Episode 209: Change for Good—Shifting from Passive CSR to Active Social Impact

Today, improving ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance is no longer optional. People want to work for companies that are helping to change the world, consumers are making purchasing decisions based on how brands are solving social problems and addressing climate change and investors consider companies that are ESG laggards to be high-risk. Despite the imperative for corporations to be making social change a priority, many businesses continue the practice of "CSR lite," an approach that prioritizes communications and optics over meaningful and measurable change. 

Join Paul Klein for a conversation about why it's more important than ever for corporations to shift from a checkbox approach to corporate social responsibility to one that contributes to solving social problems. They will discuss what social change leadership looks like today and how businesses can help solve social problems and benefit from doing so.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Impakt’s role and background
• Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) and how a company balances these elements
• Why ESG can be hard to measure, especially the S
• Quantitative and qualitative data
• The practice of CSR lite
• What it takes to move a company that isn’t there yet
• Which organizations are getting it right
• Companies that you don’t hear as much about
• Keeping the small and mid-sized businesses in mind
• Amazing examples of how companies mobilized their resources
• How people can learn more

 

Resources:

Paul Klein

Impakt

Impakt Foundation

[book] Change for Good by Paul Klein (ECW press) - coming spring 2022

 

Quotes: 

“I think that the social dimension of business is the next frontier of what it means to be a business in society today.”

"There's a leadership vacuum at a social change level."

“So many companies don't take [being socially responsible] beyond the bare minimum and that's what CSR lite is. It's the optics, rather than the substance."

“To me, the essence of innovation is thinking about the fastest way to make the biggest difference at the lowest cost.”