What’s all this talk of a new framework for LBG?
Well spotted! First, let’s be clear what isn’t changing. It’s still all about the positive effect a company can have on society and on issues that matter, working through communities and causes. We’re still rigorous in distinguishing between resources applied, activities undertaken and results achieved (inputs, outputs and impacts). And we still think that measurement is an essential component of good management and effective reporting. So it’s still all about making a difference with corporate resources in ways that make sense for your business.

What’s new is we’ve added two additional routes to achieve that change. The tried and trusted route through community contributions of money, people and in-kind resources remains. The new routes are, first, how the business is innovating its core products, services and operations to have added societal impact, and second, harnessing the power of the existing procurement spend by switching to suppliers who (for example) employ people facing disadvantage in the workplace or reinvest their profits back into the community.

This goes beyond business-as-usual and into what some call ‘shared value’. Whatever the concepts, it’s all about achieving more with limited resources.

How does this affect me?
These new routes are there for you to use if you want to. Working over several years with a group of LBG member companies, we’ve developed a whole set of guidelines, case studies, criteria, measurement suggestions and lots more. We’ve just published two how-to-do-it guides and are rolling those out through webinars and one-to-one support. The key thing to understand is that these are not a new set of ‘rules’ to comply with. It’s all about giving you help to expand ways to accomplish what you are trying to achieve, and equipping you for conversations with colleagues across the business. By following the guidance you are more likely to achieve results, and as ever with LBG, a common approach allows you to learn from others through benchmarking and sharing experiences.

OK, sounds good. So what’s next?
First, have a great Christmas and New Year break! Then when you are back, look up the new guidance, let us know if you have any questions, sign in for the training webinars, and get started. There’s more to come from LBG in 2020 – more tools and guidance, new ways to access our services, and a big push to raise the reputation that comes to member companies who use LBG to increase their societal impact.