Purpose Driven Series #1 - Candice Chow, Strategic CSR Advisor specialized in values-based corporate transformation

After publishing my article on LinkedIn and other CSR outlets on how to find opportunities in the sustainability sector, I received several emails and LinkedIn messages from recent graduates, working professionals as well as students who are planning to pursue a post-secondary education specialized in Sustainability Management. It was an absolute delight to meet and network with so many brilliant professionals that were eager to learn and understand this sector. However, a lot of the recent graduates also wanted to hear stories about other working professionals, their journey and successes and what tips could they provide to someone who had just started their career in this sector.

The Purpose Driven Initiative is a series of interactive interviews that highlights and celebrates different stories and journeys of analysts, consultants, managers, executives, entrepreneurs and coaches who have been making a significant impact in this sector. This initiative will provide in-depth information how these professionals pursued a meaningful career, what skills are most needed to succeed in this sector, what are the emerging trends and most importantly, how to navigate such opportunities in an evolving industry.

It's my absolute delight to introduce Candice Chow as my first guest for the series. Candice is my mentor and my go-to-person when discussing my career path and growth. Candice's professional objective is to help companies develop an integrated and holistic approach to strategic management that is Purposeful, Agile, Innovative, and Impactful in order to achieve sustainable and responsible business outcomes. With over two decades of hands-on leadership experiences in versatile industries, Candice plays a key role as an advisor and management consultant focuses on enabling the creation of a holistic strategic management approach that integrates all aspects of the organization as a self-learning intuitive whole: knowledge, experience, values, purpose and talent. In addition to her several interesting professional roles, Candice is also currently finishing her Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in Strategic Leadership, Corporate Responsibility and Strategy Development at Henley School of Business.

Hi Candice, thank you for agreeing to take part in this interview. Could you share your insight into your current research topic of how executives's values influence corporate responsibility adoption. What motivated you to pursue this research and how do you see this research incorporated in large and medium sized organizations?

Having gone through business schools in the 90s, we were trained to take an economic approach to decision making. Back then corporate responsibility and sustainability were not taught or discussed in the classroom. Ethical values were important but they were often taught in isolation of management issues, and were seldomly part of any conversations in strategic management or corporate development. Overtime, (and I think age is a key factor here), economic-oriented values that trump considerations for other social or eco-values become bothersome to me. While many companies appear to embrace a higher purpose in what they do, often than not when push comes to shove, the need to meet and exceed financial expectations in the short-term remains their dominant focus. Fast forward to today, the concept of CR and sustainability is expected of any businesses. However, what it means to businesses remains somewhat ambiguous. CR as a concept is value-laden, which encompasses moral, ethical, environmental and social values. I believe leaders’ values are crucial in helping guide their organisations’ CR adoption. My motivation to pursue my DBA study is a personal journey of reflections and introspections on my experiences as a corporate executive, a researcher, a parent and a citizen.

Insights from my research study highlights the need for leaders to move beyond the traditional business case approach to CR adoption, and to expand their consideration in CR investments to include other forms of value creation (quantifiable or not). We need to acknowledge the intrinsic values CR adoption possesses. Not all initiatives or investments yield tangible and easily quantifiable return. But if we take the time to examine the impact some of these worthy CR practices could yield (or the negative impact inaction would lead to), and create a thoughtful execution approach, not only are these initiatives the right things to do (ethical, morally and for the long-term), they can also create long-term shareholder value. My research highlights the importance of leaders’ belief in CR, their ability to effect the change and the resolve to achieve both economic and social / environmental benefits from these initiatives. Some of these practices include green product innovation, consumer education and advocacy for tougher environmental policies. Companies can win economically as they reinvent their businesses and their products, and create more substantive positive impact across stakeholder groupers. This is the way of the future.

I have met many incredible senior executives who are leading transformative CR effort. Leadership is critical. My research reveals that convictions and competence of senior leaders are the key factors to accelerate CR adoption. They create the appropriate organisational climate, they lead by examples, and they have the power to influence change at all levels both external and internal to their organisations. Therefore, board of directors, owners as well as CEOs and senior executives, who are responsible for hiring and developing talents within their organisations, need to assess recruitment criteria differently. While technical know-how and past performance matters, in the new reality, leaders’ CR beliefs, their personal and professional convictions and values need to be assessed. And I believe the millennials; the next generations of leaders will only demand the best to take the helm. 

You have worked in several different industries and sectors across the globe and have a multifaceted approach towards strategy development and implementation. What kind of challenges do you see with SME organizations when integrating sustainability into their long-term strategy and planning? How can an organization overcome those challenges?

One of the biggest challenges amongst SMEs is the competitive landscape. Competitive strategies devised and led by larger firms inevitably set the pace for the rest to follow. It is often “safe” and less risky to focus on incremental improvement while following the larger trend. There are many bold start-ups that seek to change the game, but their growth and profitability can be constrained by capital funding.

The notion of impact investing is emerging. With the growth of social investors, the capital market for social / environmental projects are growing exponentially. Educating investors and the general population is key. For SMEs, who believe in the value of sustainability, should start off by seeking collaborative opportunities with other like-minded organisations and NGOs; and through the use of social media and other communication platforms, educate others on sustainability issues, and communicate their sustainability visions, values and business purpose via different social media platforms. While SMEs lack the size and strength of global multi-nationals, they can mitigate this challenge through collaboration and technology adoption. I believe SMEs can create sustainable competitive advantage by integrating their CR and sustainability values into their brand, their business model and their strategy and planning process. The key is to remain authentic, persistent, agile, and innovative.

A study by Cone Communications, a public relations and marketing agency revealed that 71% of millennials believe that businesses should drive social and environmental impact and change even with the absence of governmental regulations. How do you see this trend changing in large as well as SME organizations in Canada?

Businesses large and small will move towards a more purpose-driven approach to business management, no doubt about that. We are seeing this trend emerging in many areas. Businesses will not be able to retain talent, and create market differentiation otherwise. I think it is a natural evolution of businesses and even humanity to become more “enlightened” so to speak. Those who refuse to change will be left behind. It is just a matter of time. Because of the agility of SMEs (e.g. smaller in size, flatter organization), SMEs stand to be just as competitive as the larger corporations. 

What do you see as the biggest opportunity in the CSR sector? How can millennials navigate through such opportunities and perhaps how do we ensure that they get a seat at the boardroom table in organizations?

Have your voice. I think one of the biggest challenges in the boardroom is a lack of authentic, honest conversations on priorities. Not just business priorities, priorities of impact and values. Whenever we make any business decisions, we should always question the why, why are we doing it? For what purpose it serves? We should always reflect on both the long-term and short-term impact and consequences on major decisions and seek optimal solutions. We are so caught up in the need for speed, we often deny ourselves the time to debate and question things that we do and decisions that we make. Without quality time, we cannot make quality decisions.

Furthermore, we cannot make business decisions based on numbers and numbers alone. We must align our decisions against our purpose, our vision and our values. And therefore, we must examine the values-motivation behind many business decisions, and have honest and open conversations about them. 

I think one of the roles the millennials can take on, is to be the conscience behind many business decisions and actions and continuously force honest conversations on sustainability issues. 

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next interview!