Stakeholders Over Shareholders: The Secret to Sustainable Business Practices
It is all too easy for businesses to lose sight of their mission—their soul, the very reason they exist. Unexpected challenges arise, targets are missed, and compromises are made, leading them down a slippery slope towards further missed targets and compromises…
But how can a business avoid falling in such trap? - The PRESCRIBE Model.
Pre - Before you even start (applies to a new businesses, a new project or even just the weekly ‘all hands’ meet), consider the purpose of what is about to be done, who benefits, how will they know they have benefited and what would be the promise you make to them?
S - Supplier
C - Customer/Clients
R - Regulator/Government
I - Investor
B - Business
E - Employee
S.C.R.I.B.E - This represents 6 key pillars of the different type of stakeholders. an organisation should consider what commitment it will make to each of these stakeholders, then embed those commitments in every process throughout the organisation. Use the commitment as a ‘sniff’ test when considering a new idea.
For example,
A customer-centric organisation may want to provide exceptional customer service. Pretty standard sentiment, some may see it as ‘fluffy’, However a commitment to achieving and maintaining a customer review score of ‘X’ number of stars, enables that commitment to be tested and compared to other organisations. It allows the team members to hold each other to account. In an effort to boost morale and productivity the Team Manager wants to switch the phone lines off early for ‘Funky Friday’, that may very well be a hit with employees, but what impact will that have on the customer, how will that impact be reflected in the review score?
In summary, an organisation taking a holistic view of all stakeholders and what commitments its makes to them. New concepts and processes can be better implemented and executed without sacrificing one stakeholder to benefit another. These commitments should be regularly reviewed and form part of the organisations DNA.