Nishall’s Blog:

“Corporate social responsibility is a big issue in the current affairs, with consumers always expecting businesses to do more to help others while also providing the best products/services. People are placing an increasingly great importance on doing things to support the community and want to see that the companies they use are doing their bit.

Every firm, from the smallest market trader to the largest multinational corporation, can do something to help others and make a worthwhile contribution to their local community. Such an involvement can be anything from a donation of time, money or resources, or may constitute a wider contribution, such as setting up long-term projects or campaigning on and supporting a certain issue that is affecting people in the area.

Furthermore, the company may not have to get directly involved. This means businesses with lower staff levels or that are based at out of town based business parks can still contribute to the local community. Even independent firms without large head offices, or companies with limited manpower, can do their bit for others without impacting upon their business.

All this means no company has reason to not do their part to help others and should make a concerted effort to giving something back to the community. This will not only support others but will also satisfy customers’ desire to use firms that have strong corporate social responsibility programmes and recognise the importance of helping good causes.

Having worked on community engagement programmes in a number of different sectors, I have seen the potential rewards on offer and understand best practice for implementation. With the knowledge and expertise to roll out an effective local stake holder engagement plan, all businesses can boost their bottom line. So here are my top tips for businesses seeking to engage with their communities:

* Be Honest, you do not want to alienate your local community. Your local stakeholders should be helpful ally proving vital feedback, not a powerful group working against you. Do not twist figures or stats, be up front and focus on how issues can be resolved not hidden.

* Make sure know your community / area and the key issues and concerns that your local stakeholders deal with every day. It is easy for a large business to forget that many seemingly small issues have a large impact on small communities. If you are seen to acknowledge these problems and show respect for the areas you operate in, communities will reciprocate in turn.

* It is important to invest in local operations to earn community backing. This does not necessarily have to be financial, hold staff volunteer days in your local area or offer your office space as a potential weekend community venue if appropriate.

* The effect of engaging in your community will be hindered if is sporadic and inconsistent. Therefore, be active in your outreach, this will help position your business as a force for good not simply ticking a corporate box.

* Finally, it is important to be visual and make sure you the good work you are doing is seen. A lot of community engagement work can provide good content for social media outreach or media work.

Community is a funny thing, it can sometimes be difficult to feel that you belong, but once you are part of a community, once you have earned your right to belong, you will be looked after. So when planning for the year ahead, don’t forget the significance of local community engagement, business is about relationships, and if you neglect your biggest stakeholder, life is going to be slightly harder.