Allstate Chairman and CEO Thomas Wilson wants corporations of the future to help solve society’s problems, and be rewarded for doing so.

“Corporations should be encouraged and rewarded for stepping up to solve society’s problems [and] that will require a change in mind-set,” Wilson said in a recent Washington Post opinion piece. (Allstate released highlights of the article.)

Currently the amount of good a company does doesn’t draw shareholder attention as much as the stock price does, Wilson said, and he is pushing for this to change.

“We must broaden our evaluation of corporations beyond share prices to provide space, light and water for their role to grow,” Wilson wrote. “Shareholders should be asking how corporations are building intangible assets such as customer relationships, their employee bases and their reputations, not just pushing for share buybacks.”

Wilson argued that weaving a social mission into a corporation’s purpose is good for business, promoting everything from a strong customer base to an inspired, better-educated workforce.

Wilson calls these kinds of companies “22^nd Century Corporations,” a concept he introduced in Allstate’s 2015 annual report, according to the insurer.

For Wilson’s full Washington Post opinion piece, click here. (A subscription is required.)

Source: Allstate