Insights from the field.

Conference season is in full swing and we’ve been inspired and re-invigorated by all the amazing thinking featured on stage, especially when it comes to the future of work and sustainability. As we’ve written about, we love new visions of work and living, so we’ve put together a roundup of our favorite pieces of wisdom from colleagues and industry leaders. When put together, these insights paint a very positive, hopeful picture of not only the future of the modern workplace, but the potential benefits to people and planet. We hope you enjoy!

“Our very existence was impacting the environment and society… and consumers have a right to know who they are impacting when they buy your product.” - Robert O’ Mahony, Head of Sustainability for Logitech

Increasingly, companies see the importance of acknowledging not only their impact on nature and people, but the fact that their existence is owed to them too. The fact that so many companies are starting to acknowledge this reality (or being encouraged to) is a refreshing shift of power, and a nice show of humility from companies to their true stakeholders: the planet, employees, and consumers.

"If they can be lobbyists in their own business, they can also be lobbyists in the interest of humanity.” - Matthias Stausberg, Global Advocacy Director at Virgin

Further, the expectation is that if companies can spend effort fighting for their business, then they can fight for people, too. Plenty of research shows that societal perspectives have shifted, and an increasing majority of the population expect businesses to do good. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer most recently found that business is the most trusted institution, although most respondents believe business is not doing enough on societal problems.

“It’s no longer just sustainability as an initiative. It’s sustainability as a business strategy.” - Leigh Horner, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Global Sustainability at Hersheys

The stage is set and it is a given that consumers expect companies to take a stand when it comes to the climate, and they reward companies that do. Organizations will lose brand value, competitiveness, and incur other costs if they do nothing. According to McKinsey, 40% of customers now boycott brands with stances they don’t agree with. And there is a strong correlation between purpose-driven companies and shareholder value.

"Doing less bad is not good enough." - Sol Salinas, EVP Americas Sustainability Lead at CapGemini

“ESG can be a blind spot for many companies,” Salinas went on to say at the 3BL Forum, “and that’s compounded by the broad definition of what that term means.” Adopting ESG principles can understandably seem like a very tricky, laborious process for companies, but it does not have to be. As we have said, CSR is a great way to develop real, meaningful, long-term relationships that tackle the “E” and “S” domains, and create true impact. This will take companies beyond greenwashing and simply talking the talk to actually building the “reparative, regenerative, nature-based business models” Salinas suggests.

Charter Workplace Summit, October 2022

“When we talk about purpose and ESG, employees are now the number one audience.” - Alison DaSilva, Managing Director, Purpose & Impact at Zeno Group

So much of the focus for companies right now, especially as a recession looms, is how to build and maintain an engaged workforce. Including employees in the process of defining company impact priorities is a great way to give meaning to employees’ work, and create stronger alignment between employee and company values. As Yrthya Dinzey-Flores, the VP of DEI & Social Impact at Justworks, succinctly put it at the Charter Summit, “Go internal before you go external.” Values-alignment and including employees in CSR and ESG ideation is something we are all too familiar with, and we were excited to see so many others talking about the importance of this.

“We’re looking to the lived experiences of our team members to learn how to do better. As part of the food industry, we are working to feed the common good. Whatever business you’re in, feed the common good.” - Tanya Rodriguez, Senior Cultural Anthropologist at Hormel Foods Corp.

Once you go internal, one of the crucial parts of employee engagement is actually listening and learning. As a team with anthropology backgrounds, we loved seeing Anthropologist Tanya Rodriguez using her expertise to help Hormel Foods learn more about their employees' own food habits and preferences, and making them feel heard and included in the company vision. The expansion of business to include fields not usually associated with business, like anthropology, philosophy, arts, and many others is also very exciting. Inter-disciplinary methods of approaching business will be critical for developing new, better ways of working.

"How can companies align their individual employee purpose with corporate purpose? By its nature, this is a long-term concept. Purpose is personal." - Geralyn S. Ritter, Author and Head of External Affairs & ESG at Organon

One of the reasons why listening is so crucial is because meaning and purpose are so unique to every individual. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every company or every team. However, there is always common ground to be found, and finding the overlap between personal and company values can do a lot to help workplaces engage and retain their employees. Young people (and older ones too!) want to be part of mission driven culture. Human capital experts need to lean into that and find new ways of working on employee culture, meaning, and belonging.

“The “soul” of a company—its purpose, actions, and leadership—is what attracts employees most. Taking a stand = employee retention.” - Peter Land, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Throughout these conferences, there was much discussion of re-recruiting your employees and “treat employees just like you hired them—the honeymoon period” as Charter CHRO Mai Ton said. This feels paramount. Companies are not just selling a job and a story, but they need to be creating an experience of what it means to join (and be part of) a team. So many of these threads (purpose, CSR, ESG, employee connection) are what our Timeline Adventures aim to connect.

"If you give people an opportunity, you can benefit your business, your employees, their families, and the community. It’s a win-win-win-win." - Joseph Kenner, President and CEO of Greyston Bakery

So well said! Business can be a force for good. Individuals, companies, and communities can all exist in a healthy ecosystem. Everyone can win. Now let’s make it happen.