BCBusiness

T he key to success for the modern business is about more than dollars and cents; it's about dening and adopting a social purpose that transcends the bottom line. Some of the most successful and progressive Lower Mainland enterprises and organizations such as Van City Credit Union and Mountain Equipment Co-op have adopted social purposes as a key pillar of their business strategies. A couple of years ago United Way of the Lower Mainland ( UWLM) realized that it could harness its vast network of relationships with social service agencies, corporations, labour and government to help make the shift from pure prot focus toward a greater overarching social purpose that not only helps build stronger, healthier communities but also builds better businesses. "A lot of companies have identied social purpose as a goal but don't know how to get there. We are giving them the tools and help them make that transition," says Mary Ellen Schaafsma, UWLM's director of social innovation and research, who has been leading outreach efforts with Lower Mainland businesses and organizations wanting to make this shift. These efforts began with a workshop in 2016 that brought together a wide spectrum of busi- ness leaders from the construc- tion, nancial, retail and other sectors. "By noon, everyone was saying, yes, social purpose is the next big focus for business," Schaafsma says. The next step was to build the business case. Why adopt social purpose today when the prot motive and bottom line have historically been the guiding principles for business? Over the past year UWLM dove into the topic, working with Strand- berg Consulting. The result is the working document Social Purpose Business Case — "By future-proong our communi- ties, we're future-proong our business." The big picture takeaway is that companies focused on solving societal problems are performing well in terms of market growth, meeting chang- ing customer needs and inspiring their employees. In other words, in today's dynamic business world, having a social conscience also makes sense for the bottom line. When Schaafsma drilled deeper into the topic, she discov- ered that rms and organizations that embrace social purpose as a guiding philosophy typically realize six key benets. First, a company with social purpose strengthens its customer base: consumers increasingly want more value for their dollar than simply the acquisition of prod- ucts and services and they favour companies that make a positive social and environmental impact. Increased employee engage- ment is another benet. Put simply, businesses with social purpose attract talent: employ- ees across the age spectrum are viewing social purpose at the workplace as being on par with nancial remuneration and other traditional measures of job satisfaction. In recent years some of the world's largest companies have blazed a trail in social purpose. For example, in 2009 Unilever, a massive transnational corporation that produces food, beverage, cleaning agents and personal-care products, shifted course when it adopted its Sus- tainable Living Plan: employee engagement rose from the low 50s to the high 80s on a scale of 100. + UNITED WAY OF THE LOWER MAINLAND How Social Purpose Makes Good Business Sense Consumers and employees prefer corporations that create social good Mary Ellen Schaafsma, United Way Lower Main- land's director of social innovation and research (far left), leads outreach efforts with busi- nesses and organizations wanting to shift toward a greater social purpose IM AGE COUR T ESY OF U W LM

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