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Why CSR and sustainable actions are important for your reputation

(HOW TO MAKE AN IMPACT WHILE MAKING AN INCOME?)

It is an undisputed belief written in stone that businesses exist to make a profit and their sole objective of existence is to consistently make money. Well yes, that does stand true. 

But how well does this belief fit during the times of a global pandemic? Is this still relevant when people are fighting for their lives and the entire world is on a shut down?

Now, many businesses will be conflicted when they read this and may bombard my inbox saying, “How are we supposed to exist then without money? How do we pay our employees then?” 

These are valid points and yes operations require money to run. But when your business is shut down and you are forced to lay off your employees, do you want to be known as the business that laid off employees or the business that stood up for the benefit of the community? Because at the end of the day, things will go back to normal and when your business is up and running, who will bear the expense of rebuilding your reputation? How will you get your employees back who wanted to stay loyal to you?

Tell you what, even your employees are a part of the greater community! If you cannot make an impact in their lives then you might as well drop your CSR initiatives too. Don’t forget, charity begins at home. 

It does not matter what the scale of your business is. It does not matter how much money you put into CSR activities or creating sustainable options for the community. If anything that matters is, WHAT GOOD YOU ARE DOING FOR YOUR COMMUNITY AND YOUR CLIENTS?

Your customers/clients do not buy from you to do you a favour. They buy from you because you bring some benefits to them that the other company could not. Now with this thought in mind, are you able to see how big of an impact you can bring in the community if you set your mind to it? Can you see the benefits that your business can offer even if the community did not ask for it? Can you think of how you can reciprocate the trust of your clients in you?

Bloomberg is one of the biggest media houses in the world. If you ask its founder, Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire according to his net worth, he may have easily survived without adding anything else to his business. He launched Bloomberg Green on January 21, 2020. Bloomberg Green is a multi-platform editorial brand focussed on climate change news. (www.BloombergGreen.com). 

Climate change is a serious issue of the environmental hour and it requires consistent attention in order to create a sustainable living space for the humans. With this addition to his list of companies, Mike Bloomberg clearly proved it that he cares for the world he thrives in. It is evident from this initiative, that if nature won’t survive then clearly the businesses won’t survive. 

Thus, kicking up his reputation, trustworthiness, relations with the public to a higher level.

To invest in sustainable options or to expand your CSR initiatives, you do not need a hefty chunk of money and you don’t necessarily have to be a big shot fortune 500. You can step up your game even if you have 2 clients or 200 clients, absolutely does not matter. 

Getting back to the headline of this article; why CSR and sustainable options are important for your reputation? Let me give you an example here: A small grocery shop caters to a clientele residing within 10 kms of its area. They are making good money and they don’t see how a small shop can make a national impact. Suddenly, CoronaVirus hits the world, people lose their jobs and are on lockdown. What will happen to the poor now? The grocery shop owner decides to distribute his stock of food to poor homeless people, he sends free packs of groceries to front-line workers and gives 2 months advance salaries to his employees, foreseeing the future. 

What happened next? A local news reporter spoke to the homeless people who told him about the grocery shop owner. The owner was interviewed and with just one gesture, he made it to the headline of next day’s local publications. He attracted a lot of fame as the saviour of the day. Do you see now how strong your community is? This is a real story by the way!!.

You could be a huge enterprise or a small scale grocery store or somewhere in the middle, the initiatives you take towards your social responsibilities are going to make a huge shift in how people perceive your brand. Especially during these unprecedented times, when lives are being lost, economies are crashing and the world is on a shut down, a little gesture of community service can lift up your whole image by 5 steps on the ladder. 

Now your job here is to list down the options of how you can give back to the community and how you can speed up your CSR. The actions will differ from industry to industry. This will put you on the radar of the media as someone who is working towards national/global interest. If lucky enough, you might as well land a feature in the newspaper. 

Let’s talk about sustainability. Sustainability is perceived by some people as avoidance of depletion of natural resources and some people call it stable prolonged existence. When you combine the two definitions, it will make sense that protecting the environment will eventually lead to a sustained living. What does your organisation do on a daily basis to protect the natural resources? Are you keeping an eye on climate change? Is your machinery adding to the pollution? Have you done a workshop with your employees to inform them how their everyday actions can help save electricity and eventually cut down your overheads?

You see it can be a long exhaustive list. Journalists, media companies, social activists like Greta Thunberg, celebrities, Prime Ministers, the UN are all advocating the significance of saving our environment on a daily basis. You will see numerous start-up companies around you finding ways to bring sustainable alternatives. Then you will ask yourself, how did they get publicity so fast? Why are they on the front page and all over social media?

The answer is that they thought about other people first before thinking about their profits. You get to make profits all round the year, but one correct step taken towards the betterment of your entire community will put you 5 years ahead straight away in your long term goals. Your community needs to know how you are protecting them. If you are an industry leader then now is the time when you need to contemplate how can you give back to the community, who made you an industry leader. 

Your CSR and sustainable actions do not need to blow up your marketing budget. These areas require a deep understanding of how your product/service benefitted your clients and what can you do for the people who cannot afford it. The goal here is to give your brand a pervasively successful acceptance. At the end of the day, it’s people working for people, with the people. 

So your job after reading this article is to comprehend your long term objectives and how community service, sustainability, CSR fit well into that. 

EVERYONE WANTS TO MAKE AN INCOME BUT ONLY FEW MAKE IT WHILE LEAVING AN IMPACT!!

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