why cowbells, 3-year olds, and punching bags are a better way to create social enterprise policy

"We need to get more experimental with creating national policy" - is the encouraging takeaway I took from my recently being part of the global Social Enterprise World Forum Policy Forum event.

Showcasing a range of insights and experiences from around the world, the Forum offered a rare opportunity for people within all parts of the wider social enterprise ecosystem (from start-up social entrepreneurs, to global policy managers in the UN), who wouldn't normally be able to meet each other to question, challenge, encourage, and inspire in ways that don't usually happen.

It was also far from what some might have expected in terms of how research was shared, ideas provoked, and people engaged, as the title of this blog post suggests!

Listening to the debates; reflecting with others in the speed networking slots; (and yes, for those of you who know me, I was also doing lots in the chats of each session I joined); it struck me that a lot of policy we've seen in the UK over the last 20-30 may actually not have been that great for the impacts they've created.

Sharing stories through the conversations made me realise/re-enforced my ideas that:

- the reason we have an apparent glut of social investment that most lenders are struggling to 'get out', is because it was a government policy agenda that said it would be a 'magic bullet' that the sector needed (but with little research or evidence to substantiate this)?

- it was also government policy that gave us the Community Interest Company (CIC), at a time when it admitted that the wider sector had no stated need or appetite for any new legal forms. It also created them in a way that simply 're-badged' various existing company features as something 'new and unique'. Perhaps this the is reason why CICs seem to have always struggled to have more longevity than regular private businesses, and are usually more reliant on grants than charities are?

- and those early policy agendas also drove the impetus for social enterprises to be delivering public sector contracts: yet the researches that have been published in subsequent years point to most social enterprises not using this as a mainstay of how they trade, and for those that do, they often do so at a trading loss?

But despite this, having had separate policies as we have, has meant the profile and awareness of the concept of social enterprise is higher than it might have otherwise been.

However... I was also reminded as I traded stories with others in the Forum, that most of the research about the specific needs of social enterprises shows that they have more in common with private businesses than not - and in the very early days of the explosion of interest and activity around social enterprise (at the turn of the millennium), it was 'regular' business support bodies and services, and the policies that informed them, that sought to integrate the majority of support for this 'new' sector.

There was subsequently a 'parting', but now, 20-ish years on, I'm starting to see some signs that there's thought and interest in exploring how they might be re-integrated (through the likes of Growth Hubs, Shared Prosperity Fund programmes, etc). 

And perhaps this emerging possible refocussing of policy is coming about because we've now had sufficient time to understand the impact of these early policies? As one of the key speakers suggested, "it can take at least 5-10 years to understand the impact and effects of a policy, so we need to treat them as more experimental". In those early days of social enterprise, there was scant data to base policies on, in comparison to what we now know and understand - so maybe policy makers need to start being braver in resetting the paradigms that they're working with? 

However, creating such a shift will take time and effort - and for those making the policies, represents a scaring foraying into new unknowns.

Maybe the best way we can be part of bringing this change about, was an idea shared that social enterprises might best create influence amongst policy makers by 'stealth': offering and asking to engage in staff secondment schemes, so that those informing the design of future infrastructure get first-hand experience of the realities of how it would be likely to be actually experienced by those it's intended to benefit. This may not be the usual 'showy' way that we're encouraged to try and lobby and advocate (with huge petitions, and PR stunts), but reminds us that everyone in the wider (eco)systems are ultimately human beings, and we can best get things done by engaging and building relationships with each other as such.

For more reflections on the Forum, see - https://sewfonline.com/empowering-rural-communities-and-youth-sewf-policy-forum-highlights/ 

I'm lovin' it (but I'm not sure I should?)

"What's your motivation for doing this?" is a key question I ask new and emerging social enterprises and social entrepreneurs, in start-up programmes for them that I'm invited to support from time to time.

And while everyone always talks about impact in some way, there will always be some who reply that it's because as a social enterprise they can create more impact than a private business can. And for those people, I set a challenge, that (so far) no-one has ever been able to beat:

"Go and read up on McDonald's UK's impact - and then come back and tell me how you're not ashamed when you compare yourself to them as a private, for-profit, business."

In the 20 years of my setting this challenge, no-one has ever come back to me.

That's because McDonalds UK has done a pretty good job of:

• examining how they've designed their supply chain and invested in their suppliers; 
• thought about the behaviours of their customers and staff at a local level in how they can be the best 'corporate neighbour'; 
• as an employer, designed processes and systems which (amongst other things) mean they regularly win awards as one of the best large employers to work for, and also won the contract to train all of the changemaker volunteers at the last London Olympics (to the shock of all volunteering support and training bodies); 
• have a strong stance on animal welfare; 
• model a lot of good and best practice in how they're approaching how they manage their impact on the natural environment; 
• undertake national programmes to encourage childhood literacy; 
• are the biggest non-charitable supporter of community sports; 
• and the list goes on...

But they don't seem to use any of the above as part of their core marketing messages or reasons why we should eat with them (in contrast to the cause-relating-marketing messaging of most organisations in the social economy) - they're simply doing these things because they recognise that there's a strong business case for them to, other than what their customers seem to prioritise in their buying decisions.

But why am I sharing this here, now, if I've been apparently so enthralled by this fast food chain for so long?

Well, they've recently published what I think may be the first impact report that takes a 50-year perspective (organisations usually only publish their impact reports based on the last year, or a specific funded project) -   

https://www.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/sites/uk/nfl/pdf/uploads/mcdonalds-at-50-social-and-economic-impact-report.pdf  

(They've also been quietly producing annual impact reports since 2016 on all aspects of their business model, and the impacts they're creating -

https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-purpose-and-impact/impact-strategy-and-reporting/performance-reports.html)

Which can't help me start to wonder - as well as setting a quite high bar on what impact and good it's possible to create within a trading model that isn't reliant on grant income or support (as many social enterprises are), is McDonalds now shaming the social economy further by how its approaching understanding its impact from such a 'whole life' perspective?

However, perhaps I should share a slight possible bias about my apparent extolling of the Golden Arches in this post - although I think there's better tasting burgers to be had elsewhere, and will always prioritise eating out in locally owned independent cafes and restaurants when I can, we do share the same landmark birthday. 

And as an unpaid carer who's also self-employed, it was in one of their restaurants that I chose to (belatedly) celebrate mine with them, by treating myself to their birthday 'cake'. 

chocolate, taboos, impossible choices, and tax - the present and possible futures of freelancers with caring roles?

Each October is the global Freelance Business Month – a coming together of freelancers from different countries to share encouragement, support, insight, and general building up of each other.

This year, I was invited to lead one of the sessions, to explore the ways in which freelancers from around the world who are also unpaid carers approach balancing the often-conflicting demands of these roles.

In the run up to it, the topic seemed to be drawing a lot of interest, based on responses, comments, and reshares to social media posts about it on different platforms; and, on the day, the number of windows in my zoom app from people joining only just all fitted onto my screen…

As part of the conversations, everyone agreed that it would be important to try and capture some of the stories shared, as an encouragement and support to our peers who are similarly juggling these roles and circumstances - which is what you're now reading in this blog post.

Caring around the world

We opened with a brief reflection on what unpaid caring and freelancing looks like in different countries. Based on my own researches over the last few years, we know that in the UK, unpaid carers who are also freelancers:

• Number in the region of approximately 500,000;
• Are twice as likely to be in poverty than their counterparts who are able to be in some form of salaried work, and that’s largely because we suffer a ‘caring penalty’ in the form of lost earnings of up to £20,000 each year because of our caring responsibilities;
• Were usually freelancing before gaining a caring responsibility, in contrast to popular belief;
• Aren’t recognised or offered any rights in law (as other carers are), and as a result have no caring or business services designed in recognition of their specific circumstances.

Others in the session shared a similar lack of recognition and support available in their respective countries. 

The stress is universal, unavoidable, and causes problems

Some talked about how the pressures and stresses of taking on and managing a caring role can mean that we may be more prone to making mistakes in how we manage our affairs as a freelancer - one person shared that the process of becoming a carer meant that they were so distracted during one of their annual filings of accounts, they are now paying more tax than they should be (and at a time when they are now also earning less because of the caring role).

This theme of enhanced stress was echoed by all, in wanting there to be a greater understanding and recognition of the psychological stresses and mental strains that becoming (and acting as) a carer places on us as freelancers. As one person shared in the chat: 

“It [being a carer] seems to be both an obligation and a choice. There is also the choice to NOT be a carer, but…”

Balancing it all 

We moved on to sharing some of the ways in which we’ve been approaching creating our own balances to keep our earnings as a freelancer continuing, with fulfilling the responsibilities of having a caring role (or in some instances as was shared, having multiple caring roles! One freelancer shared how they’re now the sole unpaid carer for multiple family members in their immediate household):

• Some have chosen to purposefully limit their earnings/avoid certain types of work and clients as part of trying to reduce the increased stress that being a carer brings;
• Some shared how they have identified and accessed counselling support for themselves as part of managing the stress, via memberships of professional freelancing bodies – but all agreed that we should all be trying to access this through other means where we may be able to, as part of trying to manage our personal well-being in this dual role;
• Some shared that despite having less earnings, they have reduced their personal disposable even more in order to pay for private health care plans so that they can better manage their own health needs around those of the people they care for, and in working as a freelancer.

We also talked about how there was a need for better education and understanding about the needs and circumstances of freelancers in our position – 

“if you’re not in the situation, you would never understand just how it feels and what you’re faced with having to manage”.

Which in turn, led to a consensus on the importance that as a community of freelancers we need to take opportunities where we can (and are able/comfortable to) to share our stories in breaking the taboos around unpaid caring as a freelancer, if we’re ever going to be better recognised and encouraged as such, (which includes finding encouragement in/from our peers).

This led to a lively discussion around if / how / when to disclose to our clients that we have a caring role.

'Coming out' as a carer

Nearly all present stated that they’d told at least one client they work with about their caring responsibilities, and that in the main, it strengthened the working relationship by that client then seeing them as subsequently being more authentic – and in our also disclosing this in ways that included examples of how we would mitigate the risk of this impacting on our work with them, that we’re seen as also being more trustworthy, too.

One freelancer shared a story of a how, after disclosing their caring role to a client, the client had stated that they wouldn’t be able to work with them after all, owing to the nature of how the wider programme that they were managing had been designed. However, the following week, the client returned to say that after reflecting with their own colleagues, they’d decided to redesign their programme so that the freelancer could be commissioned to support the delivery of it after all.

This was heard by all in the session as a massive encouragement as it showed:

• If we openly work with them, clients can better understand our circumstances and respond – but they'll probably have never before thought about this, until we forced them to;
• A validation for the value and worth of how that freelancer is viewed by their client.

Another unexpected outcome shared in the session by another freelancer after they ‘came out’ as a carer to a client, was that client suddenly being able to share their own caring story with someone who they knew would ‘get it’ – it built more points of connection with a fellow human being, and highlighted that it’s not just freelancers who struggle to be able to find ways to talk about the realities of being a carer in workplace settings.

What's good for freelancers who care is good for all of us (and vice versa)

Finally, we shared our ‘magic wish’ with each other – the one thing that we would like to see happen or change for freelancers who also having caring responsibilities:

• More chocolate to help us manage our stress;
• More understanding from clients and governments;
• Having some form of basic universal income;
• Bringing in an equality of access to benefits and supports that employees who are carers can access, but which we as freelancers who are also carers currently can’t;
• Changes to the tax systems as part of a wider recognition of financial supports freelancers need, owing to the displacement/loss of earnings that having a caring role forces.

Interestingly, many of these wishes are relevant (to lesser degrees) to all freelancers in all countries, regardless of them having an unpaid caring role or not – which suggests that any changes introduced to support freelancers with caring roles, would also be of benefit the wider freelancing community too (and vice versa).

And none of what was shared by people seemed to be specific to any one country – which suggests that our experiences are pretty universal, meaning that it would be easy to learn from and support each other more in progressing these.

 

Special thanks and recognition 

I'd like to thank those of you who were part of the conversation for your openness, honesty, and bravery in not only talking about your caring stories and experiences, but also for encouraging me to share this all on with the wider world.

I'd also like to recognise those who were there who shared that they're at the start of their own personal caring journey as an existing freelancer, for your proactiveness in seeking opportunities and ways that you can better support yourself and inform the choices you're starting to face (I wish I'd had your foresight when I started my own caring journey 7 years ago...)

And, my thanks again to the organisers of this years’ FBM for allowing me to host this space in it, and for also changing the format this year to a ‘free for all’ access – instead, asking for donations to support pancreatic cancer: https://ti.to/freelance/fbm24/with/freelance-business-month-donation

(if you didn’t already know, freelancing is one of the ‘life activities’ that puts us at an increased risk of developing cancer in the future! https://www.freelanceinformer.com/news/cancer-alert-40-of-cases-linked-to-lifestyle-freelancers-are-you-at-risk/)