Annual Impact Report 2023

Annual Impact
Report 2023-24
Annual Impact
Report 2023

Contents
Our Vision
Section 1
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Section 2
18
20
22
Introduction
The Story So Far
Highlights from the Past Year
Our Year in Numbers
Recertification
Our 2023 Clients and the SDGs
Search Highlights from 2023
People
Planet
Profit
Our Purpose
“To effect positive
change in the world.”
Our Mission
“Placing diverse and effective
change-makers into purposeled
organisations and
responsible businesses.”
“We will be a beacon of
responsibility in our sector;
a trusted partner for
organisations seeking to
make a positive impact on
the world around them.”
Section 3
24
Looking Ahead
Section 4
26
28
30
34
Our Social Impact
Our Structure, Governance,
and Ownership
Our Values
Our Partners

Annual Impact Report 2023
Introduction
Section 1
Welcome to Society’s 2023 Impact Report. As a ‘triple-bottom-line’
committed B Corporation, we’re a global executive search firm rooted
in focus on People, Planet and Profit. Our relationship-driven advisory
approach sets us apart and we make it our business to unearth up-andcoming,
diverse and transferable talent on behalf of our clients. This past
year we’ve secured leaders for similarly purpose-driven partners and
the social impact ripple effect of these appointments spurs us forward.
Meanwhile, positively evolving our culture and sustainability actions remain
of paramount focus.
We’re changing the
world, one appointment
at a time and will be
your partner in finding
diverse talent that
delivers.
This year has also involved some hard decisions, including a review of our
business model and a team restructure. By facing into needed change,
we have now right-sized for the future and laid the groundwork to remain
a sustainable, inclusive and vibrant workplace. We’re proud that through
this transformation we’ve maintained a market-leading Net Promoter
Score (NPS) and that in our January 2024 staff survey a sizeable majority of
our team still highly rated Society as a place to work. Our people are our
backbone and I thank them for their commitment, resourcefulness
and drive.
Having spent ten years with the business, this past autumn marked my
promotion to Chief Executive, succeeding Society’s founder Simon Lucas,
who remains with the firm to focus on client work. I’m excited to lead
Society’s next growth chapter and believe passionately that our strong
partnership approach – for our clients, candidates, suppliers and with each
other - is essential to unlocking our triple-bottom-line impact for the year
ahead. I hope reading this Impact Report gives you a strong sense of both
what we do, and how we do it, and I remain constantly curious for new
opportunities to collaborate.
Tanya Stevens
Chief Executive
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Annual Impact Report 2023
The Story
So Far
Society becomes a
certified B Corporation,
declares a Climate
Emergency, and commits
to Net Zero by 2030
Society launches
an office in Auckland,
New Zealand
2021
Section 1
2019
Society becomes an
accredited Living
Wage employer
2022
Society becomes a
founding signatory
of the Voluntary
Code of Conduct for
Executive Search Firms
2015
2016
2020
Society remains
stable throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic
Society recertifies
as a B Corporation
with a significantly
increased score
2011
2014
Society launches an
office in New York, USA
Society Ltd
established in the UK
Society establishes
The Society Foundation
2009
2010
Society hires its first
full-time colleagues
6
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Highlights from
the Past Year
Salma joins the
APAC practice
Successful six-week
intern placement
Simultaneous
volunteering events
in Auckland, London,
and New York
The whole company
competes in
Steptember, raising
nearly $1,000 USD
and taking over three
million steps
Section 1
B Corp Month
Impact Report
published
All-time rolling NPS
exceeds 50 for the
first time
In attendance at the
B For Good Leaders
Summit in Amsterdam
Summer picnic and
strategy afternoon
James visits clients
and candidates in
Singapore and
Hong Kong
Growth Share Scheme
with Vestd set up
Usma achieves her
Mental Health First
Aider qualification
Rebranded website
launches
Company Strategy
Day
JAN
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Supercritical calculates
our emissions
Re-introduced Personal
and Professional
Development
Allowances (PPDAs)
Menopause & Electric
Vehicle scheme
policies introduced
Sabina & Holly join
the Higher Education
practice
Society Business School
training programme
completes
Society launches DEI
Bites inclusion series
We select Tyve as
our new payroll
giving partner
Jomar achieves his
Mental Health First Aider
qualification
Emily relocates
to EMEA from our
APAC office
Change of CEO and
leadership team
restructure
Attending the Purpose
Summit and B for
Good Awards
Society Foundation
uses 2022 company
profits to award
four grants
First in-person
December Christmas
party since Covid
Engaged Dhivya
O’Connor as
a 2023 Advisor
Our rebrand roll out
begins a review of our
marcomms collateral
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Our Year in Numbers
Section 1
Net
Promoter
Score
Assignments
Colleagues
2022 profits donated to
Clients
Female
appointments
Colleague
nationalities
People of
the Global
Majority
appointments
Sectors
Percentage
of repeat
clients
Candidate
gift donations
International
footprint
different countries
on 6 continents
Offices
Colleague
time
volunteered
(hours)
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Annual Impact Report 2023
B Corporation
Society successfully recertified as a B Corporation in October 2022.
Section 1
B Corporations are a global movement of companies reinventing
business as a force for good. They are independently audited every
three years in line with rigorous standards of social and environmental
performance, accountability and transparency through the B Impact
Assessment.
Society originally achieved certification in 2019 with an overall score of
86.9. We set ourselves a target score of 95+ for recertification and far
surpassed this with a score of 107.5, an uplift of over 23%.
Our New B Impact Score
107.5
Threshold for B Corp Certification
80
Median Score for
Ordinary Businesses
50.9
Governance
17.4
Workers
30.9
Community
33.2
Environment
2.4
Customers
23.2
107.5
Of the current 50 B Corp certified Executive Search firms, Society maintains the
7th highest score in the world.
Society’s Chief Operating Officer, Christiane Baehr, commented:
The global addition of 19 Executive Search firms in 2023, is testament to the
powerful influence the B Corp movement has in companies wanting to be
part of a positive, changemaking culture. At Society we are extremely proud
that our recertification score of 107.5 in 2022 sees us as the 4th highest scoring
executive search firm in the UK. We are, however, cognisant that we cannot be
complacent, and will strive to continue to improve our standing within the B
Corp community. Our B Corp aligned values are integral in our external business
partnerships, our strategic planning and internal relationships within the team.
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Our 2023 Clients and the SDGs
Section 1
Our clients relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in multiple
ways. Here is a small selection of how our partners meet these goals:
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Search Highlights from 2023
Here is a selection of the successful appointments Society partnered on during 2023:
Section 1
Raymond Dooley,
VP Marketing,
GLAAD
New York, USA
Read more →
Deborah Garcia,
Director of Development,
Médecins Sans Frontières
New York, USA
Read more →
Caragh Molloy, Director of
People, Culture & Wellbeing,
University of Westminster
London, UK
Read more →
Professor Gail Taylor,
Dean of the Faculty of Life
Sciences, UCL
London, UK
Read more →
Nathalie Wlodarczyk,
Non-Executive Director,
Forster Communications
London, UK
Read more →
Anthony Lobo, Chair of the
Assurance, Audit and Risk
Committee, Alzheimer’s Society
London, UK
Read more →
Dr Sabuj Mallik, Head of School
of Engineering and the Built
Environment, Buckinghamshire
New University
Buckinghamshire, UK
Read more →
Barbara Cacoulidis,
Vice President Global Sales
Partners for The Americas,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
New York, USA
Read more →
George Crockford, Director
of Finance, Performance and
Governance, Teenage Cancer Trust
London, UK
Read more →
Danielle Newton, Director
of Visitor Services,
Glenstone Museum
Potomac, USA
Read more →
David Brightling, General
Manager, The Foreign
Correspondents’ Club
Hong Kong
Read more →
Asoka Karandawala,
Finance Governor,
Royal Star & Garter
Surbiton, UK
Read more →
Katherine St. Amour, VP
Investments and Finance,
Heifer Foundation
Little Rock, USA
Read more →
Colin Webster, Head
of Academy, Aga Khan
Academy Mombasa
Mombasa, Kenya
Read more →
Sharon Memis, Secretary
General, International
Federation of Library
Associations (IFLA)
The Hague, The Netherlands
Read more →
Nadia Beaulieu, Vice President
Global Sales Partners for
Middle East and Turkey,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Jumeirah, Dubai
Read more →
Lim Kok Yoong, Professor
of Digital Media, RMIT
University Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Read more →
Jamie Thistleton, Deputy
Head of Primary, Moreton
Bay Colleges
Brisbane, Australia
Read more →
Professor Dr Vivian Mitsogianni,
Dean of the School of Architecture
and Urban Design
Melbourne, Australia
Read more →
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Annual Impact Report 2023
People
Our people are our greatest asset and two key
themes we made progress on this year include
ensuring that we have excellent HR and wellbeing
infrastructure in place, alongside meaningful
moments for the team to contribute to our strategic
priorities and direction as a firm. In practice this
included steps such as:
HR and wellbeing infrastructure
• Investing in dedicated HR advisory support;
• Formally launching our new Menopause Policy to
codify the support and flexibility we provide to
menopausal and perimenopausal colleagues;
• Introducing a stress risk assessment that can
be completed with colleagues as and where
appropriate.
Our team is now…
24%
People of the
Global Majority
24% - under-30
25% LGBTQ+ 28% part-time
Society’s wider benefits offer includes a Personal and
Professional Development Allowance (PPDA), PPDA topups
on birthdays and work anniversaries, payroll giving, an
Employee Assistance Programme and financial wellbeing
advice, and the option of agile working. This year we also
introduced a growth shares scheme for long-standing
service.
Our colleagues also continued to volunteer their time
and expertise to a range of organisations across the UK,
the US, and New Zealand. We believe that volunteering
is an excellent way of recharging our batteries, building
team spirit and forging meaningful partnerships with our
communities. Society has colleagues who are trustees
of schools and charities, and we support these voluntary
commitments as a great way of developing inclusive and
innovative leaders within the firm.
In September we held our annual All Company Volunteering
Day. Our New Zealand colleagues spent the day at Kiwi
Harvest. Our UK colleagues helped regenerate London’s
green spaces through the Hanger Hill Tyre Project in
partnership with The Conservation Volunteers. And our
New York colleagues distributed food parcels for West Side
Campaign Against Hunger.
Section 2
Co-production and team engagement
• Collectively assessing our 2023 progress and coproducing
our strategic aims for 2024 through our
end-of-year strategy days;
• Our CEO conducting an organisation-wide
listening tour to take into account team feedback
and wellbeing considerations.
59% women;
29% men,
12% non-binary,
100% hybrid or
wholly remote
working
Looking forward, during 2024 we are committed to
further evolving our benefits structure and recruiting
broader lived experience into our team.
6% - disabled
In our latest colleague survey at the start of 2024,
we received the following feedback:
“I like the variety and global reach of the work we undertake. I’m proud of our B Corp
status and everything that underpins it.”
“Leadership seems to genuinely care about all employees and I feel like part of the
team. Suggestions and opinions are taken seriously and I feel like my voice is heard.”
18% - over-45
“Society does things differently and has a people focus at the heart of everything it
does in all areas – clients, candidates, colleagues. We’re on the front foot when it
comes to DEI, sustainability and being values driven.”
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Planet
B Corps around the world declared a climate emergency in November
2019 and challenged themselves to reach Net Zero by 2030, 20 years
ahead of the targets set by the Paris Agreement. Society chose to become
part of this collective to take action.
During the Covid years, we did not believe our carbon calculations to be a
true reflection of our business emissions and so 2022 became the natural
baseline year for us to work from, resulting in total global emissions for
Society of 44 tonnes of CO2 (3.16 tonnes of CO2 per employee). Although
a low footprint by industry standards, we recognised there was work we
could do to reduce this further, and so focused on four key areas where we
could make an immediate difference:
1. We formalised a sustainable business travel policy which, amongst other
things, stipulated colleagues using certain modes of transport above others,
using particular sites to book business accommodation, and questioning
which meetings were essential in person and which could be virtual;
Our 2023 calculation report showed our
global footprint to be higher than last
year, at 56.5 tonnes CO2, taking our per
employee footprint from 3.16t CO2 to 3.32t
CO2. The increase was as a result of more
international flights, which is something
we will need to factor into our reduction
roadmap for the years ahead.
In 2024 we are aiming to collate more detail
in all areas of our data collection, in order to
better fine-tune our reduction targets and
begin working with some carbon removal
partners.
Section 2
2. Working from the office was encouraged in the winter months, to cut down on
the number of spaces being heated;
3. We reviewed our hardware policy, ensuring any new laptops were TCO
certified and that any laptops at end of life were, where possible, refurbished
and donated;
4. Our suppliers were contacted to ask whether they were engaging in their own
carbon reduction plan, and to share evidence of this with us.
20
4 xx
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Profit
Commercially the business faced some unprecedented challenges during
2023. Following a modest start to the year, we experienced a drop of income
in Q2 and Q3 as the growing cost of living crisis and an unexpectedly high
level of turnover in our fee-earning team impacted our new business pipeline.
Coupled with significant investment into a brand and website refresh, we
ended the year unprofitable.
We faced into our financial strain in September 2023, reviewing our business
model and restructuring our team. As a result of this our income began to
recover steadily in Q4, and this continues into Q1 2024.
Throughout these changes we kept in regular consultation with our team,
maintained a market-leading NPS of over 50, and continued to deliver some
of our most impressive appointments to date across the globe.
Now on a financially healthier footing, we have got our costs fully under
control and have plans on track to build and sustain our client portfolio,
laying the foundations for a commercially successful and sustainable 2024.
Section 2
2023/24 Income
The Society Foundation is an independent charity we helped to set up. We fund
it with an annual donation equal to at least 10% of our profits. It then gives grants
to organisations that help vulnerable people back into paid employment. The
beneficiaries it seeks to prioritise include the recently homeless or vulnerably housed,
ex-offenders, and 16-24 year-olds not in employment, education, or training. In
2023, The Society Foundation received £16,464.50 from its 2022 profits.
Q1
Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
£16,464.50
2023 2024
The Foundation has this year awarded four grants to deserving organisations.
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Looking Ahead
We’ve co-produced as a team three core strategic priorities for 2024:
Improve our brand positioning
Focus business development activities
to unlock profitability
Section 3
Strengthen our sustainability
Each priority has clear measures of success that we will report against in our 2024 Impact Report
24
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Section 4
Annual Impact Report 2023
Our Social Impact
We think of our social impact holistically, encompassing how we partner with our clients, our
candidates, our colleagues, our suppliers, and how we affect our wider community, and the
recruitment industry at large.
The extent to which our business consumes resources, and the
size of our carbon footprint;
We see our key social impacts as:
The quality of the appointments we help our clients to make
and the impact those individuals subsequently have in-post;
The impact and longevity of our work in the community;
The integrity with which we help candidates to define and to
attain their career objectives;
The leadership we show within the wider recruitment industry
on issues of responsibility, ethics, sustainability, diversity, equity,
and inclusion.
The way in which we look after, and develop our colleagues;
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Our Structure,
Governance, and
Ownership
Society is a private limited company, registered in England and Wales.
We have two wholly-owned subsidiaries: ‘Society US Inc’, based in New
York, and ‘Society APAC Ltd’, based in Auckland. All three companies
are ultimately overseen by a Board consisting of our Founder and 3
Non Executives.
Following the introduction of our growth share scheme, the current
shareholdings within Society are:
Simon
Lucas
Daniel
Perrett
Simon
Laver
350,000
shares
Emma
Hart
50,000
shares
300,000
shares
Tanya
Stevens
5,000
shares
300,000
shares
James
Lea
5,000
shares
As a B Corporation, our
Articles of Association
contains a pre-amble
on ‘Responsibility’ that
states:
“The objects of the Company are
to promote the success of the
Company for the benefit of its
members as a whole and, through
its business and operations, to
have a material positive impact on
society and the environment, taken
as a whole.”
Section 4
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Our Values
Creativity
We believe that organisations can have a positive social impact, and that careers should have
purpose and meaning. Our goal is to change the world for the better – one appointment at a time.
We’ve given a lot of thought to how we want to do business. It boils down to five core values:
Partnership
Authenticity
We work in genuine partnership with our clients, remaining
communicative and transparent throughout the
appointment process. We’re also a close-knit team, not
just a collection of individuals. We collaborate and share
expertise across sector boundaries.
Diligence
Excellent search involves effective storytelling. We listen
to nuance, put bespoke research into every project, and
think outside the box when sourcing great people. We’re
also continually on the lookout for innovative ways to use
technology.
We’re all about the details. We take in-depth briefings.
We follow up leads and leave no stone unturned when
searching. We hold ourselves to the highest quality
standards. You can count on us to be thorough.
We’re not ‘salesy’. We ensure that our clients meet the
colleagues who will actually lead our work for them. We
hire people who are genuine and personable. We value
being trustworthy and approachable.
Integrity
We treat people as people, not as a means to an end.
We’re fair and straightforward in our dealings with clients
and candidates. We never ‘blag’. If we don’t know
something then we’ll admit it. We also seek to practise
what we preach.
Section 4
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Annual Impact Report 2023
Our Partners
Wherever possible, we like to work with organisations that share our values.
Here are some of our current partners.
Fellow B Corporations
Other Partners
Our global tech partner Our UK landlord Our APAC bank
Our Impact Report designers Our client design firm How we do birthday cards
Our climate action partner Our UK law firm Our branding agency
Our APAC/US accountants Our UK accountants Our US landlord
Our global data entry partner Our charitable giving partner Our UK financial advisors
We also have supplier relationships with a wide range of tech platforms (Ikiru People,
BrightHR, Calendly, Loom, and LinkedIn), publications and job boards, freelancer
researchers, psychometric testing providers, and ‘Rec2Rec’ firms.
Section 4
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Contact
If you’re interested in learning more about Society, we’d love to
hear from you. Please contact us on hello@society-search.com
or via one of our offices:
Auckland
+64 21 419 727
Edinburgh
+44 (0)203 653 0486
London
+44 (0)207 935 4052
New York
+1 (646) 974 9098