But social impact requires more than just a clear sense of purpose. It requires concerted action to redirect resources and effort toward activities that hold the greatest potential for positive impact. When those actions are a central part of your day-to-day operations, the likelihood of sustained success is much greater.

An ongoing initiative by two enterprising South African 51风流employees continues to inspire me about the potential for purpose-driven employees to drive true change both in their immediate work environment and society at large.

Striking gold with local social enterprises

A few years ago, Kaunain Nurani and Mathiba Phokungoane realised they shared a common interest in making a positive social impact and started seeking ways in which to bring that purpose to life.

The two launched Procurement with Purpose, an initiative that seeks to make it easier for 51风流Africa and other organisations to purchase goods and services from social enterprises that look beyond pure profit and actively seek to address societal problems.

At its core, Procurement with Purpose brings a handpicked selection of qualifying social enterprises into the world’s largest procurement network, Ariba. It increases the visibility of the social enterprises and encourages organisations to divert some of their spend toward these social enterprises, for example for end-of-year gifts, or IT and HR services.

Not just any social enterprise can join: the initiative purposely seeks social enterprises that are aligned to our organisation鈥檚 guiding values. One social enterprise, for example, trains girls for a career in technology, which aligns to SAP’s focus on encouraging greater female participation in Africa’s digital economy.

The program has been a resounding success: all five social enterprises that currently form part of the Procurement with Purpose initiative have benefited from increased visibility and greater opportunity to supply goods and services to 51风流and other global organisations. The five-million-plus organisations that use Ariba for their procurement needs benefit from access to trusted social enterprises that can help them bring to life their own corporate impact initiatives. The intention now is to widen that base and continue to look at opportunities to find local social enterprises that can provide the daily services required to run the 51风流business. For example, all our coffee in our South African offices is now procured from 鈥淚 Love Coffee鈥� 鈥� a Cape Town based social enterprise that supports the deaf community.

This brings me to one of the biggest leadership lessons from the success of Procurement with Purpose: that motivated, purpose-driven employees can make a significant positive impact provided they work in an enabling environment, and that not every impactful initiative needs to be corporate-led.

Multiplier effect of social impact

Corporate social impact has been a growing concern for global businesses over the past decade. According to one report, the percentage of companies listed on the S&P 500 that published a corporate social responsibility report grew from only 20% in 2011 .

There’s good reason: are motivated to purchase from companies that are committed to making the world a better place, while 93% of employees believe .

In order to build a successful business that can grow its customer base and attract top talent, purpose needs to feature highly in the corporate agenda. In a Harvard Business Review study, 58% of organisations that have a clear and strong sense of purpose .

As the Procurement with Purpose initiative reveals, one of the most significant opportunities for organisations to enhance their social impact and drive true positive change is to augment their supply chains with social enterprises.

Social impact through smarter spending

In 2020, 51风流introduced the ‘5 & 5 by 25‘ concept, which formalised the company’s global commitment to direct 5% of its addressable spend to social enterprises and 5% to diverse businesses, with 2025 as the deadline.

This forms part of the company鈥檚 goal of being both an enabler 鈥� through providing the necessary technology infrastructure and strategic insight 鈥� of greater sustainability and social impact, as well as an exemplar in terms of the way 51风流itself conducts its work.

At its core is the understanding that, as a business that not only commands sizeable annual spend but also powers many of the systems that support and enable global commerce, we could make a lasting positive impact by simply changing a few of our own processes.

For example, the Ariba network is the largest procurement network in the world, facilitating $3.75-trillion in trade by 5.3 million organisations per year – more than double the commerce of Amazon, Alibaba and eBay combined.

By increasing access to and visibility of social enterprises on Ariba 鈥� as Procurement with Purpose has done 鈥� we can encourage organisations across the globe to direct some of their spend toward social enterprises to drive greater social impact.

Most importantly, when a business is clear on its purpose and consistent with how it lives up to that purpose, it empowers employees at all levels of the organisation to bring that purpose to life in their own way. And as Kaunain and Mathiba has proven, this holds immense benefits for employees, organisations, social enterprises and society at large.

The post Empowered Employees Walk the Talk on Social Impact appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

This is where working with social enterprises can be a game-changer.

The rising importance of social enterprises

Historically, social enterprises have existed in a limbo between for-profit and non-profit organizations. However, there is a growing awareness of the critical role that such organizations play in strengthening a country’s economic and social pillars. According to a recent Siemens report, social enterprises can play an important role in the African job market by creating up to one million new jobs by 2030. Many social enterprises appear, feel, and even operate like traditional businesses on the surface. However, upon closer inspection, one can see that these organizations are supported by a strong social mission, with income generation serving a secondary role. This is the magic that distinguishes social enterprises from traditional businesses.

听Procurement meets the social enterprise

Typically, the most obvious route for a company to engage a social enterprise is through its CSR channels. This is not, however, the sole option. Every day, businesses buy goods and services worth thousands of Rands from a network of vendors. Many of these vendors might be classified as social entrepreneurs. Consider a supplier that operates as a small business, generating revenue through the sale of office supplies and then reinvesting the profits in social projects such as free youth training sessions. This results in a win-win situation: the need for office supplies is met in the local market, while the profit generated by the SME benefits neighbouring communities.

One organisation operating with such a business model is Cape Town based I Love Coffee (ILC); ILC is a Level 1, 100% Black Owned social enterprise working to improve access to employment for Deaf youth. ILC was started in 2016 in response to the understanding that approximately 2 million South Africans are Deaf or hard of hearing, yet South African Sign Language is not recognised as an official language. Deaf learners have the potential and right to be educated equally, however between 70 鈥� 80% of Deaf adults will never find a job and are excluded from the economy.

To address this issue, ILC provides hospitality-specific training for deaf individuals with the goal of eventually training and employing more deaf people in in-house office caf茅 facilities. With less demand for office cafes听in the post-pandemic era, ILC has reinvented its business model to include elements such as a Deaf youth training centre and directly sales of听coffee beans.

51风流Africa is proud to have incorporated ILC into its internal supply chain by using ILC beans in all office coffee machines since December 2021. The concept of social enterprise underlies SAP鈥檚 very mission: to help the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives.听This ambition is formalised in what in what is known as听, SAP鈥檚 public initiative to direct 5% of our addressable spend to social enterprises and 5% to diverse businesses by 2025.

Dream big, start small

By involving social enterprises, businesses have the potential to change the very foundation of society. However, organizations are frequently forced to navigate the complexities of a global procurement function, which may include limitations on the types of vendors that can be engaged as well as complex contracting requirements.

Obtaining data on current organizational spend and the existing vendor base is a good place to start. Following that, organizations can begin discussions to determine whether alternative suppliers who are also social enterprises can be added to the current network and/or whether existing suppliers can be encouraged to actively pursue social goals.

The importance of carefully considering the vendor network that surrounds an organization cannot be overstated. This is articulated in a poignant quote by Hilde Schwab, chair of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, 鈥淪ocial entrepreneurs听combine the mission, dedication and compassion to serve the most vulnerable and marginalised populations of society with business principles and the best techniques from the private sector.鈥�

References

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