Amid all the turmoil in our world right now, there’s a lot of talk about greenwashing, performative impact goals, and "check the box" certifications. Companies are feeling pressure to do good because consumers and employees are demanding it. And consumers and employees are demanding transparency and have little tolerance for companies that don’t walk the talk. How do organizations assure their stakeholders that they are staying true to their mission and impact goals? Certifications like B Corp Certification are a great starting point, but how do companies make sure they’re not just using it as a marketing tool (because consumers will be able to tell)? To truly live into your values means examining every role, process and policy in your organization through an impact lens.All stakeholders want to know that you’re doing what you say you’re doing. They want transparency - they want to understand the impact you’re having and where you are trying to do better. Of course, you have to be clear about that first. Then you can communicate it to all your stakeholders.5 Steps to Operationalizing Your Values- Define your impact goals. Start with your why. This should come from your mission and vision. From there, how do you make that tangible? For example, the sustainable underwear company Knickey has a vision to lead fashion’s transition to sustainable production practices and products. They are working towards that vision by setting 5 related goals for 2022 - from beginning to trace their tier 3 & 4 suppliers to improving their carbon emission measurement capabilities. The key here is to FOCUS - I recommend 3-5 annual goals MAX. Lastly, make sure this isn’t something separate from your organization’s overall strategy. If your mission is your purpose, why would this be separate from your company’s strategy? The key is to make sure your core operations are tied to your overall mission. If not, what needs to shift?
- Map it out. Now that you have your goals defined, work backwards from there. I like to help clients create a logic model for each impact goal, working backwards from impact/outcomes to output to activities to inputs. Include everything your organization does that ties to your impact and outcomes. There will likely be many inputs/activities that you do that tie to each particular impact goal. Include them all. Include all departments. This is where a tool such as the B Impact Assessment (BIA) can be helpful. It’s an incredibly powerful tool to help you assess your organization’s overall impact (and ways to improve). Let’s say your organization’s mission is about environmental impact. Take a look at the environment section of the BIA to see all the ways you’re already making an impact. This might give you ideas about what and how to track this as well. There are 5 sections of the BIA - Environment, Community, Customers, Governance, and Workers, so there is something for every mission. The BIA also gives you a great framework for how you can improve your impact in each area. For help getting through the assessment (it can be daunting!), The Impact Collective’s B Corp Certification Cohort guides you through the assessment in 1:1 sessions and gives you access to a community of like-minded peers who are going through the same process.
- Increase Your Impact. Now’s the fun part. How many of these activities/outputs/outcomes are you tracking? Can you start tracking any of them? Again, the BIA can help with this, since it assigns points to various activities. The key here is to look at your progress towards your impact goals. Are you on track to reach your goals? If not, what activities or inputs you mapped out could you shift so you can meet your goals? Can you shift resources around to better match priorities? The bottom line is this should help you to make informed decisions based on your progress, whether you’re way behind where you thought you would be or knocking it out of the park. And as this gets more sophisticated and you better learn where you’re easily making an impact and where you want to improve, you can set more informed and hopefully more inspiring impact goals next year. AND you can better communicate this progress with all stakeholders - employees, customers, and your community. This builds trust (the only way to combat the greenwashing I mentioned previously) and ultimately inspires others.
- Forget the Rest. This can actually be the most difficult step - now that you have your priorities in line, be ok with “good enough” for everything else. Or better yet, stop doing the things that aren’t in line with your goals. Of course, there will be things you’re required to do no matter what (like audits and taxes), but for those items, be ok with “good enough.” That’s not where you want to focus your time and resources. If you find your team is spending time on things that aren’t in line with your mission and purpose, get curious about why that is. Are you clearly and frequently communicating your goals and mission? Are you making it clear what the team should prioritize that’s in line with that? Are you measuring what matters and reviewing those measurements as a team? Be curious and then be ok with making changes based on the information you gather.
- Be Kind to Yourself and Your Team. These changes don’t happen overnight. Start with the why, build the framework, and then - do something. Maybe you’re only measuring progress towards one of your three goals at first. That’s ok. Make progress as you’re able. Be ok with imperfection. It’s better to get started than to wait for years to roll it out, when you feel it’s perfect. Celebrate the progress you’re making! Make it a habit to review your progress on a regular basis and celebrate even the small wins. And lastly, get help!
You don’t have to do this alone. The Impact Collective is here to help you in this process. It’s what we’re passionate about! Book a no obligation 30 minute consultation so we can learn more about your impact journey. 
