Adapting to the New Normal in Corporate Community Engagement
The spread of COVID-19 has drawn an even sharper focus on the relationship between companies and the communities around them. While some governments have been slow to respond to the crisis, many businesses have stepped up to the challenge and provided leadership at local, national, and global levels. It then comes as no surprise that companies doing “the right thing” are having a substantial impact on their stakeholders, reinforcing a fundamental reality: the need for community.
Companies have long depended on local communities to support their freedom to operate. While many modern corporations have global communities built around their brands, companies must also deal with the intricacies of communities geographically clustered to the towns where their plants operate. For many companies and especially manufacturers, site-specific community engagement remains a cornerstone of their advocacy portfolio. But now, as COVID-19 presents new unprecedented challenges, the unique relationship between companies and their local communities has become essential.
Furthermore, the relationships that are built at the local community level are exceptionally strong. A recent poll conducted by FTI Consulting in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico – three of the largest manufacturing economies across the Americas – demonstrates that job approval during this COVID-19 crisis is much more positive for community groups than corporations and national governments. This underscores the importance of community engagement for companies, particularly those in developing economies such as Mexico and Brazil.
Community Engagement During COVID-19
Under COVID-19, many companies are losing their grasp of the interests defining their immediate communities. Even companies that used to have “everything under control” are now operating amidst chaos. The lack of a coordinated response to COVID-19 by local and national governments has further aggravated the situation.
Amid the ongoing uncertainty and increased societal demands that companies stand to face in the coming weeks and months, communities will have a significant voice when a company’s freedom to operate is questioned. This will be especially true if companies are reluctant to proactively communicate about the vital work they are doing around their sites to address specific challenges caused by COVID-19.
Critical Steps in Community Engagement in the New Normal
The changing social, economic, and demographic needs of these communities make it even more critical to assess how corporations can bring valuable “external” support. Even before the crisis, some global companies were taking note and eliminating the one size fits all approach to community engagement in favor of a tailored approach. What this pandemic has made abundantly clear is that a tailored approach is no longer an option; it is essential to be impactful.
As companies try to factor all pertinent information into site-specific community decisions, they are struggling to strike a balance between doing what is right in support of a community, getting credit for their support, and not appear as self-serving. Companies need to understand local social, economic, and demographic needs to get this balance right.
In addition to considering the interests of local communities, business realities are also playing a critical role. Take the automotive industry as an example. North America’s auto industry is a complex supply chain that spans the United States, Mexico and Canada. The global automotive industry now faces the challenge of addressing community needs inside these three countries, each one with significantly different cultural, political and economic interests.
In Mexico, for instance, a recently announced federal recovery plan failed to benefit auto manufacturers and its employees. Left behind by the federal government, for many site-specific communities, the decisions made by auto manufacturers will mean more than ever before. Meanwhile, auto manufacturers are also striking to find the right balance between not alienating Mexico’s markedly anti-business administration, while still identifying the most responsible decisions surrounding their communities.
Considerations for Successful Community Engagement
Before the spread of COVID-19, community engagement was already a cornerstone of modern corporate advocacy, pushing well beyond the old corporate social responsibility and philanthropy efforts. From our experience, companies that have been successful in effectively engaging their communities have internalized their approach as a central part of their modus operandi. Those that have not are finding themselves playing catch-up and rethinking their approach to the communities around them.
As outlined, for a company to maintain its freedom to operate while building goodwill among the communities where it resides, it is critical to employ a tailored approach that encompasses the following:
- Understand the real needs of the local community;
- Identify how the company can help in authentic and meaningful ways;
- Identify and mitigate any political or other risks from inside or outside of the community from helping if possible; and
- Work through local stakeholders (community organizations, influential local leaders, etc.).
Regardless of the risks and tailored decision-making required for it to be successful (whether it is employees or local neighborhood associations), communities are looking to businesses more than ever before. For companies that have been at odds with their communities in the past, this is an opportunity to press the reset button and make a valuable contribution. To do so, companies must be thoughtful and prescriptive about the site-specific community investments they make and take extra care to ensure these actions are done in a way that builds goodwill and trust among stakeholders.
Effective ways to engage with communities through communications amid COVID-19
It is both ok and important to raise awareness of donations and volunteer efforts for which your company is contributing. While local media and social media channels are always available, consider sharing through third parties such as local officials who are eager for good news to share.
There has been a marked increase in online conversations about goodwill and service, with 30 percent of social users recently “posting about a business/ leader going above and beyond”. Seize this opportunity to leverage social media to convene resources and news that celebrate the important service efforts of others in your community. Invite your employees, customers, and the public to share videos or images of outstanding service in the community.
Create a weekly feature to be shared through your internal channels and externally on social media, that showcases examples of employees who are going above and beyond to support the business, their colleagues and the community.
