The Porter Novelli Purpose Tracker: The Business Imperative for Social Justice
Today unpacks
key data and insights on intersection of social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and racial
inequality in the United States — and how the US public expects companies to
back up their words of support and solidarity with action.
Purpose-driven business has been on an upswing for the past few years — and the
2019 redefinition of the “Purpose of a
Corporation”
by the Business Roundtable in 2019 seemed to solidify the notion that
business solely for profit was largely a thing of the past. Then came 2020 ... and many
companies carried forward the notion of an economy that serves all by pivoting
their product and service
offerings
in real time to meet immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, social issues are at the forefront — with galvanizing and polarizing topics
including racial injustice, police brutality,
transgender rights and white supremacy dominating news and dinner table
debates, Purpose has come to encompass not only a substantive and vocal
commitment to a cause, but a call to action to answer for years of
entrenched biases and systemic racism and injustices. In the past, companies
would have likely steered as clear as possible of these topics; but speaking out
and taking action to address these issues is now not only a moral imperative, it has
become a public — and business — mandate.
Along with the rise in companies pledging their commitments to operating
‘Purposefully’ is a corresponding growth in consumers able to both recognize and
challenge those claims — so, companies can no longer get away with not walking
their talk around Purpose. In the words of Soon Mee Kim, EVP of Diversity &
Inclusion at Porter Novelli: “Purpose without justice is whitewashing.”
DEI and sustainability: The ROI of inclusive corporate cultures
Join us as leaders from the Accomplis Collective, Bard, Beneficial State Foundation, ReEngineering HR and REI share best practices for cultivating a culture of belonging and insights into how inclusive leadership can lead to more effective and equitable sustainability outcomes — Wednesday, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
The racial justice zeitgeist triggered by the senseless murders of George
Floyd, Breonna
Taylor,
Tony
McDade,
David
McAtee,
Atatiana
Jefferson, Elijah McClain
and an unconscionable number of other Black people at the hands of US police has
prompted a range of brand responses — ranging from tepid, social media sound
bytes; to more substantive
actions,
including calling for legislation and concrete steps to dismantle systemic
racism (Ben & Jerry’s), pulling their ad dollars from Facebook, which
has not taken a stand against hate speech on its platform (The North Face,
Patagonia,
REI;
and ads calling out white people’s role helping to end systemic
racism (Procter & Gamble).
As Porter Novelli’s research has found, unless Purpose is infused into the
bedrock of an organization — with special attention to DEI embedded into how it
does business — it is only window dressing. From now on, brands that are
unprepared to level the playing field both internally and externally, and
authentically engage with stakeholders on how they are operationalizing
responsible action, will lose the trust and loyalty of their discerning US
customers.
Key findings Include:
- 71 percent of US consumers believe companies have more responsibility than
ever before to address social justice issues; and 56 percent say companies
that do not talk about social justice issues in their marketing or
communications are out of touch
- 80 percent say companies need to recognize their role in systemic racial
inequality; and the same amount (80 percent) say they wish more companies
would be honest about their past mistakes or biases in addressing or talking
about race
- 77 percent say companies that have strong DEI policies have more credibility
to engage in social justice conversations; but 76 percent think companies
need to make more progress on advancing DEI in the workplace
- 74 percent think that, while a company can be known for rallying behind one
issue (ex: childhood hunger, advancing equality in tech), that doesn’t mean
it can ignore other important issues (ex: addressing DEI, human rights)
- 35 percent of employees are reconsidering their current job because their
company is not doing enough to address social justice issues externally.
The numbers speak for themselves, according to Dwayna Haley, Porter
Novelli’s SVP of Innovation & Impact:
“It’s time to get uncomfortable in order to make a difference. As
communicators, we have a powerful opportunity (and the accountability) to
positively influence behavior change. Through messaging with strategic
calls-to-action, brilliant creative and multichannel outreach, we can impact
widespread sea change in any environment.”
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jun 24, 2020 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST