CSR Communication: It is More Than Business

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It was a training session on corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication for senior managers of an international company having business interests in mining and manufacturing sector when one of the participants asked: “Why do we need to speak out all the good works we are doing?” “Given the general mistrust on corporate bodies by the public, don’t you think beating of our drums will not only make the common man but even the stakeholders think that we are perhaps trying to cover up our wrong doings,” he asked.

The questions and observations appeared relevant as in the past many CSR communication attempts had been termed as “green-washing”. But does it mean that corporations should stop communicating about their CSR activities? The answer would be a big No.

  It is time one has to appreciate that the new global marketplace is crowded, competitive, cluttered with messages and information. A company needs to not only to segregate non-business information from those purely relating to business, but make them worthy of knowing for interested audience. It is no secret, companies are evaluated based on their business performance and stakeholders’ expectations. Stakeholders feel involved and go all out to extent support to such companies whose policies and performance match their personal values and expectations. The ‘CSR communication’ is a major tool which companies can use in a most conscientious way to impact stakeholders, who besides direct employees constitute consumers, NGOs, media and civil society organizations.

 Free flow of information is a sine qua non for survival of any corporation in today’s market. For, it makes way for establishing transparency in the functioning of organizations and enhance the confidence of investors, consumers and employees. The more the companies expose their ethical and social ambitions the more they attract critical stakeholders’ attentions. Sharing information helps a company’s reputation and competitive advantage. ‘Sustainable reputation’ is key to success in business. The corporate reputation of some of the companies like Body Shop, Tatas, Unilever and ITC proves the point that socially responsible behavior matters more than advertisements.

In Indian context CSR communication makes more sense, because with effect from April, 1, 2014 any company having  net worth of Rs. 500 crore or a turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs. 5 crore needs to spend at least 2% of its average net profit for preceding three years on corporate social responsibility activities.

 No company can afford to remain insulated from what the stakeholders want. The CSR communication serves as a  means to update the stakeholders, which in turn change public perception about a company. Hence, it is always advisable that CSR communication is planned keeping in mind the sensitive elements associated with the expectations of the varying class of stakeholders. According to an estimate total expenditure on CSR activities by companies is likely to cross Rs. 10,000 crore soon. This explains the growing importance of CSR communication as a vehicle for building companies in the eyes of public. Those who plan well and move early obviously will reap rich dividends.

 As a strategy, it would always be wise to use both direct and indirect communication. Direct communication gives freedom to convey what corporation wants stakeholders to know. The challenge is to create a condition and select the medium that allows corporation to place its CSR action in context and to communicate appropriately with different audience with different narratives.

 A detailed CSR communication should cover contents related to workplace, market place, community, and other stakeholders like, NGOs, media etc. Traditional tools like, website, advertisement, company brochure, events and press release have always been used to convey messages regarding CSR. Product labels and packaging have also been found every effective.

The notion that CSR communication is the responsibility of corporate communication or PR departments of corporations will be a mistake. CSR Communication is the job of the whole organization – not in the sense that everyone should communicate with media, but they must show to the world that they believe in communicating with others. The message should be uniform and appear inside out. Happy and contended employees, customers, suppliers or any other stakeholders talking about the CSR communication will help more.

 Indirect communication has been found very effective in case of meeting objectives of CSR communication. Let media and NGOs talk about your work. Receiving and highlighting awards and endorsement by reputed agencies have been found adding credibility to the CSR agenda of the corporation. However, using it only as a marketing ploy or trying to cover up any deficiency through CSR communication will boomerang.

CSR communication is often misjudged as sanctimonious. But it can be very innovative, creative and motivating. Don’t be afraid of communicating with media. Nowadays people are aware and interested in these subjects and ask for more information. It is always good to inform the world about the good works you have been doing. After all, it helps in long term value creation. And the good news is - overall media are willing to give fair space to corporate CSR activities. 

 Think of days when thousands of companies competing for media space with all the positive and success stories coming out of their CSR stables, abolishing write-ups on scams and scandals from front pages of newspapers and prime time TV bulletins. It will be then days of consumers’ delight.

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