Paradigm Norton - 2023 impact report review
This week’s review is from Paradigm Norton, an employee-owned financial planning business that has been a certified B Corp™ since 2019.
👍🏻 Three things I like:
1. OPEN & HONEST RE IMPACT OF INVESTMENTS
“How your pension or investments are invested can indirectly support significant carbon emissions … investors have both the opportunity and responsibility to influence positive change.”
They talk about the huge impact our investments and pensions can have, both in terms of negative and positive impact. When a business can ‘do good’ through the products or services it provides then its impact is far higher.
I like that they are working towards giving their clients reports that will provide insight into the carbon footprint of their investments and the impact of investment decisions.
2. DEVELOPING COACHING CAPABILITIES
They are intentionally developing coaching capabilities within their team as they’ve recognised how this can increase the value they deliver to clients.
There is a strong connection between financial wellbeing (their core service) and personal wellbeing (the value they deliver), and they’ve realised they can use coaching approaches to tease out the different aspects of this with clients.
3. EMPLOYEE OWNED
Becoming employee-owned has a transformational impact on the culture of a business, its strategy and decision making. I believe this ownership model has a key role to play in the economy of the future.
I was curious about how common it is in the financial planning space?
❓Three questions it raises:
1. WHAT WERE THEIR OBJECTIVES?
I was curious to know what their objectives had been for the past year? To what extent did they achieve them?
Overall, I felt the report would have benefitted from a bit more context-setting so I could see how their activities during the year fitted with their overarching vision and strategy, and the journey they’re on.
2. HOW DO THEY USE MATERIALITY TO PRIORITISE?
The potential impact Paradigm Norton can have through the investment advice they give far outweighs the impact they can have through activities such as charitable donations. I wonder how this influences their strategy and prioritisation?
3. WHAT CAN OTHERS LEARN FROM THEIR JOURNEY?
I’d love to learn more about their journey to employee ownership. And the work they’re doing on leadership succession planning.
I imagine many other founder-led businesses could learn from the journey they’ve been on and the decisions they’ve made.
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You can read the report for yourself here and let me know what you think.
If you’re preparing to write your own impact report, you might find my FREE Impact Reporting Roadmap helpful: