Social Enterprise
Two pieces, but how do they fit together?
A friend's six year old daughter watched me struggle with a puzzle consisting of two bent nails which, according to the picture on the box, did fit together.
"Can I try?" She asked.
One small frown of concentration, a deft twist of the hands and they were linked. How did she do it so quickly?
That's social enterprise in a nutshell. The fitting together of two elements that seemingly don't fit together; not for profit endeavour with profit-led enterprise.
Since the early 2000's we have had a deep involvement with the creation of, and ongoing support for, a large range of social enterprises ranging from manufacturing, service industry, technology and even media production and the creative arts.
"The keys to social enterprise are to invest time upfront… understand your core business… find the right partners… and prepare for change."
Ruth Lancaster, International Centre for Social Franchising.
We would like to share some of this experience with you here to help you make the pieces fit together sucessfully.
Serco HMP Lowdham Grange. Enterprise creation for rehabilitation
The success of our 'Zero Tolerance' anti-drug smuggling campaign for Serco in 2004 elevated Serco's performance standards to the highest for UK prisons. This opened the door for tremendous new business development opportunities in custodial contracts across the UK and Australasia. Our next project was to assist in the development of their new social enterprise venture; C3 Enterprises (Commitment, Capability & Capacity) under contract Director John Biggin.
Minimum Viable Product
After careful stakeholder mapping and a full environmental analysis the strategy was chosen. Internal stakeholder perception of risk was addressed with the setup of a small scale manufacturing pilot linked to prisoner education and training. Branding was undertaken to position the enterprises as capacity extension support provider to business rather than a competitor.
Careful stakeholder communications introduced this venture to the local business community. Small scale projects and careful measurement and evaluation soon demonstrated the achievement of core KPI's including risk management, training and positive behavioural outcomes and, of course, profit to power future growth.
A non-industry specific brand based on a question intended to start a conversation: 'What does your business need?'
Launched in challenging economic conditions in the UK, C3 Enterprises was carefuy targetted and marketed through existing B2B channels as a friend, not an enemy.
Scaled growth
A carefully measured business development campaign saw C3 Enterprise increase in both capacity and capability across both horizontal and vertical market sectors. In addition to the identification of office furniture supply, environmental concerns were addressed with a department specialising in the strip down of e-waste and cardboard for recycling.
Click the image above to download a PDF of the C3 Enterprise brochure.
Though undertaken in a custodial environment care was taken in the choice of key messages to ensure that the rigorous work practice standards were clearly evident.
Expansion
Following the success of the C3 Enterprise pilot at HMP Lowdham Grange additional enterprises were created across Serco's growing UK prison contract portfolio. Based upon the importance played by communications an in-house artwork studio was created which enabled new areas of training for prisoners to address not only manual skills but support literacy, numeracy and, through creativity, self expression.
Social Enterprise as an operational strategy
In 2011 the UK government trialled an initiative called Payment By Results (PBR). This scheme focussed on the reduction of recidivism as a key measure of operational success for the participating prisons.
Five prisons were chosen for the pilot, two were privately contracted; HMP Doncaster (Serco) and HMP Peterborough (Sodexo).
In both of these social enterprises played a key part in providing the essential training and skills necessary for effective prisoner re-integration post-relase.
As C3 Enterprise's capacity increased, niche markets were explored to broaden the scale of operation.
Though the strategy and initial creative direction for the This Way Out project was created by GDA Design, arttwork and filming was subcontracted out to a social enterprise.
From formative partner to customer
Now contract director at PBR participant HMP Doncaster, John Biggin employed artistic director Cat Jones to create Second Shot a social media enterprise offering commercial media services. This development gave participants the chance to learn graphic design, filmmaking and all the skills involved in running a production company. You can earn more about Second Shot here.
After creating the branding and communication strategy for Serco's PBR response; This Way Out, we contracted Second Shot to produce all of the communication media in-house, including the filming of a short video to introduce the scheme.
Powered by technology…
The final example of our ongoing drive to expand upon the potential of well conceived and executed social enterprise can be seen in the 2008 Serco enterprises proposal project: Artemis.
The BBC were faced with the potential loss of culturally important legacy programming held on decaying magnetic tape. Artemis offered a cost-efficient proposal for the digitisation and meta-tagging of content by trained prisoners as part of their re-education and rehabilitation. A far cry from the traditionally held image of sewing mail sacks and a testament to combined innovation and realised achievement in social enterprise development.
It has been a real pleasure working with GDA over the years… right from that first meeting in Lowdham, achieving our drug use reduction targets. I feel that many of the great initiatives I have been involved in over the years have succeeded due to your support.
Click the picture above to watch the This Way Out, introductary video. Directed by GDA Design & produced by the social enterprise Second Shot.
Click the picture above to download a copy of the initial Serco Enterprises Artemis proposal, prepared for discussion with the BBC.
Thanks for your help with this business case proposal, it looks great. The meeting with BBC Commercial Policy was great and we passed that hurdle – I now have to meet with BBC Procurement and Editorial Policy before we go to the Head of FM&T.
Compete, collaborate or both? Introducing the 'frenemy'
Through having signed non-disclosure agreements, GDA Design were cleared to work with both Serco and competitor Sodexo to develop social enterprises. Within the scope of the Payent By Results program, GDA Design played a significant role in developing potental social enterprises within 2 of the 5 pilot prisons; HMP Doncaster (Serco) and HMP Peterborough (Sodexo).
"There's an ongoing tension between collaboration and competition in the space of social enterprise".
Clary Castrission, 40K Group.
Similar projects, differing enterprises but generating the same positive societal outcomes. Click the image to download a copy of the Sodexo Justice Services Brochure.
Knowing when to compete and when to collaborate is an important keystone in effective strategy. Our skillsets enabled both PBR pilot contracts to prove the efficacy of the model through differing implemenations of social enterprise.
Based on a history of proven delivery in catering and service industries, Sodexo took a different route in the establishment of social enterprises linked to their sector positioning.
This controlled sharing of knowledge through a mutually beneficial relationship as 'frenemies', expedited social enterprise development through the controlled sharing of best practice to advance program outcomes for the greater good.
From strategy through stakeholder communication…
In terms of tone, Sodexo Justice Business services evidenced the company values and focussed on the transition from prisoner to positive contributor in society upon release in its depiction of its 'workforce.' At all levels care was taken to ensure that all aspects of image, design and copy content and tone articulated this clearly and consistently.
… all aspects of Sodexho's enterprise marketing was targetted, professional and effective.
Our ability to convey a range of positive emotions through both subject and composition proved essential. Due to the nature of individual justice contractor provider contracts and the wishes of individuals, showing prisoners faces was not always possible. Our experience ensured that this did not impact on the quality of the images we produced.
Building social enterprise from the ground up
In 2013 Serco Asia Pacific created an emerging leaders competition to drive innovation for future business expansion. Senior management from all of its Asia Pacific contracts were invited to enter their business cases for peer review. The winners would have their proposals funded for development within a two round competition designed to identify emerging leaders within the business.
Based on our experience and reputation for marrying commercial acumen with social program experience in enterprise creation we were chosen as strategic project partners by two entrants in Western Australia.
Mia's Tale
Click the image above to download Mia's Tale.
This compelling proposal graphically illustrated the lifetime care needs of one person in todays society. In so doing Mia's Tale opened a case to reposition Serco as provider of a contigous range of 'for life' services rather than a 'per-service' provider. A bold vision was matched by a powerful creative treatment in an A3 brochure to promote Serco as a provider capable of using it's infrastructure to support care delivery partners across a range of supports, all with a high degree of interaction. Karen Woodiwiss' 'Mia's tale' won round one of the competition.
Working with Giles enables you to work and think in areas and ways that you've never done before. He does it all so innocuously and catches you by surprise. It was very positive and invigorative to work with someone so enthusiastic about what they do and engaging in how they deliver it. I enjoyed it very much indeed.
Mr & Mrs Jones
'Mr & Mrs Jones' was a business case analysis for the delivery of services direct to the public.
Peter Hall's proposal for round two of the emergent leaders initiative explored the pathways for transition to enable Serco to change from being recognised for delivering public services to government to being recognised for delivering services to the public for government.
What if Serco provided services directly to 'Mr & Mrs Jones'?
After employing our experience in marrying strategic objectives to the stakeholder communications necessary to underpin their achievement, we were delighted when Peter's proposal won the second round.
He [Giles] made links to experiences in both my industry and in the business world, and gave sense to what I was thinking and a focus to where I wanted to take it. He gave my idea the eloquence and business clarity it needed.
Value add supports for existing social enterprises
Drug & Alcohol support agency Holyoake's DRUMBEAT (Discovering Relationships Using Music, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes, and Thoughts) program is the world's first structured learning program using music, psychology and neurobiology to power reconnection with self and others.
As an established social enterprise Drumbeat was being challenged by a rival offering created by a founding partner at a time when the enterprise was due to expand internationally.
With regards Drumbeat there is a lot that can be achieved to promote it to greater effect given it's current competition. We are just this week going through a process to plan DRUMBEAT's replication and scaling up overseas using a social franchising model…all very exciting.
Dealing with competition is an issue which often proves both new and challenging to many social enterprises. In a world powered by social media the part played by reputational management in marketing has now become an essential skill for any enterprise - social or not!
Through desk research, a staff workshop and client consultation we were able to create a strategy to mitigate the negative effects of external claims and competition and recommend areas for consolidation and improved stakeholder communication.
Enterprise & Cultural connection
Our ongoing work with Badgebup Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) is included in this article as it addresses another rich layer within social enterprise. Cultural connection plays a vital component in establishing social enterprise in Aboriginal communities and is essential to drive downstream benefits within these regional communities to close the gap.
For over five years now we have worked closely with BAC to ensure that the essential cultural core of their business, through connection to land, is fully articulated in all strategy and evidenced in all stakeholder communication.
The essence of this can be seen in the overlap of the four enterprise areas that are currently developing; Ngoolark Rangers, Merentj Enterprises for bushfoods, Mungart Seed Harvesting and Badgebup Cultural Heritage.
Seen from a cultural perspective each enterprise works toward the culminative achievement of a series of imperatives; reconnection of youth to culture, restoration of land, the management of traditional knowledge and the reunification of community.
All of these, in turn address the key recomendations in the State Government's Closing The Gap recommendations.
Capability and capacity building
BAC's vision to close the gap through cultural, physical and mental wellbeing and education and training articluates across four pillars.
Effective communication is vital to ensure that external stakeholders are fully aware of both the organisation's enterprises and their benefits they deliver to all stakeholder groups. This plays a vital role in effective partnership building. These partnerships, used in conjunction, provide the momentum with which to enter new conversations, increase exposure and ultimately, tender for and win more business. In this manner increases in capacity and capability, aligned through effective strategy and promoted via effective communications, power growth in social enterprise aligned to the achievement of organisational objectives.
New Business Development
BAC's enterpises all work toward the achievement of its vision by working harmoniously together to maximise impact and return on investment.
An effective social enterprise must meet both the needs of its stakeholders and resonate with the current socio-political issues that drive both public and private sources of investment.
Badgebup Aboriginal Corporation's Strategic Plan and ongoing operation is carefully crafted to ensure that all opportunities for both business development and funding are both identified and explored to the fullest extent.
So, how do we build better social enterprises together?
Push Consulting have a long and rich history in supporting successful social enterprise across many countries, sectors and cultures.
Our tried and tested approach is to blends our proven ability to drive positive change within culture; strategy, marketing, execution and evaluation, with our strategic experience within both the wider socio-economic and policy-setting arenas.
As we hope you can see, the benefts of our methodology have been felt across many areas of implementation and have positively impacted on both organisations and participants.
Whether you are starting with a blank sheet of paper or wishing to breathe new life into an existing enterprise, we can help you with a range of proven supports including:
- How to effectively implement the methodologies of Simon Sinak, Jim Collins and Peter Drucker et al, to build innovative and agile enterprises that deliver profitably on social outcomes.
- Strategic & operational planning seen through multiple lenses to better encompass the combined needs of the commercial, social and cultural domains.
- Operational tactics to embed socially valid outcome measures alongside financial metrics.
- Targeted and measured stakeholder communication strategies to inform and empower service development.
- Strategy and tactics to in-build sustainabiity within enterprises.
- The need for effective governance to manage the expectations of all stakeholders effectively.
How we can help you develop sustainable businesses and enterprises that delivers both ethical profitabilty for reinvestment and measurable social impact?
Call us now on +61 (0)8 6102 4920 or use the form below to get in touch or leave us your thoughts on this article.
Share
Pro Bono
Every month we allocate a fixed amount of Pro Bono time to help organisations.