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“The business of doing business is to improve the state of the world.” — Marc Benioff
This principle guides us at Salesforce — as it does for many other companies. We can and should blend doing good with doing well. We not only believe in our products, but we believe in combining good business with good works.
At the Fortune CEO Series at the Salesforce World Tour in London, speakers shared ways that business leaders can use technology to close the inequality gap — and encouraged attendees to find ways to use business as a force of positive change.
Adam Lashinsky, Executive Editor, Fortune moderated a panel with Cherie Blair, CBE, QC, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Michael Møller, Director-General, United Nations Office of Geneva, Oliver Lee, CEO, The Challenge, and Tony Prophet, Chief Equality Officer, Salesforce.
“The business of business isn't just about creating profits for shareholders -- it's also about improving the state of the world and driving stakeholder value.” - Marc Benioff, Founder & CEO, Salesforce
The Fortune CEO panel agreed with the notion that driving stakeholder value and doing good should be prioritized alongside creating shareholder profits.
Cherie Blair noted that all research being done says that companies that are committed to be good corporate global citizens feel better and perform better in return for their investors. When businesses lead with appeasing our shareholders, many issues come to light, she said. This can cause a lack of investment in necessary innovation for long-term success, extraction of value rather than creation of value, and worst of all — disengaged and unhappy employees. Blair said that with the new “conscious consumer,” customers not only want their products to be high quality — but they want to feel good about the products they are buying.
In Benioff's 2015 Huffington Post article, A Call for Stakeholder Advocates, he quotes Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum: “Corporate management isn't just accountable to shareholders… businesses must focus on serving the interests all stakeholders -- customers, employees, partners, suppliers, citizens, governments, the environment and any other entity impacted by its operations.”
This is how Oliver Lee, the CEO of The Challenge got involved with Salesforce. The Challenge partners with corporations to improve society as a whole. The Challenge does not just get monetary donations from corporations, but the companies also get involved by donating time, energy, and expertise. In return, companies like Salesforce are are seeing an improved overall workforce - because of apprenticeship programs like The Challenge, contributing to their own success.
The digital revolution provides a platform for change like never before.
The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women is able to work globally because of recent advances in digital technology. Their online mentoring programs are able to connect people across the world with skill sets that may not be available to in certain regions.
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is a huge proponent of using the online world as a force for good. He has recently started Wikitribune, a crowdsourced site that will pay journalists to write real news. Wikitribune is trying to tackle fake news by using human contributors and journalists to stem the tide of fake news, in part propagated by social media algorithms, Wales said.
From research done by the Edelman Trust Barometer, we know that trust is at an all time low with CEOs and government leaders. Wales is looking to use a mix of the human touch and the digital revolution to guarantee consumer trust in Wikitribune. This is part of his belief that social networks must have a social purpose. See our interview with Wales here.
“Every single human being on this planet needs to be brought along in the search for a better future, a better life, and a better well being,” panelist Michael Moller said.
When asked how businesses could work with the UN to accomplish this goal, Moller responded, “call me.”
Moller is working to fix the 17 major issues with the world, now described as SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals, that the United Nations has identified as necessary to achieve by 2030. Inequality is part of the reason that these 17 issues exist, and the development goals include fixing elements like poverty, hunger and gender inequality. Closing the inequality gap will lead us to solving all of these issues, panelists said.
Cherie Blair noted that even with all of the research that tells us that inclusion, equality, and diversity make companies perform better, Deloitte research has found that these issues are not on major CEO's agendas. How can this still be an issue? Many leaders think of diversity and equality as a “tick box” exercise, and the boards are largely made up of white men, Blair said.
Salesforce's Chief Equality Officer, Tony Prophet, is looking at ways to prioritize equality and inclusion in all areas of the company. Blair noted that leaders must walk the walk, not just talk the talk, and when they are hiring, instead of looking at who is already doing the job, and trying to clone that person, they should be looking specifically something different when hiring.
Salesforce is sponsoring The CEO Initiative, Fortune’s inaugural conference in September that will celebrate and highlight how business can be a force for good.
