Is impact reporting making an impact?

This is a question that I’ve found myself thinking about a great deal in recent months.

I don’t think I’m being overly dramatic when I say that the world, as we know it, is burning. Quite literally, in the case of climate change. And while the planet burns, we are facing into the inevitable existential crisis that comes with the growing chasms of inequality in society, war, and economic hardship.

We’ve got a big job to do if we have any hope of living on the planet at all, let alone on a version of it that we want to be on.

And it often feels like we’re having to magic up answers out of nowhere, with very little. I’ve read a lot of research over the past year or so that explains how we’re all still processing the trauma of the pandemic and, as a result, we’re struggling with exhaustion and burn out. We’re also grappling with a very new set of challenges that require us to think and act entirely differently to how we have before.

So, surely this means that it is imperative that we focus our limited time, effort, and resources where they can make a biggest difference? And is reporting on the impact we’re having, rather than doing more of it, really that?

As a communications professional, answering this question has become especially important to me.

Impact reporting often falls at the feet of communications teams and their advisors. And I know, from first-hand experience, that developing and launching an impact report requires a lot of valuable brain power, over an extended period of time. Wouldn’t it be nice, fellow comms people, to think that we’re making a difference, rather than compounding a problem, during these many, many hours of work?

I am also a firm believer that my job is done best when I think beyond communications - and consider how I can help the organisations I work with shape their reputation by doing, rather than just telling. I don’t think communications professionals should, or even can anymore, be told to stay in their ‘can’t you just PR it?’ lane. Instead, we have a duty to shape the decisions that sit behind the communications we advise on, getting to the heart of what a business does to ensure that it lives its purpose and builds the foundations for a strong reputation as a result - not as a first principle.

As ever, my clients have taught me a great deal about impact reporting and the ways in which it can be valuable. And so, thanks to them, where I have landed is that impact reporting can have a significant impact – when it has certain attributes attached to it.

Impact reporting can be an incredibly powerful driving force for change. But this can only happen when what it reports against are clear targets that have accountability baked into them. Reporting cannot drive momentum when it cannot demonstrate progress towards a goal.

Organisations cannot expect to demonstrate progress when making it isn’t a priority. Impact reporting can help, by committing organisations to communicating to its stakeholders - both internally and externally - on a regular basis, thereby giving it milestones by which ‘to get stuff done’. But that accountability needs to be matched internally, by giving individual teams and leaders the responsibility to make progress and empowering them to do so.

And, although the nuts and bolts of drafting the report and getting stakeholders engaging with it comes down to the expertise of the comms and marketing team, the ultimate responsibility for impact cannot be on them alone. The reason behind any ESG related activity can’t be for the sole purpose of creating a shiny report and bolstering reputation. It has to come from a place where the organisation believes, at its very core, that it has a duty to make the world in which it operates a better place, and that has to be led from the top. The ability to report on what transpires should be a bonus.

Finally, working with the global team at KPMG to launch its latest impact report reminded me that telling strong stories about individual impact can inspire and encourage others to do the same. It’s a domino effect.

The work that the KPMG team did to source incredible stories of individuals who have been enabled by their firm to make their communities better places to live, do work that tackles climate problems and gives more people in society a voice will go a long way in encouraging others to make their own difference. The cumulative effect, in an organisation of more than 250,000 people, is huge. The power of storytelling is something that communicators are keenly aware of, and we shouldn’t forget that when it comes to impact reporting.

Impact reporting is at its most valuable when it isn’t thought of as a BAU smokescreen. Instead, it needs to be seen as an output that comes from a genuine desire to catalyse change – something that can inspire or force difficult conversations.

And now, more than ever, comms teams in-house and external advisors alike, have a crucial role to play to help elevate the role of impact reporting and make the most of the opportunities for change that it presents.

 Janelle Romano, Director, Apella Advisors.

To read the latest KPMG: Our Impact Plan, click here KPMG: Our Impact Plan - KPMG Global