Social Enterprise
The Future of Employment

Holly Simmons, Bath 12/12/18

Entrepreneurs Society, University of Bath

As firms that reinvest or donate their profits to create positive social change, Social Enterprise UK defines social enterprises as ‘businesses which are set up to change the world’.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work at The Baobab Network. Sustainability and ethics lie at the core of our business; the company’s mission "to drive growth, innovation and investment across Africa" is not the meaningless output of a marketing project. It constitutes motivation for its workers. Despite corporates' tentatives to encompass social values via tick box CSR programmes, the real motivators within these companies continue to be financially oriented. Be it making profits for stakeholders, for owners or for yourself, the lack of genuine ethical and emotional motivators for the employee are, I believe, compromising worker effectiveness.

Social Enterprises are therefore…

• Setting a new precedent for diversity in recruiting. 40% have a female CEO, almost 1/3rd have an individual on their leadership team with a BAME background, and they are renowned for employing individuals who may be more isolated in the traditional jobs market.
• Offering fair wages to their staff and strive for inclusivity. 90% seek to engage all employees in the decision making process and despite common misconceptions of low wages, they have significantly smaller pay ratios than most for-profit businesses.
• always seeking innovation, operating in a variety of sectors. Over the past 12 months social enterprises have released more original products and services than all other SMEs combined.
• Operating in small, efficient teams. Role are constantly changing, encouraging development of diverse skillsets. Decisions and choices of each and every employee are integral to the business success.
• Collaborating with corporate firms, acting as part of their supply chains. This offers a fantastic insight into different organisational structures.
• Running on ambition. Social enterprises are thriving; they are scaling internationally with growing teams and turnovers as their social mission act as the foremost motivator for their employees.
  
  

The industry, albeit complex, is booming. It is evolving and ever-expanding with over 70,000 social enterprises employing over 1 million people in the UK alone and 47% of sector companies expecting to create new job roles during the next 12 months.

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