March 06, 2025
A look back at the 2nd edition of the Measuring Beyond conference
Whether it involves rethinking supply chains, fostering inclusion or focusing on social accessibility, there are a range of ways to increase a business’s social impact. These were the topics explored by the approximately 200 attendees of Measuring Beyond 2025, presented by KPMG. The result of a partnership between HEC Montréal and the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, the event was organized by Executive Education HEC Montréal, in cooperation with the IDEOS Social Impact Hub.
These days, showcasing your social policies is practically an act of resistance, said Sandrine Rastello, journalist and the day’s emcee, to get things started. The Trump administration has axed diversity, equity and inclusion programs in U.S. federal agencies, and many organizations have followed suit. But a responsible, inclusive business model remains essential to tackling modern-day challenges, she said, setting the stage for a day that featured close to a dozen HEC Montréal faculty members.
The power of social impact
“We are going through a period of uncertainty to the power of 10,” said Guy Cormier, President and CEO of Desjardins Group. This is why it’s important for organizations like Desjardins to take a leadership role in social responsibility. “That means continuing to set an example and even stepping up our efforts,” he said. “At our last management committee meeting, we decided we wanted to push the envelope even further, by setting specific diversity goals for our suppliers.”
With deep local roots, the cooperative, mutualist model has a genuine impact on communities, explained Geneviève Fortier, CEO of Promutuel Insurance, which has 13 mutual companies across Quebec. “We’re trying to act as a complement to community organizations on the ground, so that they can increase their impact and expand their services.”
Cormier also believes that organizations should revisit the metrics used to evaluate corporate performance by adopting a vision of stakeholder capitalism. “Considering all stakeholders — not just shareholders — makes it possible to reconcile profitability and social responsibility. Organizations that embrace these principles are generally more resilient.”
In fact, social enterprises, including co-ops and mutuals, are a bulwark in volatile times, said Chantal Line Carpentier, Head, Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, at the UN. “They create jobs, buy locally and meet public needs. And the phenomenon is no longer marginal, because there are now 10 million social enterprises in the world that employ 200 million people and have $2 trillion in revenue.” Not to mention the representation of women, a topic of utmost importance for all stakeholders.
Against this backdrop, stakeholder capitalism is essential, agreed Fortier. “In the end, organizations that take this approach are more responsible and better prepared to weather any turbulence that may arise.”
“In other words, we need to persist and lean in,” said Dominique Anglade, Adjunct Professor, Sustainable Transition Office, HEC Montréal, and moderator for the opening panel. “Rather than taking a step backwards, we decided to forge further and faster when it comes to social issues.”
Making inclusion and diversity a daily practice
Day to day, there are a variety of strategies for making diversity and inclusion an integral part of an organization. For example, Énergir added criteria to its performance dashboard, as Véronique Desjardins, Executive Director, Human Resources, explained. “We’ve included these KPIs in our executive remuneration, so there’s no way they can be ignored!”
As for Pomerleau, it relies on awareness raising, as Isabel Pouliot, Executive Vice-President, Talent, Culture and Sustainable Development, explained. “We implemented experiential coaching. Our goal was to win over the hearts and minds of managers, and get them thinking about issues they hadn’t previously considered.”
Which brings us to the importance of leaders, particularly as allies, according to Frantz Saintellemy, President and CEO of LeddarTech. “Just because we’ve achieved parity on a board of directors doesn’t mean women’s voices are being heard,” he said. “It’s a leader’s role to ensure that everyone feels they have a place.”
In short, by fighting against bias and showing empathy and humility, we can create an environment in which everyone can contribute fully and authentically.
Community engagement: A key factor
Community engagement is crucial, particularly when it comes to working with First Nations. To achieve this, organizations need to transform their strategic objectives into shared goals, explained Marya Besharov, a professor at University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. “When we shift our perspective to think about both ‘us’ and ‘them,’ it helps us approach engagement differently.” Specifically, businesses need to rely on a transformational relationship, in which the community is an integral part of the decision-making process and shares in the benefits.
This is the ideal for ensuring a win-win partnership, an approach that Hydro-Québec is trying to put into practice, given that most of its projects are in Indigenous territory, said Mathieu Boucher, Senior Director, Relations with First Nations and Inuit. “We have learned the importance of creating a relationship based on trust and of reaching mutually beneficial agreements. That requires humility, openness and the ability to adapt.” At the end of 2024, Hydro-Québec adopted a strategy for economic reconciliation with First Nations, to lay the foundations for a more equitable partnership.
Most importantly, decisions have to be free, consenting and informed, said Kate R. Finn, Founder and Executive Director of Tallgrass Institute. Her words echoed those of Ghislain Picard, outgoing Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations: “Indigenous peoples must regain their dignity, as too often their concerns have been ignored. Communities need to be consulted as soon as a project is under consideration and not once it’s set to go.”
The importance of the financial dimension
The financial side of things is often neglected when it comes to social projects, as was noted by Ludovic Phalippou, a professor at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, who offered a concrete example: building social and affordable housing on the site of a former prison in New York.
This story, which was recently featured in a short film, shows how difficult negotiations were between developers and bureaucrats to obtain fair conditions. Why? The obsession of administrations to announce a “great project” rather than negotiate better terms.
But due diligence is essential to manage public funds effectively. This is why Phalippou argues for decision makers to learn the workings of finance, particularly with regard to financial modelling, enabling them to make informed decisions and negotiate.
Influencing the entire supply chain
With the adoption of legislation such as the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act in 2024, businesses must monitor their own activities as well as those of suppliers.
It’s a complex exercise, as Metro’s Marie-Claude Bacon, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Communications, pointed out. “We have over 6,000 direct suppliers, and they have their suppliers, and so on,” she said. Between things like questionnaires, codes of conduct and the use of rating platforms such as EcoVadis, businesses can adopt all sorts of means to keep a closer eye on their operations abroad.
“When you understand all the links in your supply chain, you automatically become more resilient,” said Antoine Chagnon, President and CEO of Lallemand. “You’re more on top of what’s happening, you can react, or act, faster if there is a problem. In the end, it makes you a lot stronger.”
It’s also transformative because businesses can guide their suppliers in complying with regulations and improve their social performance as a result, explained Hélène V. Gagnon, Chief People and Sustainability Officer at CAE. “From an environmental point of view, we have helped our suppliers find decarbonization opportunities that reduce their costs, which has given us a better overview of these operations.” It’s the same from a social perspective, she pointed out. Beyond mere compliance, major organizations can actually have a decisive influence on their entire supply chain. It’s a complex, but powerful lever.
Achieving carbon neutrality together
The Transition Index for businesses is currently 33, according to the 2024 Quebec Business Transition Barometer. “This means that organizations are responsible for a third of climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Anne-Josée Laquerre, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Québec Net Positif, who presented the results of a study conducted by Leger.
“To achieve carbon neutrality, we don’t need every business to be carbon neutral,” she explained. “By their very nature, some organizations can do more than others. But with all these efforts taken together, we can get there.” It’s an objective that will have a positive effect on the environment, and on the people who deal with forest fires, floods and other effects of climate change, she said.
Tools to shape the future
The conference participants put their knowledge into action through a choice of four workshops, which addressed topics such as integrating the social dimension in optimizing ROI or identifying and managing ethical risks in the supply chain. These are all practical tools that help organizations commit to a sustainable transition. “To tackle our current challenges, we have to do more than state our convictions. We need to take action,” explained Luciano Barin Cruz, Director and Co-Founder of the IDEOS Hub and a professor at HEC Montréal.
That’s what HEC Montréal did, kicking off its sustainable transition, particularly in governance, by supporting these changes internally and externally, setting an example and generating scientific research on the issue. “But the most important thing is making a move, even if it’s imperfect,” he said. “We need to accept that we will make mistakes and learn from them to improve.” That should offer inspiration and fuel reflection until the next Measuring Beyond conference, which will take place in 2026.
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