Rachel Hales, the founder of Get Synergised, joins the Cambridge Marketing Podcast to discuss the concept of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Rachel Hales defined ESG as a framework for measuring an organisation's responsible operations beyond its financial performance. She focused particularly on the 'S' (Social) component, arguing that businesses needed to engage with their communities in a strategic, sustainable, and purposeful manner, moving beyond superficial, one-off activities. She explained how her company, Get Synergised, facilitates long-term, mutually valuable partnerships between businesses and charitable organisations through consultancy and a membership community. She also discussed the increasing external pressures from regulators, customers, and employees that were making ESG a business imperative.

 

Key Points

  • ESG was defined as a framework for Environmental, Social, and Governance, measuring how responsibly an organisation operates.
  • The 'S' (Social) component, which involves community and customer connection, was often the most difficult for businesses to implement meaningfully.
  • Effective social engagement needs to be embedded into a company's culture and DNA, rather than being treated as a one-off activity like a bake sale or a single volunteer day.
  • There was a growing demand for businesses to be socially responsible, driven by regulators, investors, customers, and employees.
  • Partnerships between businesses and charities should be built on long-term relationships and mutual value, not on transactional or one-sided requests.
  • Get Synergised was created to act as a bridge between the business and charitable sectors to foster these strategic and sustainable partnerships.
     

Podcast Transcript

Transcripts are auto-generated.

 

Kiran Kapur, Host (00:01):
Hello and welcome. We are in the very interesting world of ESG this week.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (00:07):
I love that quote, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go together." And I think mutual value in these partnerships is what we teach. It's about coming together and knowing that both sides can add value, and relationships sit at the heart of it all.

Kiran Kapur, Host (00:22):
And I'm delighted to welcome Rachel Hales, who is the founder of Get Synergised and has to be one of the most energetic guests I've had on the podcast. Rachel, welcome. I think we'd better start with what is ESG.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (00:37):
Wow. Big, big topic. Let's go in with the hard question straightaway. Actually, it's quite simple, really. I mean, it stands for environmental, social and governance. And so it's simple to state what it is, but actually, what is that in practise and what do we really mean by ESG? And effectively, it's a framework measuring how responsibly an organisation operates beyond its financial performance. I guess it looks at asking the question to an organisation, what impact are you having on the planet, on people and how your organisation governs itself? So yes, hopefully that answers your question.

Kiran Kapur, Host (01:14):
So I'm always intrigued by this. I get the environmental and the social. Where does governance fit into this? Because it seems an odd thing, like it's tacked on the end.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (01:24):
Yeah, I think the governance is how it governs the organisation, which could be a business, another entity or type of organisation. It's really how it puts its principles and practises in place, things like the gender pay gap, other policies around how it governs its supply chain within an organisation. So it's really that sort of top-level, how do we govern our business in a way that acts sustainably and responsibly? The environment, well, as you can imagine, is very much how do we look at our climate contributions? What are we doing around CO2? What are we doing around sustainable practises in our business? And the social, which I often find is the bit that people struggle with because the E and the G, okay, you can put your policies and processes into place to look at how you are environmentally as a business and how you are governing your business.

(02:20):
But what about the social, which is how you connect with your communities, how you connect with your customers, how you connect with the people around you, how you engage. And it's often that bit that is very relationship-based. The businesses struggle to know, oh, where do we go? How do we start with the S of the ESG?

Kiran Kapur, Host (02:37):
So, environmental governance, okay, now you've helped me understand where the governance fits in. So it's very much how we manage what we're looking at, what our policies and processes are. So yes, now I can see that the S might feel a little bit fluffy. So what sort of things should I be thinking about in the S?

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (02:56):
Oh, wow. So the S is the relational side. So it is how you talk to your customers. It is how you talk to your community, but it's not just talking or as we said in the E and the G, actually having a policy, as you say. It's then how does that policy then actually lead into action? And I think that's the thing with organisations, they can put lots of processes in place, but actually does it actually change anything or do they authentically live out what they're saying? And that's where ESG needs to sit at board level, but it needs to come right frontline down to its employees. And you find that S is the bit where people actually get out of their seats away from their desks, and they're actually getting out into their communities and talking to people and their customers in that social element.

(03:41):
And it's also an element of it is how the business also engages with its employees in terms of that relations. So I see that S is all about relationships, and really it's about, okay, how do we get out of our office into the community talking to our customers? And for me, I particularly focus on that how does a business engage in its community in a meaningful, purposeful and sustainable way effectively beyond a bake sale?

Kiran Kapur, Host (04:08):
Yes, because we've all been involved with the ... Lots of companies decided we were going to have volunteer days and you all got sent out to gardeners and old people's home or paint a wall or whatever, but that seemed to be it. You did it once and then you all trooped back to the office, and that was it. So I think you're very keen among it being sustainable and strategic, aren't you?

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (04:29):
Yeah. And I think those really do add value. I think a bake sale and a fun run and a volunteer day really can add value to the charitable organisation, but it can for businesses be a very much one day activity one day in the year that then they don't even go anywhere near it again. And when we're talking about ESG, there's a real drive for businesses in terms of regulation, consumer interest in businesses, employees wanting to work for companies that actually make money and care. And so really ESG can't just sit as a nice to have, but actually as a really ingrained in the culture and the DNA of a business. And that's where you find that the social side of it becomes much more meaningful when the business actually thinks, well, how do we do this 365 days a year, not just a one-off activity?

(05:22):
And sometimes some of those volunteer days, though business is very well meaning to say, "Well, we can get a volunteer day with our team for 20 volunteers to your charity," the charitable organisation will often say, unless it's able to manage that, we just can't cope with that. And actually that isn't really what we really need. So what we're looking at is taking it from a once a year activity is the social of the ESG and what we call social value, how we positively engage within our communities and positively contribute back as the responsible way to do business. How is that embedded within the DNA and the culture of the business 365 days a year? Because investors are asking for it, procurement's asking for it, customers are asking for it, employees are asking for it, brands are asking for it in terms of how you demonstrate from your marketing point of view, your brand positioning, how are we a company that actually makes money, but we also do that responsible bit.

(06:25):
We care, we do good, we care for the environment as well. So it's bigger than just a one-off activity for sure.

Kiran Kapur, Host (06:31):
Tell me a little bit about Get Synergised because you saw a gap in the market in this area and then set up a business to meet it. So tell me a little bit about what Get Synergised does and what gap you saw.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (06:44):
Yeah. So my background is working with children, young people and families that have faced lack of opportunity, poverty and disadvantage in some way. I've seen that throughout my volunteer time and my career. I came to a pivotal point in my life where I was like, what do I want to do with my one precious life? And what skills have I got? What am I good at? What am I passionate about? What do I love? What will get me out of bed every day? Where could I find a sense of purpose and joy in my work? And I was in an opportunity that I could do that. So I saw a gap a number of years ago where I saw that businesses wanted to engage more with their communities, charities and social enterprises that are registered, but often didn't know where they were. They didn't know how to align them to the values of the business.

(07:32):
They didn't know how to easily connect with them and find them. And then we had charitable organisations that wanted to connect with businesses, but couldn't find the decision makers in the business or sometimes looked at businesses just as sort of cash pots rather than how can we mutually work together, build a longer-term partnership and actually add value to both sides. And I think for me, I started on this journey pre- COVID, but it soon became apparent post- COVID that there was this real understanding from businesses that shifted the dial in. Actually, COVID's taught us that as a business, it's not enough to just make money. We have to give back to the communities that serve us. We have to make it part of the culture and the way we do business. Of course, ESG, which came right from the Quaker movement, right back then we were talking about it, has steadily been coming, and regulation is now pushing bigger companies to report on this.

(08:28):
So those smaller companies these days will be needing to look at this even if they're not regulated. They'll need to look at it because their suppliers, larger companies they might want to procure with will be asking them, how are you looking at your environmental, your social and your governance? So there seemed to gap and I thought, well, actually, why can't I be the bridge to bring the two together? And so I have two parts of Get Synergised. The first part is our consultancy. So we work with businesses to embed social value, ESG, community engagement into the core DNA of the business, not as an add-on, but actually the way we do business responsibly. And we've done a really great piece of work, which I can tell you about with TeasLaw and the outcomes for that. But the other side that we do is it's all right to build the strategy, but actually, we need to get people together.

(09:20):
And so we've created an online membership community where businesses, registered charities, social enterprises, and public sector partners can join our membership community, where we connect businesses and charities and all of those organisations in person and online to break down those barriers, build those relationships, find help and give help, as a result, do responsible business.

Kiran Kapur, Host (09:43):
And how long has Get Synergised been around?

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (09:46):
We started looking into research into what was needed around about 2019, but really everything just went crazy around them because we hit in COVID and everything changed for me. It wasn't a essential for businesses at that point. Charitable organisations were just struggling to stay alive, as were businesses as well, and it was post- COVID. And of course, I ran training and events, I couldn't do any of that. So it really wasn't until 2022 that we really started getting going again. And then we launched our membership community in the early months of 2024, developing this platform, an online portal where business and charities and public sector and social enterprises can build connections and relationships.

Kiran Kapur, Host (10:30):
One of the things that I was really interested in when I was looking at your website was that you say strategically, sustainably and with purpose. And I really like that, particularly the with purpose, because it's so easy for this whole area to just be seen as something a bit fluffy and nice to do rather than an actually important one. So I wanted to explore a little bit more with purpose.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (10:55):
Yeah. When you sent through your notes to me, I was like, "Oh, is that me? Did I say that? " And it was like, yes, actually. And it really got me reflecting and thinking actually, they're not just words, they strategically and sustainably. I think a lot of it is about long-term thinking when we're thinking sustainability, and it's very easy for businesses to perhaps give a raffle prize or do a one-off bake sale. But what we've realised is the issues in society that we're seeing are not going to be solved by one sector alone. The charitable sector does not have the skills, the knowledge, the networks, the resources to be able to do all it wants to do on its own. And we know for businesses in terms of their reputation, their brand, the way they market themselves, but also all of this regulation and ESG coming through, it's not good enough to just do these one-offs.

(11:52):
It is moving, and businesses need to catch up. So what we're trying to create is this longer-term working together. And that's what the networking community that we've created is a community of socially-minded businesses that want to do good and charitable organisations that want to grow their networks and build. And rather than a one-off thank you, we're creating a community where a charity can reach out to a business and go, "Can you help me? " You're only one step away from a conversation away from a solution to something. And it may be that in your network, those businesses can help you connect with the right people. And so sustainability is about building partnerships around you that stand the test of time, become part of your network, part of your community, that's what we create. So it's sustainable. It's like people just don't come in and out or do one-offs.

(12:45):
It's long-term, long-term thinking. And I think with purpose is actually looking at mutual value between a business and a charitable organisation. Partnerships shouldn't be a cup in hand where the charitable organisation goes with a begging goal or neither should it be that the business turns to the charitable organisation and go, "Oh, I've got a volunteer day to fill. Can you help me? " It should be mutually exchanged and valuable, and listening and understanding the needs of the community rather than a business assuming they know what the community needs, or the charitable organisation just looking at businesses as cash pots, as I mentioned earlier. It's about listening. How can we work together? How can we support each other? We know that when we Synergised, we can achieve so much more together than we could alone. I love that quote that it says, "If you want to go fast, go alone.

(13:38):
If you want to go further, go together." And I think mutual value in these partnerships is what we teach. It's about coming together and knowing that both sides can add value, and how do you manage those expectations so partnerships stand the long term, not just the short term and relationships sit at the heart of it all, and that's what keeps it sustainable and purposeful.

Kiran Kapur, Host (14:00):
So I think you mentioned you had a case study with Tees Law. They're a legal firm, aren't they?

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (14:04):
Yeah, brilliant legal firm. They have six offices, and they approached me a number of years ago, really doing lots of great community work, but not really strategic or as thought through as they would like it to be. And so they called me in as a consultant as part of the get Synergised consultancy side that we do to help them think through how can we more strategically, meaningfully, purposefully and sustainably build a story for our organisation. But more than that, embed it within the DNA and make it part of the culture of what we do, not as an add-on, but actually within the thinking and the way we make business decisions as a business. So they wanted to go a bit more on that journey, and they've been doing great work, but they couldn't measure it. They couldn't track it and they weren't 100% sure what impact they were making.

(14:53):
So I came in as a consultant, and I did the more strategic three-stage process, really getting under the hood of the business, what matters to you, what matters to your people, what matters to your stakeholders, how do you want to be known in terms of your brand and how people perceive you? And let's look at that. So I looked at board-level conversations, I look at head of office conversations, we got them around a table. What matters to your business, what's your values, what's your culture, what social issues in society are pertinent to your business and where and how can you add the most value? We went on that process together, which was absolutely fabulous. I could go into lots of information about everything we did, but I really think at the end of it, they really had a strong strategic process. But what was really good is I talked to them about ESG.

(15:38):
For every business, ESG won't be something that they probably want to look at. It might be if you're a small company with five employees, you just want to look at your community engagement and how you give back in a way that really means something to you. Perhaps those larger companies, ESG is important. For others, it's what we call the social value. How do we give back value? So I think all of those things that I've just mentioned then are all really important things in how we connect with the community. But for a law firm and what we were saying earlier around that regulation and supply chain, ESG is probably a really good thing to be thinking about. And so I proposed that to them, and they were like, yes. And as a result, they've now got a strong ESG board. They reported their first responsible business report to talk about how they responsibly run ESG throughout the whole of their business.

(16:30):
But most excitingly, they won some awards. So they run the Responsible Business Award at the UK Property Forums in 2025, and they got the Highly Commended for Community Award at the Cambridge District Law Society Legal Excellence Awards in 2026. And I remember the early days when we were beginning is, wouldn't it be great to look forward and imagine that you could go for some awards for the great work you're doing? So to see that recognised in the work that we have done together, and they have continued to do is brilliant.

Kiran Kapur, Host (17:00):
So one of the things I noticed about you when we've very first met at a networking event is that you are very dynamic and you're very, very passionate about this area and what you do. What I'm intrigued by is how difficult is it to get businesses to understand that this is important, or even charities to understand that this is important?

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (17:21):
That's a really, really great question. I think in my experiences businesses that don't yet see the value of ESG or social value can be very hard to move. It's like pushing them up a hill and going, "Come on, come on, see it. " And I think that's where the education piece comes in, and I think the same for charitable organisations. So through my network of those that aren't yet members or anybody around my community, I'm often talking about why it's important, why it means something, why we should work together, why we should collaborate, why it's important to nonprofit organisations, why it's important to businesses. And it may well be that through my education, somebody goes, "Ooh," and a light bulb moment comes. So there is an education piece. There are some organisations that just don't get it. I want to work with the ones that either are curious or they're already on the journey, and they want to do better, or they're doing something, and they want to make it more strategic and meaningful.

(18:22):
Because if I can capture those ones that are ready to move forward, they're the right people to be in either the network or for me to be working with. So I focus on those that are already have an appetite for it because it's a much easier engagement. And so there's two levels. There's those that I need to educate and take them on a journey, and then there's those that are just hungry, curious and kind of get it, but need help moving forward. And those are the ones that I really enjoy working with that are curious and want to ask those questions and move the dial in how do we do partnerships that are more strategic, sustainable and purposeful really?

Kiran Kapur, Host (19:07):
I think that's really important. You've also made a very good marketing message in that you cannot cover a whole audience. There's a huge market out there of businesses and charities, but we all as marketers have to think about where we should put our energies and where we should put our work. And yes, there are going to be companies that are never going to be convinced, and therefore it's not worth your time.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (19:31):
Yeah. And I think there have been times previously that I was like, "Why'd you not get it? " And I'm like, "Actually, I need to work with the ones that kind of do. " And like you say, I look at who are the people that I should best support. And if you're looking at something like the ESG consultancy social value work I do with businesses,

(19:55):
If you're really, really small, it's likely you don't want to go down that journey of putting a big sort of strategy in place. It's also possible that if you're a large, large company, like we have many in our network who are doing an amazing work, you may not need me because you've already employed somebody to do your sustainability and your social value. But for those companies that are in the middle that are just over that smaller size, don't employ somebody. I'm the perfect fit to go in and be their sort of consultant to help them move it forward. But we do find in our network we've got small and large businesses right from your Price Waterhouse Coopers to your smaller businesses that are just one person that says, "I just want to do something more and give something back." And we have quite a strong contingent in our network of marketers, people that are skilled in branding and marketing.

(20:52):
And one of the brilliant pieces of work that we've got going through the network is a business charity mentoring programme. So we have business leaders from a number of companies mentoring charity leaders and those leading in specific fields within their work. And we've actually got Mobas who are two of their employees are supporting two CEO charity leaders around their brand, marketing and positioning. We've got Famil doing some work where it takes a city and helping them around their social media, their marketing and their presence and how to do their marketing sustainably. We've got Keystone Marketing as well working with another organisation around supporting with the New Meaning Foundation, supporting them with their marketing and comms. And it's just brilliant. And we have other organisations and businesses within the network in the mentoring programme, but it's great to see so many people from the marketing world using their skills, their knowledge that they do every day.

(21:53):
And the outcomes have been tremendous, and the growth and confidence of the CEO leaders, but it's not just about them growing. It's the value it gives back to the mentors, the feeling of purpose, the sense of, I'm using my skills for good, really, really powerful, and we'll be reporting on those outcomes shortly as well.

Kiran Kapur, Host (22:11):
That's great. And it's really good to hear. And I know when I've worked with in Mentoring with Charities, you learn as much back because their challenges, their issues, their day-to-day are both familiar to you and also totally different. So you learn so much.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (22:29):
Again, going back to this mutual value and our network is built on mutual values, shared values where we connect both sides, sharing time, skills, resource, mentoring, volunteering, room space, room use, pro bono to free marketing reviews to free resources like laptops to raising funds, sponsorship, anything that enables both parties to come together and find help and give help. And the value that we're also seeing from it is that people then want to work with people outside of the pro bono giving because they share the same values, and they're like, "Actually, I think I might want to do business with you going forward." So we're seeing the byproduct of it is this flourishing of business referrals exchanges because people trust people that they share values with and they like. So yes, we've got all the pro bono giving that we're seeing through the community and all of the helping organisations raise their awareness certainly for the charitable organisations, which is massive, and the marketing community has huge amount that it can offer back to charitable organisations.

(23:40):
It's massive. It's a really big gap for the charitable sector, and we're just seeing the huge exchange and value exchange both ways is fabulous.

Kiran Kapur, Host (23:51):
Rachel Hales, founder of Get Synergised. Thank you so much for that insight into ESG and to the work that you do. That was really fascinating.

Rachel Hales, Founder of Get Synergised (23:59):
Thank you. Thanks for having me on.