Welcome your new C-level executive

sivanlachman
Feb 21, 2022
4 min read

If you have been following my posts, you must have realized that I am all in for impact measurement. Apparently, I am not alone. Joining me are Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and rapper Lil Nas X.

Over the past few years, organizational purpose is become imperative for the long term growth of companies. It defines the fundamental reason for being, the actual vision of the company. A 2019 study by EY found that 85% of executive are likely to recommend a company with a well-defined purpose. Others combine long term income and promoting sustainability as a definition for purpose.

As expectations rise, the need for an executive position leading and encoding these values into the company's DNA and doing is clear. A Chief Impact Officer will align, operationalize, measure progress and hold all levels of the organizational accountable for their contribution.

One major responsibility of the CIO is measuring and communicating the company’s impact, others include:

Identifying the company's impact and the strategies necessary to achieve it via an existing framework, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Tracking impact metrics to guide decision-making
Aligning impact strategy the business strategy
Serving as an ambassador communicating the impact to internal and external stakeholders on the organization’s social, cultural, and environmental issues.

As more companies adopt ESG practices and embed purpose into their practices, expect the popularity of these roles to grow.

Why should a startup have a CIO ?

In a nutshell, the Chief Impact Officer is responsible for every process that generates any kind of social and environmental impact, defined by their company’s mission and values and aligned with its technology and business goals. Having a CIO early on will ensure that sustainability is embedded into the company's DNA from day one.

Impact isn’t a vertical, its in the entire company and its technology. Even a company whose line of business isn’t directly concerned with climate action needs to get serious about impact. Whether it’s global warming or social injustice, the world is facing challenges that require everyone to pull their weight. That especially includes the startups that have raised hundreds of millions, now permeating just about every aspect of our lives from essentials to leisure.

Admittedly the title can inspire some skepticism; nevertheless there is good reason for every startup to embrace the Chief Impact Officer into their C-suite. Here’s why:

1. Market expectations

We are moving into a world where a startup’s values will directly impact their ability to hire great talent, be part of the risk mitigation plans, close deals, keep up with policy, and generally speaking, do business.

Times of crisis make people reflect on their values. These past years have shown us devastating wildfires, the #metoo movement all the way to the pandemic that has exposed the severity of inequality worldwide. In parallel, tech startups have taken center stage with 2021 as a record-breaking year for startup funding. Therefore all eyes are now on startups to step up and do something to address the mess.

2. Quick action

The market expects you to act. Having a CIO on board will enable the overview needed to see where your company needs to focus its efforts. For example, a retail company wanting to enter the e-commerce space; fin-tech services can add value by making their service more inclusive for people with disabilities; gaming companies can pivot to furthering UX education and creating UX for good.

3. Impact is strategy

Every startup's founder claims that impact is something important to his or her company. To show sincerity and avoid lip service, this must be addressed thoroughly. Championing Impact at the highest level will get it integrated within a startup’s complex structure and strategy. As this is a cross-functional high-level strategy forming, It will require a team, a strategy and a roadmap that spans innovation, human resources, marketing, operations, legal and more.

4. Everybody does something

A startup isn't an enterprise, not in finances or human resources. While larger companies are doing more through DE&I or philanthropy than ever before, the overall sentiment is still that startups aren’t doing enough. Having an executive dedicated to your sustainability and impact values through strategy and measurement will go to changing that conception.

5. Long term thinking

If you believe that you are building something for the long term, then you need to think about moral sustainability. When it comes to your impact, you can’t borrow from the future — it isn’t something that you can just “work out later” once the company is public. Going public will require deep changes that can be avoided by introducing sustainability early.

For this reason, I believe that freshly founded companies have the best chance of establishing impactful frameworks in their companies. The bigger your company gets, the harder it becomes to proactively embed impact into your operations. Adding defensive measures further on down the road will inevitably get written off as insincere. And it has to be made as a team, with the support (and passion) of everyone at the executive and board level.

With power comes great responsibility and growth must have meaning. Don't abuse the power you have gained.