Let’s Move Past “Can We?” – How to Measure Your Business’s Kingdom Impact
Image by Annie Spratt
This article was originally presented at The Christian Economic Forum 2019.
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The Christian Economic Forum hosts a world-class Global Event each year to connect the top industry leaders and experts from around the world with other individuals who are compelled to act upon the principles of God’s economy. The following paper was presented at CEF 2019.
— by James Waters
Two years ago I quit my job to explore whether it was possible to measure the Kingdom of God coming through businesses and non-profits all over the world. My background was researching and helping the largest secular development organisations understand if they were being effective. I had seen how measuring complex aspects of human social and economic well-being, and organisations’ processes could move from “impossible,” to “doable.” And yet the concept of measuring “spiritual impact” remained elusive.
Two years later, after hundreds of conversations, dozens of metrics reviewed, organisations analysed, I am convinced this is not only possible, but critical. After all, in order to answer the question of this CEF theme, “How can we maximise our Kingdom impact through the allocation of resources?,” we need to know what Kingdom impact is! (I define “Kingdom impact” here as the social and spiritual impact that comes through the holistic operations of a company.) Likewise, we want to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us.[i] In my opinion, that looks like knowing the impact of our organisations or investments, so we can: 1) help address the needs of those we are serving more accurately; 2) improve the processes of our organisations so we are more effective; and 3) celebrate what God is doing with all our stakeholders. (See our concept note for more on this.[ii])
But how can this be done? How can a Kingdom business leader move from anecdote (about their spiritual and social impact) to actual evidence? And how can we become leaders who truly understand our Kingdom impact?
The “How” of Kingdom Impact Measurement
There are obviously many ways this can be done, but there are three key principles we have learned from approaching this challenge to date.
1. Think about your culture, your people, and your resources
Businesses tend to divide by function. There are the departments of production, purchasing, marketing, human resources, accounting, and research and development. But when we are considering the social and spiritual impact of a company, it is more useful to look at the areas through which the Kingdom of God may manifest.
Jesus talked about and demonstrated the Kingdom in a number of different ways:
He clearly gave us guidance for how we should conduct ourselves—the qualities of the Kingdom of God. These include doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly (Micah 6:8); and the righteousness, peace, and joy that should be evident in an environment or “culture” that reflects the Kingdom (Romans 14:17).
Similarly, there are some clear principles for how we should treat our fellow man. We have a duty of care to those with whom we interact (Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33); we are commanded to love one another (Romans 13:10), and to do good to those around us (Galatians 6:10). We are to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19–20), as well as to protect the poor and vulnerable (Psalm 82:3–4; Isaiah 1:17; and nearly 100 other passages). Jesus came to give “life to the full” (John 10:10), and “shalom” to mankind[iii] that looks like flourishing materially, relationally, personally, and spiritually.
Meanwhile God commanded us to steward the assets we are given (Matthew 25). He gave us clear direction on generosity (Malachi 3:10–12; Acts 20:35) and commanded us to “tend and care” for creation, appointing us as stewards of it (Genesis 1:28).
Having considered the ways in which the Kingdom of God is described throughout Scripture, I reviewed over 25 different spiritual impact frameworks or tools. Combining these insights, I believe there are three key “dimensions” through which social and spiritual impact occurs in a company: its culture and governance, its people, and its resources.
Practically, culture and governance includes a company’s vision and values, its governance processes, the working conditions, and operations. People includes the social and spiritual well-being of the CEO or founder, leadership team, employees, clients, and customers. And resources refers to the stewardship of financial, material, and environmental resources. To measure Kingdom impact, we need to think culture, people, and resources.
2. Ask the right people the right questions
Evidence has shown that the values a CEO holds are critical for the direction and success of a company—60% of a company’s market value is attributed to its reputation, and nearly half of that can be attributed to the CEO’s reputation.[iv]
But companies are about more than just the CEO, and success is about more than profit. Companies influence many different types of people, from the leadership team to employees as well as external stakeholders such as suppliers, clients, customers, and/or local community. Each of these can be thought of as part of the “value chain” of potential positive and/or negative social and spiritual impact a company can have. What was the experience of the supplier as they engaged with your procurement team? How does the local community think about your management of waste? Do employees experience the values you espouse in your board room? Are employees growing not only in their engagement with work, but also in their personal sense of calling and character?
All of these questions are answerable. We can measure different individuals’ social and spiritual well-being, or as we describe it, their love for God, love for self, and love for others. We can rely just on the opinion of the CEO, or we can dig a little deeper—gathering the perspectives of the supplier, the customer, and the entry-level employee. We believe these are all critical for understanding what God is doing through the whole company.
And this is hard work! But measuring employee engagement used to be deemed so complex that it remained an academic argument. Now robust measures exist, such as the “Gallup 12,” that business people agree on and use to improve their businesses. Research based on 30 million employees has shown that companies with highly engaged workers outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share.[v] What insights are we missing out on in terms of spiritual impact by not measuring the social, spiritual, and relational well-being of those in our companies?
3. Integrate into your strategic plan
“Data” is only useful when it’s used! So, a critical aspect of measuring Kingdom impact in a company or organisation is having a plan for how it will be integrated into company operations and management. From reviewing spiritual integration plans and practices of various organisations, we found three key aspects to this.
First, the information needs to be useful and interesting to wider stakeholders. The CEO and board may be interested in financial performance and employee engagement, but what does your community impact mean to employees?
Second, there needs to be a mechanism by which information can inform operations. This might be a theory of change through which the leadership understands how the company values will affect client satisfaction and exposure to the gospel. Or it might be a strategic plan that includes simple social and spiritual impact objectives, against which progress can be monitored. Either way, there are points of discussion where information on Kingdom impact can change the way operations are run, resources are allocated, or people are treated.
Thirdly, we need to think about not just what we believe or what we do, but what the wider group of stakeholders experience. Just as it is not enough simply to think that taking care of the poor is important, we want to move from just thinking that the spiritual health of our employees is important, to actually measuring actions and their experiences. We call this the “values,” “actions,” and “fruit” of a company.
There are some great examples where these principles have been applied. The Zappos company cultivated a culture of happiness through measuring and aiming for “profits, passion and purpose.” Non-profits like HOPE International use tools such as “Mission True” to ensure they are not deviating from their vision and mission. Meanwhile organizations like International Care Ministries (ICM) look into the spiritual health of not just their beneficiaries but also to staff by using their “Spiritual Temperature Assessment.” And organizations like IBEC help businesses to integrate a “Spiritual impact plan” into their daily operations. There are few examples where all these principles are applied holistically however, and changes are made to maximise impact, on the basis of solid measurement. This is a trend we hope to see change.
In summary, I believe the faith-driven investment movement is at an exciting juncture—one that will be catalysed by some robust impact measurement. This measurement should “speak the language” of what already exists in this space (e.g., assessing governance processes or using validated measures for jobs created), whilst being distinctive to our Christ-centred approach (e.g., valuing prayer or understanding employees spiritual engagement). This Kingdom impact measurement is possible, and by considering the different dimensions of impact (culture, people, and resources), and having a plan to adjust to the findings, I believe we can truly maximise the impact of our resources.
[i] Matthew 25:14–30.
[ii] Kingdom Impact Framework (KIF) main proposal. https://www.eidoresearch.com/kif/
[iii] Partners Worldwide, “Seeking Shalom through stories and assessment” (2018). Also described here: http://businessasmission.com/business-shalom/.
[iv] K. Makovsky, “The Impact of the CEO” (2013). https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2013/03/11/the-impact-of-the-ceo/#756f542151e7.
[v] Gallup, “The Engaged Workplace.” https://www.gallup.com/services/190118/engaged-workplace.aspx.
[1] Matthew 25:14–30.
[1] Kingdom Impact Framework (KIF) main proposal. https://www.eidoresearch.com/kif/
[1] Partners Worldwide, “Seeking Shalom through stories and assessment” (2018). Also described here: http://businessasmission.com/business-shalom/.
[1] K. Makovsky, “The Impact of the CEO” (2013). https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2013/03/11/the-impact-of-the-ceo/#756f542151e7.
[1] Gallup, “The Engaged Workplace.” https://www.gallup.com/services/190118/engaged-workplace.aspx.