I have often wondered what the real social responsibility of a business is.
A business is set up to maximise profits. It has to continuously grow, compete and survive within an unforgiving economic system. That, in itself, is an incredibly hard endeavour. Large corporations consume resources at scale but also have the ability to contribute to causes they care about, adopt more sustainable business practices, and deliver meaningful value to their customers. Smaller businesses contribute by creating employment and livelihoods that help build the backbone of society. But is there something more?
A business, an organisation, a corporation—these are all ultimately an amalgam of people. They represent a small universe. They are not distinct from the society they are a part of, so the expectations we have of these institutions cannot be too different from what we expect in a just and equitable world. Generations of people deserve the opportunity to earn a living, build meaningful lives, and do so without sacrificing their health—mental or physical—or their sense of self.
One of the most fundamental ways organisations can create positive social change is by creating access. The more we spread opportunity, the more likely we are to hire people who do not always come from privilege. This is often much harder than taking the easier, more predictable route, especially when there is relentless pressure to grow and deliver results in short timeframes.
So what gives?
Organisations may not experience the downside of these choices for decades, but societies do. When opportunity remains concentrated, invisible systems of inequality and exclusion continue largely unchecked.
No amount of brilliance should ever replace the basic decency we owe one another as human beings. Given the amount of time people spend at work, deeply toxic environments can damage not only individual physical and mental health but also families and communities.
You can build a demanding, high-performance culture and still treat people with respect.
Most people decisions are ultimately judgement calls. Keeping everyone happy is neither possible nor necessarily the right objective for any company. But striving to do the right thing as objectively as possible—and executing difficult decisions with fairness, transparency and empathy—is incredibly important. You will not get everything right every time, but you can strive to learn and improve with every decision.
It doesn't matter what a company sells. Every business is, at its core, a people business. When organisations get this wrong, the long-term social costs are enormous. Capitalism and care do not have to exist in opposition. They can, and should, coexist.
Organisations also have the power to influence broader societal norms. When many companies introduced parental leave for fathers, they did more than create an employee benefit. They helped signal that fathers have an important role to play in raising children. Over time, this contributed to greater social acceptance of shared caregiving, benefiting families and society as a whole. Businesses can become powerful catalysts for cultural progress.
But what is the incentive to do all of this?
I believe socially responsible businesses are ultimately winning businesses. They simply take longer to build.
Perhaps we have been defining the output of a business too narrowly. We often think a company produces software, groceries, financial services or cars. It does. But it also produces something far less visible. Every organisation creates managers, leaders, teams, careers, confidence, anxiety, belonging, exclusion, friendships, role models and, in many cases, the values that people carry back into their homes. Work is one of the largest social institutions in modern life. The culture an organisation creates does not stay within its walls; it shapes families, communities and, over time, society itself. In that sense, people are not simply a resource that enables the business—they are one of its most important products.
Just as markets reward companies that demonstrate financial strength and sustainable growth, I hope we eventually see analysts and investors place much greater weight on how organisations create value for people. I would love to see these qualities reflected not only in narratives but, in some meaningful way, in valuation itself. I am not a finance expert, but I can say with a reasonable degree of confidence that this would ultimately prove to be sound financial thinking.
The businesses that endure are rarely those that optimise for the next quarter alone. They are the ones that build trust over decades both internally and externally.
Let's keep the dialogue going. This is possible.