“Social responsibility” is a term often associated with not-for-profit organizations and community organizations that have been crucial parts of the recent attention being paid to social issues around the globe.
With a growing concern regarding economic inequality and responsibility in the corporate world, there has been a surge of corporations embracing social issues in recent years.
As more and more modern-day consumers are now demanding that their money goes towards not just quality, but responsible brands, an increasing amount of corporate entities have been compelled to change their ways with the understanding that they have to change, in order to remain relevant. Of course, changing a company culture cannot just happen overnight. Here are some ways that home businesses can start taking the necessary steps to becoming more socially conscious both in the present and future.
Diversify your team
Making changes should start from the inside. Reworking your internal structure and finding ways to diversify your business will help you produce positive results in an authentic way. One of the more effective ways in which large enterprises have successfully achieved a more open-minded and socially conscious company culture is by building a team that is comprised of different backgrounds and skill sets. As the freelance economy continues to grow, a number of large companies are now sourcing new talent from talent platforms that provide a vast network of highly skilled individuals from around the world.
Understand what your consumers want
Communicating with your consumers is both an easy and genuine way to gain insight into what specific demands your customers may have. This can be done by directly reaching out to individuals by conducting surveys and asking for feedback. While direct communication is a good way to build lasting relationships with customers, it’s also vital that you understand the power of data analysis when navigating the “Age of the Customer”.
Data analysis allows you to identify your target demographic and it highlights their specific needs. This information provides you with the information to communicate in a more personalized way, making room for trust to build.
Partner with socially conscious ventures
While many big-name companies have given to charity over the years, there is a difference between making a one-time donation and working together to achieve long-term improvements. Nurturing relationships with socially conscious companies that also are aligned with your company’s needs will help guide you towards being more socially oriented in the future. This can be done by forming partnerships with brands that speak to current social issues, which will not only help to generate awareness about the cause, but also give space for your company to become more involved with social movements in the future.
Develop your personal mission
Most companies have a mission statement. For businesses, much of that mission statement highlights the history of the company and its achievements. While this is necessary information for visitors, it can also be used as a jumping off point to start writing down your future goals for your company.
Not only an effective way to put down your thoughts and set up milestones, a personalized mission statement shows your consumers that you have a personal philosophy and that you aim to be more open and transparent, which is good for everyone involved.
Revisit your business plan
Much like setting up a mission statement, revisiting your business plan gives you the chance to reevaluate current practices and find ways to make improvements. Establishing fluid communication with both your team and customers is a good way to increase communication and learn from one another.
By using real-time feedback, you can then implement best practices by removing or making changes to parts of your business model that overlooked social engagement.
While making big changes can certainly be challenging, they are essential in the long run. With the majority of consumers today expecting more transparency, corporations have been forced to consider social capital to be just as important as monetary capital.
Overall, this has been extremely positive. As big companies start to make the shift towards being more socially conscious, more industries and companies of all sizes are benefiting from this growing culture of collaboration.
