More Mileage Series: Operational Efficiency

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[Kyle] Hey, it's Kyle and Graham. And we are back with our More Mileage mini series. This is a collection of bonus shorts as part of The Stream of Conscience Podcast. And as we mentioned last time, we are co-founders of a business impact and philanthropy consulting firm. And we find that there are a lot of concepts terms and tactics that could use some demystifying in this industry.

And so we want to create a common language.

[Graham] These episodes will be rapid fire. So don't hesitate to reach out to us. If you wanna learn more, find us on LinkedIn and @www.seachangeltd.com. In the last episode, we talked about the term corporate social responsibility or CSR. Today, we take a little bit deeper dive and to talk about how that impacts operational efficiency in a business.

So. Kyle, talk to us a little bit about some of the, the pressure points that businesses experience when trying to, to level up their corporate social responsibility.

[Kyle] Yeah. Yeah. I think this really stems again, from this idea that CSR should be integrated and not just a cost line. Right. And so if you have an integrated model, even if you don't have an integrated model from the outset, you know, we certainly help businesses do that, but it is the, this idea.

If we want to leverage this movement, this practice to achieve the greatest results, both from a social, environmental and a business outcome, we have to have strategy, right. And if we don't have strategy, then we, we lack efficiency. And so thinking about, you know, we receive an overwhelming number of requests or just ways that we are asked or called upon to allocate our resources.

And if we don't have a lens through which to say no, or that doesn't fit, or that's out of alignment, then we kind of tend to stretch ourselves very thin and you get that kind of peanut butter approach to philanthropy, but also a peanut butter approach to how do we, how do we allocate our finite in all businesses, finite resources to achieve these, these outcomes that we desire.

[Graham] Yeah. You know, nobody likes saying no, everyone wants to be helpful. Everyone wants to be contributing to the world around us. And unfortunately there are so many great causes out there that it makes it hard at times to determine which organization we're going to align with or which, which cause we're gonna contribute to.

And so. You know, again, to your point. I think that that strategy from from an operational efficiency standpoint is critically important to be able to, to know what is it that we stand for? What are the, what are the components or the mission that are most central to us as an organization, to our team members, to our clients, how do we take into account our full scope of, of stakeholders?

[Kyle] Absolutely. Yeah. And, and I know your question was rhetorical, but it's worth, worth mentioning that the listening to those stakeholders, right. And really understanding what does land, because that can really guide strategy. And, and by, by a result of that guide your capacity and efficiency around your operations in this effect.

[Graham] You know, and we also hear about issues around capacity and, and the time and energy that it takes to do this, as you know, as it is with anything in life.

It takes energy and thoughtfulness to do something really well. And so again, if you have a really clear focus and strategy around this, it would likely take a little bit more energy and time. But also I think that you start to see those impacts being really amplified through that approach. Right? It's sort of the difference between a shotgun approach and a laser focus, right?

[Kyle] Mm-hmm.

[Graham] Where it's, you know, more, more of the, the widespread versus being very targeted and focused into where that impact is occurring.

[Kyle] Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and by having that strategy, that focus, it allows you to tell a much better story. Right.

And so we'll talk a little bit in some future episodes here of this little mini series about how you, you can really leverage and, and receive a better ROI within the scope of business visibility within team engagement, that where you can tell a really concise and clear, effective story around your CSR and your, the response, your corporate citizenry you you'll get more mileage out of this.

[Graham] Awesome. So tune in next week to hear more about how to really leverage your CSR to maximize team engagement and visibility.

[Kyle] And in the meantime, if you wanna reach out to us, don't hesitate to contact hello@seachangeltd.com or give us a call. My phone number (402) 430-1328.

[Graham] And my cell phone is (402) 430-6432. We'd love to hear from you. So please reach out and we'd be happy to talk.