. We are appealing to peoples' sense of social obligation and of social mission.

"About a fifth of recent Harvard Business School graduates have been drawn to social enterprise type organisations."

The social enterprise field is, of course, already populated with hugely inspirational and talented people. Like all industries though, it will only continue to be as good as the talent it is able to attract, develop and retain. 


Social enterprises need to offer the career prospects, development opportunities and salaries that compete with other top employers, not only during a recession, but also once the big private and public sector guns start hiring again. 


Managing a social enterprise is a difficult undertaking. It requires not only solid commercial skills but also well-honed social sector know-how. Developing leaders who spend significant amounts of time in social enterprise from an early age, who know and can manage the tensions, quirks and intricacies that are unique to these organisations has to be a priority for the sector. 


Neglecting to develop the next generation of talent risks social enterprise delivering on its promise; bringing in the best and brightest minds will mean that innovations like the social impact bond will be but the first steps towards a brighter, fairer and more inclusive economy.