“Creating a strong business and building a better world are not conflicting goals. They are both essential ingredients of long-term success”.
-Bill Ford
Sustainability is measured in three basic dimensions- environmental, social and economic, and all three are inter-related. The most important measure of a sustainable business is its performance relative to societies and social justice. This concept is compressed in a single word called Social Impact. All companies have their social goals, which make societies, people they work with and the environment better. The social impact of business operations is viewed both internally and externally. The internal social impact ensures that the business is socially responsible and ethical across its operations and supply chain. Internally, the social impact of a business often refers to its practices and policies related to the employees.
Business policies pertaining to the working conditions, diversity in hiring and career advancement opportunities for women and minorities in the business lay a foundation for an effective positive culture in an organization, enabling a progressive social impact. This attitude must be carried forward to the supply chain of the business too.
Over the past year, companies have had environments with knee-jerk reactions leading to movements like #MeToo. Many business leaders and companies took public stands on political and social issues, as a result. This served as a powerful tool for engaging customers and inspiring brand loyalty, a trend expected to continue. More and more studies show that the newest wave of potential talent heavily weigh the values and culture of the companies they may end up working for. Therefore, companies need to make an investment in their social impact to recruit and retain the best. Embracing social impact is key to engaging a growing number of customers and investors who deeply care about social issues. Surprisingly, research shows that the ethical and empathetic branding of companies forms the basis of a highly loyal customer base.
Feuji’s customer-first mindset nurtures intrinsic empathy in the employees. This can be evidenced by Feuji’s diverse teams working around the globe in the regions of the USA, Latin America, Romania and India. Feuji’s organizational DNA is culturally diverse and fosters oneness in diversity.
The social impact of businesses is not only internal but also external, pertaining to the environment, people and societies. The resources consumed by companies are a result of the sacrifice of societies’ space for housing and social development. Hence, companies must give back to the societies they operate in. Feuji strongly believes in paying back to the society and environment. Feuji adopted a village with a population of 3000 in South India and has been successful in transforming it into a Smart Village. As part of this initiative, Feuji built a skill development center, adopted schools, developed infrastructure, facilitated sanitation and pure drinking water facilities. Feuji also gives immense importance to employee involvement in all its CSR activities, thus inculcating empathy in the hearts of its people and culture.
In general, companies with a positive social impact are largely influenced by their leaders. Effective leadership is inspirational when it sets the right example and offers a sympathetic ear. Effective and positively driven leaders not only think about the people now but also about people of the future. They strive to make this world a better place. They think that they are accountable for the world’s issues and drive a bunch of people to feel accountable for the problems of the world. Great leaders achieve prosperity in sustainable and long-term success by establishing a personal connection with people and societies. Companies of highly positive social impact hence serve societies on the basis of a single word, humanity!
