Social Impact Leaders, Ep. 5

Interviewee: Suzanna Nagle; Corporate Responsibility and Charities Consultant, London, UK

Interviewer: Elena Daniela Rapiteanu, Marketing Manager, Wesrom Corporation

Social Impact Leaders is a global initiative with the aim to inspire and guide more companies to get involved and make the greatest positive impact they're capable of by leveraging their own unique capabilities.

For example, through Wesrom Digital we decided we can use our capabilities in Public Relations to get in touch with and interview some of the best and most innovative social impact professionals from across the Globe. We can then use our other marketing capabilities to both generate and distribute engaging content, thus raising awareness and providing guidance.

Think about it: How could you use your capabilities to leave a positive impact?

About Suzanna Nagle

Throughout her over 16 years of experience in the Corporate Social Responsibility arena, Suzanna managed to develop and implement innovative solutions for bridging the gap between the corporate and not for profit sectors.

She has a proven track record of managing corporate foundations, strategy and global community programmes at Cadbury, UBS and Lloyd’s. She has collaborated with national and international NGOs, as well as grant-making trusts and foundations, to deliver projects across a wide range of social impact issues. However, she is mostly passionate about mental health, having even considered setting up a charity to provide specialised counselling services and employment support to young people with disabilities.

Interview highlights

Elena: Hello everyone! Thank you for joining us for some more social impact insights. I would like to welcome our guest, Suzanna Nagle. How are you today, Suzanna?

Suzanna: I’m very well thank you and glad to be here.  I hope I can provide some useful insights.

Elena: Firstly, could you please introduce yourself to our audience?

Suzanna: I am a Corporate Social Responsibility professional with over 16 years’ experience in the financial services, consumer goods, parliamentary and not for profit sectors.  During my career, I have worked at Cadbury, UBS and Lloyd’s developing and managing strategy, corporate foundations and global community programmes. I am now working as a freelance consultant advising companies on creating and developing their CSR programmes.

Elena: Impressive experience, congrats! You’ve been working in social impact before it becoming such a highly mediatized topic. Do you believe getting involved in community and social issues has become a must nowadays?

Suzanna: Yes!  I strongly believe that healthy back streets create healthy high streets and it is actually in the self-interest of companies to invest in their communities.  Healthy, prosperous, educated and socially inclusive communities are good for business.

In a competitive marketplace, in which consumers increasingly care about the social and ethical credentials of the companies they buy from, companies need to be seen to be actively engaged with the CSR agenda and to ensure that they are having a positive social, economic and environmental impact.

Talent attraction and retention is another key factor.  Three quarters of Millennials consider a company’s social and environmental commitments when deciding where to work and nearly two-thirds won’t take a job if a potential employer doesn’t have strong CSR practices. Meaningful engagement around CSR is a business imperative, impacting a company’s ability to appeal to, retain and inspire talent, particularly Millennials who will soon make up 50 percent of the workforce.  

Elena: What are the main factors triggering the increasing importance of companies having a positive social impact in your opinion?

Suzanna: As just mentioned, more than any other generation, the data shows that Millennials see a company’s commitment to responsible business practices as a key factor to their employment decisions, so attracting and retaining talent is one driver.   

It’s also no accident that CSR often sits in the Marketing & Communications department of most companies.  Companies increasingly understand the importance and relevance of CSR to building brand and reputation. The public perception of a company is critical to customer and shareholder confidence and many companies are now integrating their CSR practices into their marketing strategies.

I think also that globalisation and the advancement of digital technology has increased awareness of supply chain issues and social and environmental concerns.  This has heightened consumer sensitivity to these issues and, in turn, led to a greater impact when companies operate in ways that aren’t ethically, socially or environmentally responsible.  The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal is an example of the impact that one incident can have on a brand. Companies have woken up to this and are taking action.

Elena: Do you have a specific focus area in terms of social impact issues or are you more community oriented?

Suzanna: I don’t have a specific focus area.  I have worked with national and international NGOs to deliver projects across a wide range of social impact issues, including education and employability, mental health,   homelessness, HIV/AIDS, poverty alleviation, access to water, disability inclusion, and support for the Armed Forces Community.

Elena: How are you helping companies address these issues?

Suzanna: I believe it’s important for companies to identify where they can add the most value and have the greatest impact when thinking about which social issues to address, and it helps to do this in partnership with NGOs.   

LGBT and gender equality issues have enjoyed a high profile in recent years and significant progress has been made.  However, in consultation with stakeholders, I identified that disability inclusion was a part of the diversity agenda that lagged significantly behind in terms of profile and progress.  The statistics are stark: disabled people represent one fifth of the working age population in the UK, yet only 46% of working age disabled people are employed. This is a social inclusion issue and is down to opportunities.  

I helped Lloyd’s to address this by setting up a three-year partnership with Whizz-Kidz, a charity that provides young wheelchair users with mobility equipment and a range of other support, such as youth clubs and work placements. In addition to providing funding for a Mobility Therapist to support young people, I leveraged Lloyd’s unique position to advance disability inclusion across the Lloyd’s market by setting up a pilot work placement programme.  

60 companies in the Lloyd’s market were invited to take part and the programme was oversubscribed three times over by companies wishing to provide opportunities.  The will was there, it just needed to be made easy for them. And many of their buildings, such as the Walkie Talkie, were much newer and therefore more accessible than the Grade-1 listed Lloyd’s.  

Accessibility can be an issue for employers, but it’s something they need to work on and invest in.  The programme gave young disabled people the skills, confidence and experience they need to enter the workplace, as well as building employer’s confidence in welcoming a rich pool of disabled talent.

Elena: Great work! Are there any other issues you are considering to tackle in the future?

Suzanna: I am incredibly passionate about mental health and think that this issue is only set to grow.  As we learn about it through medicine, we are becoming more aware of just how big a problem it is.  There are many causes including increasingly urban infrastructures, digitalization, the 24 hour culture, the pace of urban work and life and social and cultural pressures and values.

I believe that the rapid advancement of digital technology in our personal and professional lives has had a hugely detrimental effect on our mental health.  The proliferation of communication channels and digitalization means that our brains are processing vast amounts of information in an already stressful environment, and there is pressure to respond quickly.  This over stimulation means that we’re finding it increasingly difficult to switch off.

Stress, depression or anxiety account for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health, an average of 23.8 days per year!  There has been a step change with regard to how companies are supporting employees in this space. In-house lunchtime yoga and meditation classes, sleep therapists, and the like were not such a feature of the workplace five years ago.  So, recognizing this issue, employers are moving to provide initiatives to help employees manage stress but there is much more to be done.

I was a founding member of the WorkAbility network at Lloyd’s where we identified mental health as our central focus and I organised a year-long series of events and initiatives to raise awareness of mental health.  I would like to work with individuals, communities and companies on their mental health agendas to increase well-being and build resilience.

Elena: Considering your extensive knowledge and experience, have you ever thought about developing your own social impact projects and maybe using crowdfunding for financing?

Suzanna: I have considered setting up a charity to provide specialized counselling services and employment support to young people with disabilities but I’ve never thought of crowdfunding it!

Elena: Interesting idea. What is your opinion on our Social Impact Leaders initiative at Wesrom?

Suzanna: I think it’s a wonderful initiative.  It’s great to see companies like Wesrom using their platform to demonstrate how companies can address social issues and the potential that they have for making a difference and having a positive social impact.  Thank you for inviting me to be part of it!

Elena: Thank you for sharing your great work and the interesting insights provided. Wishing you best of luck in your future endeavors. And thank you everyone for listening.

About Wesrom

This initiative is part of Wesrom's mission of helping people and organizations reach their full potential and leave an ever greater positive impact. Wesrom is an ethical multinational corporation operating in three distinct sectors through its independent business units: Wesrom Engineering, Wesrom Digital, and Wesrom University.