The Drivers of Social Capital

Social capital can be described as the value embodied in a strong and well-functioning community. It is a crucial measurement for government in seeking to drive up the quality of community in, for example, Britain’s town centres. They use it to measure the impact of redevelopment investments.

Over ten years ago, forward thinking inc adapted the social capital survey to the task of analysing the dynamics of organisational communities, since the same dynamics apply. We have since used it with many of the world’s leading organisations to help them understand and analyse their social capital and develop and execute programmes to strengthen it.

There are four main drivers of strong social capital which within the survey we further sub-divide into seven components.

Trust and reciprocity

Communities are strong where there are high levels of trust and respect. Trust is built over time as members of the community observe and experience the actions of others. Leadership behaviours are particularly important in building a community of trust. Healthy communities are also those in which members feel that positive acts can be expected to be reciprocal.

Active collaboration

Strong social capital reflects evidence of multiple collaborative activities. This can include openness and frequency of communication, willingness to share knowledge, to build bridges between different interest groups etc. A healthy community will reflect evidence of collaborative activity at all levels.

Social engagement

Strong social capital will reflect a community in which people are prepared to be actively involved and contribute. A sense of being able to influence events, being well informed, having access to key people as well as the intensity of involvement.

Social behaviours

A well-functioning and valuable organisational community will reflect consistent evidence of social behaviours (anti-social behaviours are clearly the opposite). Helpfulness, consideration, generosity of spirit. These are the social behaviours which define a community in which people feel comfortable, supported, committed and TOGETHER.

Our clients recognise the impact of improving social capital in building their long-term value since it is a key intangible asset (for example, it helps the recruitment and retention of talent, improves commitment and cooperation, spurs and supports innovation, and strengthens the organisation’s resilience in respect to shocks etc.).

Working with our clients, we initially capture an organisational social capital benchmark score, diagnose the issue and opportunity areas behind it and help them to design interventions which increase the strength of their internal community.