Community Engagement
Creating and measuring social value
Organisations operate and live within our world, not separate to it. We are bound to our communities because this is where we live, sell to, source from, and operate within. Our success is their success; and their success is our success. This is the concept the term ‘Shared Value’ is embedded in. First articulated by management guru Michael Porter in 2011, shared value encourages the viewpoint that business is an opportunity for all and should create value that is shared among all stakeholders. Family businesses especially tend to embrace this concept.
Developing the right community engagement strategy is not about philanthropy, but about creating shared social value. We suggest it is first about understanding who your key community or stakeholder groups are and how they are critical to your business. They could be employees, the local community you recruit from and work within, customer groups, suppliers (especially local and SME), or sector specific groups and collaborations. We can help you map your Community Eco System, and conduct a Stakeholder Wants and Needs assessment. This helps you to prioritise your community, understand shared opportunities, and better plan an effective approach. We can then help you develop an authentic, more impactful Community Engagement strategy.
Measuring your social impact is now an important reporting opportunity, with tools available in the UK to measure and show alignment with regional social needs and shared opportunities. In the UK for example, the Social Value Act provides a clear framework and broad set of priorities to align your social impact and opportunities. We are affiliated with the Social Value Portal (SVP), a UK government licensed organisation that can provide a quantifiable financial metric for your social impact, and are now helping our clients to identify, prioritise, demonstrate, measure and have validated by SVP their social impact.
Family-owned businesses are especially attuned to community engagement; globally they make up an est. 50-80% of all private sector jobs and are between 70-90% of all private sector entities. They tend to be embedded in the communities they came from, and where the family may still have roots. How a family-owned business embraces sustainability can be slightly, but importantly, different to other entities. We can help you develop the right Community strategy appropriate to your unique set-up.
We can help you to:
Develop an authentic Community Engagement strategy
We can identify your key stakeholder clusters; do a 'Need and Wants' assessment and prioritise your communities; connect with your broader sustainability and corporate strategy; and develop a bespoke, authentic strategy focusing on delivering shared value.
Review your approach to family business community engagement
Especially for family businesses, you likely already have a clear approach. We can you review your approach to help you step up by reviewing your stakeholders and communities, identify if and where their worlds have evolved, and connect your value creation with stakeholder opportunities.
“Shared value focuses companies on the right kind of profits - profits that create societal benefits rather than diminish them.”
A good Community Programme, done right…
Identifies who your key stakeholder communities are
Goes beyond philanthropy or volunteering
Embeds shared value into the programme design and desired outcomes
...shapes a better future
Community Engagement in Action
Focusing community engagement on creating shared value
Developing the right community engagement strategy is about understanding who your key community or stakeholder groups are and how they are critical to your business. They could be employees, the local community you recruit from and work within, customer groups, or local suppliers. An authentic, impactful Community Engagement strategy can help create shared value for you and your key stakeholders.
