In the lead up to the October launch of Labor’s first Federal budget since forming government, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed he will be introducing a ‘wellbeing budget’, taking a page out of New Zealand’s approach back in 2019.
As well as incorporating traditional economic measures such as employment and GDP, Australia’s wellbeing budget is likely to include additional non-financial measures such as sustainability and social inclusion.
You may be wondering, what is really in it for small business? Will it do anything to help create a profound impact on my business success and longevity?
“Internal” wellbeing type measures such as gender equality and cultural diversity as relevant to a small business. Amplifying your connection with, and reflection of, the community you serve can be an important part of the brand glow for any scale of business.
Beyond the tangible characteristics of the product or service you offer in your small business, these brand-value experience and perception issues can help you captivate customers, employees and stakeholders on a more holistic level, and over the longer term.
But that is not what the wellbeing budget is about.
The wellbeing budget approach is intended to influence the way that government – and more broadly the economy – makes decisions. It seeks to measure, and delegate accountability to make decisions that take into account more than just the bottomline. If people are measured on a basket of non-financial measures wrapped up in an integrated budget in addition to the dollar budget outcomes, they will make different decisions.
Government will purchase to achieve wellbeing budget social outcome measures. This will be through its own government actions, through the community services sector, and through advances in accounting, measured collectively through its suppliers of goods and services.
Reaching their wellbeing KPIs internally and externally, nurturing social impact investment and incorporating the behaviours across the supply economy are just some of the ways that government changes will impact small business.
For the ambitious future-looking small businesses to not only survive, but thrive, it makes good business sense to be innovative and authentic in your approach towards your own wellbeing measures, but equally, strongly aware of the measures that your large business and government clients and suppliers are using to measure themselves.
Entrepreneurial small businesses will promote their strengths as they contribute to the non-financial goals of their clients and partners – as much as they promote their pricing advantages. This is an emerging pathway to long term partnering success based on how government and large corporate clients will measure your non-financial value contribution.
As always, small business needs to adapt to the ever-evolving environment and promote their competitive advantage wherever it can be found. This change, whilst technical in many ways, is profound and will impact your success in the shorter term and longer term.
In the complex future world we have designed for ourselves, the community wants and deserves more in sustainability, social behaviours, integrity and more. Better decisions around sustainability, social impact and workplace equality will drive better social productivity. Governments around the world are making sure it happens, and Australia is no (longer) an exception.
Embracing the complexity in order for brands to do the right and consciously appropriate thing will set innovative small businesses apart. Ignoring it will slowly move you off the heat.
While the forthcoming wellbeing budget may be a catalyst for criticism and scrutiny, the truth is that there is no turning back on the multi-layered approach needed to create a balanced and successful small business to have the longevity and success you need and deserve.
