“Plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit”

As the world shifts towards a more socially responsible model of business, companies are increasingly embracing the concept of multi-stakeholder impact. Instead of solely focusing on maximizing shareholder value, organizations need a mechanism to include and take into account the interests of all stakeholders, including their employees, their customers, the communities they serve and operate in, but also humanity as a whole and the planet. Just consider the United Nations Grand Societal Challenges, from climate change to migration and gender equality. No business operates in a vacuum. The big question here is how to successfully pivot from shareholder primacy into stakeholder impact with a systemic approach.

We are proud to announce that KennedyFitch is partnering with the Institute for Real Growth (IRG) and other study partners, including Spencer Stuart, the Oxford Saïd Business School, the B team, NACD, Page, WARC, CKGSB and the Yale Program on Stakeholder Innovation & Management, to research this important topic. We are inviting CHRO’s and experts in this field to participate in the first global C-Suite study that will capture what it takes to win in the shift from shareholder to stakeholder growth and to understand how organizations are approaching Humanized Growth and multi-stakeholder impact.

In our Future of Work report, we already highlighted the importance of a more human-centered approach to work. People have high expectations towards their organisations when it comes to aligning on values and purpose and expect their employers to take position on polarised topics from the public agenda. Work is no longer just about short-term outcomes, but also about how it impacts communities and the planet in the long term.

Key questions are how do we redefine value creation and how do we decide on a path forward when stakeholder interests are not aligned?

By partnering in this research, we want to contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between the People function and how to drive humanized growth models. We recognize that the role of the CHRO is critical in these initiatives, as well as being uniquely positioned in this multi-stakeholder environment to define, design, and enable cultural change on horizontal stakeholder alignment.

This study will provide valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities and we hope to capture a broad range of transformational perspectives and experiences. Through open dialogues with CHRO’s we will identify best practices and critical success factors that can help us to get a better understanding how organizations navigate this important shift and co-shape the stakeholder growth leader of the future.

Are you interested in participating in our study? Reach out to us and let us know. By following us on LinkedIn or subscribing to our newsletter, you will be the first to know about the latest developments in our study.

If you’re looking to gain valuable insights and broaden your knowledge on the shareholder/stakeholder debate, listen to this great 45-minute podcast “4 Business Ideas That Changed the World: Shareholder Value” hosted by HBR Editor, Adi Ignatius.