Impact Maturity Scale

Leadership don’t recognise the business benefit of purpose, so it’s not a priority

They have little formal or structured involvement in good actions

In the absence of leadership belief & direction, staff take the initiative

CSR dept strategy & plans focused on maximising charitable giving, volunteering and local community engagement

Ambitions are limited in scale and potentially tokenistict

No organisation-wide purpose or strategy to deliver it

Ad hoc initiatives i.e. donations or volunteering, not aligned with any strategy

Lots of activity but it’s not joined up

Activity is ground-up, i.e. in the absence of leadership direction, employees take the initiative

Activities often focused on ‘social’, e.g. volunteering in local communities

‘Purpose’ as such is delivered through traditional CSR initiatives

Impact measured by charitable donations & time volunteered - impact by inputs, e.g. time, not outputs

Exec recognise that purpose is necessary - their people want it & their customers demand it

Investors use ESG to measure business performance creating pressure for focus on purpose

Exec is persuaded that purpose can deliver growth - reducing business risk and creating market opportunities - as well as being the right thing to do

Clarity & alignment on why we’re doing this, e.g. talent, de-risking the business, shareholders value, etc

CEO & Exec team all on-board & aligned with the need to define purpose

Staff are engaged in co-creating the purpose - they help shape it

Key senior influencers become advocates for the purpose and drive adoption

Purpose is defined and a strategy for delivering it

The scale of ambition is established - there is alignment on how transformational the company is prepared to be

The purpose is aligned to vision, values & brand

Targets, goals & KPIs defined for the changes that can be articulated

Roles created to deliver the purpose, e.g. Chief Impact Officer

Purpose is largely focused on environmental sustainability as the largest business risk

Clarity about what and how to measure impact

Purpose begins to cascade & senior leaders are immersed in it - they start to own the purpose

Exec take time to understand what matters most to their teams

Purpose is aligned to the people strategy and begins to embed culturally

Purpose is embedded in everyone’s objectives, recruitment, personal development plans & remuneration

Time & resource dedicated to building broad commitment & buy-in from senior leaders so they own it

Stories are being told internally & purpose becomes part of internal comms

Employees involved in creating action, e.g. developing env.al & social change programmes

The foundations are put in place to deliver the strategy, e.g. focus on culture & team engagement

Beacon projects begin to raise the profile of the new purpose

The first positive commercial returns emerge, raising the promise of more

Purpose is largely focused on environmental sustainability because this is the largest business risk

Internal collaboration and external partnership within the same sector to deliver impact

Using consistent KPIs to begin measuring impact by outputs and outcomes

Discussion of purpose performance is a regular item on the Board meeting agenda

Purpose is reflected in how people talk, the words they use - there is huge commitment and belief

All important internal & external communications start with purpose

Purpose is aligned and embedded into the core business strategy - it becomes fundamental to the direction of the company

Purpose is used as a filter through which business & commercial decisions are made

Using its influence to transform its supply chain

It’s clear what the company is willing to give up / sacrifice in order to embed their purpose into their core strategy

Delivering impact is built into operational plans

Existing products, services, programmes & partnerships are retrofitted to deliver the purpose

New markets & opportunities are identified & prioritised for their ability to help deliver the purpose

Company assets & capabilities are leveraged to develop new opportunities to deliver the purpose

Purpose embraces the ‘S’ in ESG too - the focus on env.al sustainability & social impact becomes more balanced

KPI’s embedded and reported upon regularly

External comms is aligned with internal operational reality so becoming honest & verifiably true

Impact is externally verified

Ability to prove that purpose is delivering impact @ scale

CEO / Leadership are driving the agenda externally

Mindsets have shifted from being ‘socially responsible’ to ‘taking responsibility’ for people & planet

Leaders are sharing purpose insights with other leaders & potential competitors because it’s the right thing to do / to change world outcomes

Employees connect their personal purpose to the company purpose and is why they work for you. They feel like they’re making a real difference.

Purpose is the genuine north star and strategic & commercial decisions are made to deliver it

Vision & strategy for purpose looks beyond the company to its ecosystem / sphere of influence to maximise impact

Endeavouring to transform the industries in which it operates

Supporting other companies and industries to deliver their own purpose

Delivering impact beyond its influence, e.g. lobbying govts on climate change

Convening suppliers to support them to increase impact

Convening their industry to deliver purpose & increase impact

Collaborating across different industries to deliver their purpose & increase impact

Purpose-specific KPI’s embedded & reported on regularly as part of normal business performance reviews

Complete internal & external transparency on the impact being delivered

Complete transparency - of products, human rights, impact measurement, etc