Description
Let’s take this back to basics for a moment. The Oxford English dictionary defines the word ‘engagement’ foremost as “a formal agreement to get married”. In the most basic of terms, marriage is an agreed partnership between two parties. While this analogy may seem a little spurious, effective partnerships are utterly crucial when shaping interactions between business and communities. And open discussions, clear expectations and careful planning are key to that effectiveness.
It is important to put this in context, as the notion of responsible business has changed rapidly in recent years. Forward-thinking, modern businesses go well beyond being seen to do good, or simply defining their social purpose and communicating it well to external audiences. Leading companies are not only making good on their promises, but are demonstrating this sense of purpose in the impact of their activities. Evidence of success and collaboration is then shown through measurable outcomes – both for businesses and those they serve. The 1,000th work placement we achieved last year through BITC’s Ready for Work progamme shows how this approach can change lives.
Effective, authentic corporate responsibility is therefore a two-way process. It has to offer the potential to mutually benefit all parties involved – whether that’s the communities where you operate, your customers, staff or shareholders. This notion has that word ‘partnership’ at its heart. It was with this in mind that Carillion commissioned a six-month study to delve into the relationship between businesses and communities in the UK today. What emerged was the need to strive for a true Partnership of Equals; relationships that bring deeper benefits for both sides.
In essence, the research identified a mismatch in interactions between businesses and community groups or charities, with both sides identifying gaps in forming beneficial, sustainable associations. Two-thirds (68%) of respondents felt that businesses were unsure what support to offer charity and community groups, while 57% of those groups didn’t really understand how businesses could best help them. Part of the problem stems from a traditional tendency for relationships to be built simply on money. Whilst financial donations are of course important in supporting community and charity groups, the most effective collaborations have a balance between contributing skills and contributing money. This brings learning and skills development to both sides of the partnership.
Three-quarters (72%) of respondents in our research said that skills-based contributions would benefit their organisation. It makes clear sense that offering up true professional advice, time and skills will offer greater value to resource-poor non-profit groups – for example, deploying a team of accountants to help with a charity’s finances will always be more beneficial than sending them out en masse to paint a fence.