Anchor, impact or contribution? At a time of new rules introduced by the CSRD, companies cannot consider their transformation without in-depth reflection on the political, geographical and ecological links that unite them to their territories. If the Pacte law popularized the question of why among executive and management committees, CSR and CSRD force us to think about the activity of our companies through the prism of where, a key element to guarantee economic and social resilience in the face of contemporary challenges, the missing link between the economic world and the living world.
The apocalypse of an above-ground world
There was a time when goods came from nowhere, crossed the world by plane or boat, poured into trucks that Tesla hoped would be driverless. Raw materials no longer came close to obstacles and no longer encountered humans on their path. Immediately extracted, immediately transformed, immediately transported, immediately consumed. At that time, producing was fluid, robotic, financialized. It was easy. The word “produce” itself had become an abstraction. A part of humanity had little regard for the materiality of things, disposable and replaceable, just as the populations themselves traveled weightless, light, but dispossessed of their land, their know-how, their production tools, the control of their exchanges, their psychic energy, their instances of socialization, the management of their commons, their institutions…
The description of this era may seem exaggerated. Yet it is ours. We live, to use the words of the philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, in a “liquid society” which abhors the slightest friction (technical, social, cultural, ideological, etc.). Which optimizes flows in the short term. Who expects tools, maps and processes to provide comprehensive and automated management of resources. Which ignores the depth of reality, its physicality and its interdependencies. A society disconnected from territorial realities, which we would like to quantify and reduce to simple indicators. But Lacan said it: the real is when we bump into each other. And today we are faced with the consequences of this great derealization: climate change, wars, increasing inequalities, burn-out, the rise of extremes threaten our human activities, our economy and our democracy.
The where increases the why
However, we did not stand by and do nothing: we had to put meaning back into our jobs. This is how an ecosystem of change was born. The company that I manage today is part of this group of French economic players who seek solutions, invent them, advise them, encourage them, promote them. Within this family of experts and firms of all kinds, we contribute to the transformation of SMEs and large committed groups.
Since 2019 and the birth of mission-based company status, I have personally invested in evangelizing this notion – and, whenever possible, in raising awareness among my customers. Equipping the company with an extra-financial mission seemed to me (and still seems to me) to be a fantastic way to think about its role and its impact, and to speak differently to its customers and colleagues.
In line with the theories of Simon Sinek, author of the bestseller Start with why, who explains that a company is not loved for what it does, but for the reasons why it does it, why (or reason for being) inspires and continues to inspire, from Michelin to Apple, many flagships. Before offering it to our customers, we looked for our why ourselves. Months of reflection which, ultimately, led us to change our positioning. To accelerate our transformation. To write a book. To change the collective agreement. To recruit an environmental engineer. To become a mission-driven company. To create a start-up that establishes itself as a growth driver.
But why, which questions the deep motivations of a company and the role it plays in society, does not question its place (in the geographical, relational and symbolic sense). Five years after the Pacte law, we have also noticed that numerous “raison d’être” defend the territorial impact of companies. Although very different in their nature and the way of working on them, why is often disguised as where, a question of economic sovereignty, environmental awareness and the identity crises that affect public opinion.
There is no economy without territory
The where does not replace the why, it anchors it. In my opinion, the secret of an anti-fragile and more compliant business lies in the way of articulating these two notions. In a way, the where is to CSR (and to the CSRD) what the why is to the Pacte law: a methodological question and a tool for transformation.
A concrete example: the Brittany Ferries company, imagined 50 years ago by a visionary farmer, Alexis Gourvennec, whose goal was to open up Brittany. The first ship’s mission was to transport Breton artichokes and cauliflowers to England. Today, the majority shareholders of Brittany Ferries are still Breton farmers and the company, the leading employer of French sailors, has extended its mission of opening up and expanding its reach to all the destinations in the Atlantic arc that it serves, from Spain to Ireland and England. This strong anchor is a valuable compass throughout the company’s energy transformation mission and the backbone of a political fight against social dumping.
By working on one’s where, it is possible to think about one’s territorial anchoring as a starting point for all economic activity. Anticipate climate, supply or recruitment risks. Working on your where means mapping its externalities, its dependency relationships and its territorial specificities. With where, our customers take inventory of their challenges: are energy needs, raw materials or labor exposed to danger? Do my installations meet the characteristics of my location? Which institutional partners do I need to make myself known? What do my targets know about my territory? How can I testify to this? For what purpose? How can I draw on my local experience to inspire others? And conversely, around me, what initiatives are changing the situation? What methods can I put in place to source opportunities around me to do things differently? What is the nature of my territorial impact? How to highlight it? Based on what evidence?
The where also means taking care of its ecosystems. Petzl, a family business based in Crolles, near Grenoble, world leader in safety products for vertical sports or professional activities, has brought together a large community of climbers via the Petzl Roc Trip, which has been deploying new routes around the world for 20 years. For each site, an entire ecosystem is put in place: an operating structure is created, residents are trained to ensure track maintenance, security and rescue. The opening of these routes becomes an unexpected opportunity for territorial attractiveness, economic development and new jobs.
Today, a handful of lobbying agencies seem to have preempted, on behalf of the companies they defend, the question of territorial anchoring. And the strategies they propose seek to extend their clients’ zone of influence, in particular by bringing them closer to political decision-makers and more generally to power. A courtesan approach capable of serving the interests of the strongest, but rarely in touch with the reality of local social structures and their needs.
Some will find, regarding where, questions raised by certain labels or certifications, or useful methodological bricks when it comes to reinventing your business, talking about impact or territorial contribution. But others, like us, have chosen to go even further in the adventure.
Thanks to an innovative tool for aggregating opposable data (in open data) that we have created, we reinvest geography and offer analyzes of the demographic, sociological and economic composition of territories. This allows us to support our clients in defining their strategy based on their anchoring.
Before the CSRD, the materiality of a company was only seen from the angle of its impact on its ecosystem, and the impact of the ecosystem on the company’s business remained a blind spot – we little imagined that a company could be harmed by rising water levels… Today, climate change forces us to adapt our infrastructure, our working hours, our flows, our energy sources, our customer relations… There is no sustainable economy without territory. That is to say without a living ecosystem.
I am convinced that the usefulness of companies, and their necessary contribution to the future and the resilience of territories, is built from below, according to a bottom-up model of consultation, innovation and maximum transparency.
As communicators, we have a crucial role to play, that of strategic partners of our clients in building a sustainable future. Together, we can reinvent the link that unites businesses to their territories.
