Socially responsible or socially inept?
Call me naive but there I was thinking that we are in a middle of a recession. The worst economic downturn that the UK has seen in fifty years is the message that has been rolled out in the press for what seems to be an eternity.....
So after months of being bombarded with a daily diatribe of how companies are having make drastic cut backs and are getting rid of the ‘non-essential’ services hand over fist, imagine my surprise when I flick through the pages of PR Week and read rather than axing their CSR programmes some of these exact same debt laden companies are choosing to up the stakes and investing more in bespoke social responsibility packages.
Don’t get me wrong – as a big advocate of CSR for many years now, I am totally thrilled at the thought that the big guns of the corporate world (think Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Orange) are opting to plough more than ever before into the communities which they may (or may not depending on your opinion) serve.
No, my surprise is directed more at the sectors that are opting to sign up to CSR for the first time. PR’s agencies and comms strategists are it is reported, seeing a sharp increase in the numbers of clients approaching them for specific advice on putting together a CSR package. Amongst them (although the agencies concerned are not naming names) are said to be leading lights in the automotive and retail sector – arguably two of the industry’s worst hit by the recession.
One therefore is left asking what the driving force behind this change of heart is... Surely companies are aware that whilst it is very worthy subject that they should be directing their attention towards, it is by no means a cheap one. Also aren’t they inevitably going to come in for some flack when employees learn that they are axing jobs on one hand but lending their support to CSR programmes on another?
Let’s not forget after all that CSR is a relatively new term that is still bandied about without that much level of understanding. To the man on the street CSR can be misconstrued as being a corporate exercise where the MD’s of companies make an concerted effort to ‘connect’ and ‘bond’ with the local community.
Like I said before please don’t get me wrong, I am all for CSR but just lately I have started to occasionally question the reasoning behind why some companies are putting their weight behind it. The doubting Thomas in me says that in certain cases companies are just using it purely as a means of strengthening their brand in a time of crisis.
When this cynicism passes and I take a step back and look at it more logically however, it becomes clear that maybe CSR is more important than ever before. For all the hardship, uncertainty and gloom this recession has brought with it wouldn’t it be heart warming to think that when we come through the other side in 2011 we will emerge with a strong army of company’s all willing to give something back – companies that are not just in it for the pay back that comes in the form of column inches and media coverage.
Time will tell but let’s hope that the organisations that sign up now are the ones that are in it for the long term. Companies are I hope really, genuinely seeing the value in CSR and starting to view it as an integral part of their company’s ethos and value system not just a way to raise their profile in a difficult time.