The new ingredient to
drive the next wave of innovation and productivity growth is
collaboration. That’s the growing
opinion from businesses committed to creating shared value.
We’ve talked about the concept of shared value in this
column in the past. How “creating shared-value” may be the real key to creating
sustainable and high-performance organizations. Basically the philosophy is
equally about organizations committed to making a difference in the lives of
their stakeholders while at the same time, making a profit.
So how do
organizations who are committed to created shared value begin to choose where
to make a difference?
For Bell Aliant its
about finding that “sweet spot” that addresses a real community need, while at
the same time engaging stakeholders to be hands on in the execution of making a
difference.
“it’s about more than
writing a cheque,” says Bell Aliant’s VP of Corporate Affairs, Lisa
Merrithew.
Once again Bell Aliant partnered with Bell to launch its nation-wide
Let's Talk campaign inviting Canadians to join in on the conversation about
mental health.
The campaign focuses on reducing the stigma around mental
illness. The commitment by Bell -
For every text message sent and every long distance call made by Bell and Bell
Aliant customers on February 8, Bell will donate 5 cents to programs dedicated
to mental health.
“we are absolutely jazzed about helping a cause that affects one in
five,” says Merrithew. “The
reaction from our employees has been absolutely incredible.”
Merrithew says that the Let’s Talk Campaign, while only in its second
year, helps to deliver value on a number of levels.
“While we support a lot of causes in the communities in which we operate,
this campaign allows our employees to get involved in making a difference
towards a cause that needs attention.”
Before deciding on mental health, Merrithew says the company did a ton
of research and discovered there was a tremendous need – not only for cash –
but to help create awareness and get people talking about mental health.
“We’re a communications company and we have the channels available to
us that make sense to help create a conversation and improve awareness. Says
Merrithew. “I think organizations
have an obligation. If you have a
voice and a place to deliver it -
it’s something you are obliged to do.”
Another term used for
this kind of investment is ‘impact investing’. Dr. Judith
Rodin, President of the Rockefeller
Foundation, says: “When I talk about impact investing, I’m talking about [a]
double bottom line. You want a financial return but you also are looking for a
social or environmental return as well.”
Rodin says businesses
must reconnect company success with social progress. Shared value is not about
redistributing existing value but about expanding the total pool of economic
and social value. She contends that businesses will need to overcome the deeply
entrenched assumption that there are tradeoffs between economic efficiency and
social progress or between economic efficiency and sustainable environmental
practices.
For Bell Aliant the
benefits were multiple.
“First and foremost,
this was about employee engagement,” says Merrithew. “It’s about finding that sweet spot that allows
organizations to provide stakeholders the opportunity to really dig into an
issue and take it to the next level.”
As well, Merrithew says
the campaign clearly helps with Brand Awareness and also addresses an
identified need in Atlantic Canadian communities.
“So many people have
come forward to say thank you and the campaign is clearly hitting a nerve with
our customers.
Another key benefit was Bell
Aliant’s ability to partner with key stakeholders in government – seeing the
Provinces of PEI and NB actually promote the event on their government sites.
For Merrithew, the real
challenge for any organization is finding that sweet spot that hits all the
marks. She says organizations need
to listen to stakeholders and engage them in the decision-making.
Another benefit is the
fact that, with shrinking community relations budgets, being focused helps to
manage expectations.
“While people still come
to ask us for assistance with their community event, they are starting to
understand that we have a focus on where a portion of our community spending
will go. While we will never stop
supporting lots of causes, this focus helps everyone understand what we’re
trying to do and helps us tell a better story.”
Let’s Talk isn’t the
only campaign that is providing shared-value for the organization. Bell Aliant also runs a Backpacks for
Kids campaign that is employees and supplier driven. Together these campaigns create a sense of ownership for Bell
Aliant’s key stakeholders and help to create the all important goodwill as the
company continues to evolve in the marketplace.
The one-day Let’s Talk
Campaign raised over $3million nationally for Mental Health programs. More importantly it has placed Bell Aliant
in that unique position of creating real shared-value across the region.
That’s a position that
money alone cannot buy.
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