redesigned, and close collaboration with prison authorities was essential. Cotteswold involved employees throughout the programme’s development. The results extended far beyond recruitment. Employees designed a buddying system to support prisoners entering the workplace. In doing so, they created a stronger onboarding process that the company subsequently adopted for all new employees. As Justin explained: “Our staff realised tangible value in the prisoner programme and became thoroughly committed to its success. The buddying system created an entirely new approach to training that benefited existing employees, prisoners and every new recruit.” The programme also transformed lives. One participant reflected: “Work is reintegrating me back into society.” Another said: “Having money means I can buy my daughter lunch and provide for her for the first time.” Recognising the importance of restorative justice, prisoners received full wages, with the proportion they could not legally retain being donated directly to a victims’ charity. This decision emerged through consultation with employees and became central to the programme’s credibility. The benefits extended throughout the organisation: • Employee engagement increased. • Staff turnover fell. • Vacancies halved. • Annual savings exceeded £250,000 through improved retention and reduced recruitment. Justin summarised the experience: “The work made business sense. It was producing good dividends for everyone.” The company’s approach has since expanded to include partnerships supporting people experiencing homelessness, individuals recovering from addiction, and Feed Cheltenham, a social enterprise tackling food insecurity. Each week, surplus milk that would otherwise be disposed of is redistributed through local food banks. Employees even raised more than £20,000 to purchase a delivery van, enabling thousands more families to access nutritious food while reducing business waste. These initiatives are not corporate charity. They are examples of commercial success and social impact reinforcing one another. A NEED FOR DIVERSITY Cases such as Cotteswold Dairy raise a fundamental question. Instead of asking whether the economy is growing, what if we ask whether society is flourishing? Financial performance remains essential but profit alone is an incomplete measure of success. Flourishing businesses depend upon flourishing employees. Flourishing communities support flourishing businesses. Both ultimately depend upon a flourishing planet. Rather than viewing commercial and social value as competing priorities, Good Growth recognises them as mutually reinforcing. Over the past 10 years, our research has documented hundreds of examples demonstrating how organisations create value simultaneously for shareholders, employees, communities and the environment. We brought these lessons together in Realising Good Growth: A Practical Handbook for Business Leaders, accompanied by practical tools to help organisations put these ideas into practice. The opportunity now is to move from isolated examples to mainstream business practice. A FORK IN THE ROAD Robert Frost’s (1915) poem The Road Not Taken describes two paths diverging in a wood: ‘I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less travelled by And that has made all the difference’ Business leadership faces a similar choice. One path follows the familiar model of pursuing growth measured primarily through financial returns whilst being increasingly obligated to compliantly address environmental and social problems. The other asks organisations to rethink why they exist, how they create value, and who ultimately benefits. It challenges leaders to conceive of commercial success through a strategic process of enabling people, communities, and the natural world to flourish. It is undoubtedly the more demanding path. Yet it may also be the only one capable of delivering lasting prosperity. If we continue to pursue growth as we always have, future generations may well ask why we failed to act when better alternatives were available. If instead we choose Good Growth, the answer may be different. Leadership is defined not simply by how we lead, but by what we lead towards. Leadership is ultimately a process of enabling people to flourish. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 9 Steve Kempster is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Lancaster University Management School. His expertise is in the area of leadership, covering leadership learning; leadership practice; responsibilities and purposes of leadership; and social impact. Realising Good Growth: A Practical Guide for Business Leaders, by Professor Steve Kempster and Dr Stewart Barnes, is published by Routledge. s.kempster@lancaster.ac.uk trAnsfoRming toMorrow Listen to Steve talking about his work on Good Growth and Good Dividends on the Transforming Tomorrow podcast episode ‘Good or Evil in Business’ here: https://pod.fo/e/279742
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