sustainability can launch more substantive roles with companies and clients . It elevates traditional PR functions and puts the communications expert squarely in the C-suite agenda ; because there is no future for any business , without achieving sustainability for the same .
The line between sustainability and PR must be blurred . With the rise of social media and mobile devices , building strong brands requires an integrated approach to create an effective and powerful communications plan . This calls for communication professionals to take the lead in developing their client ’ s narrative , to lead both the effort towards a sustainable business , and to appropriately report the same . By doing this , PR draws a direct line between a targeted audience , a social purpose and their client , creating positive traction for the organization .
PR is far more than the art of persuading journalists to cover a business in a positive light . The job of a PR professional is to ask important questions , to take ethics seriously and to think creatively about how we can communicate complex ideas .
A green industrial revolution is already underway . Businesses must therefore be prepared to transition ; however , the operational challenges cannot be underestimated . The layperson is likely to care about issues like carbon emissions ; however , they may not be aware of the significant investment required or the issues faced by the business beyond that .
The PR profession must be steeped in respect for moral values of impacted cultures , as this is core to sustainability . Cultural value systems debates emerge about business organizations ’ role in society ; sometimes considered secondary when profits are on the line . These may be times for “ the activist within ” to tap into their intellectual domain by pondering the consequences of business in society . Shortcomings of authentic and long-term sustainability measures are most visible among developing nations , such as those on the continent of Africa , where practitioners have opined that sustainability serves as a short-term calming agent to assuage local communities but then outreach ends when such commercial ventures cease operations . It is critical that sustainability is , and is seen to be sincere , and not just for the optics .
PR practitioners may inspire a topdown commitment to a sustainability organizational culture and help with embedding it across departments and geographies . Specific tasks may include
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As PR practitioners , we embody the insider-activist role to flesh out predatory capitalism and to confront instances of injustice and corporate immorality in order to inspire authentic positive social change .
writing sustainability position statements , developing a sustainability program , assembling reports and conducting social audits , nurturing corporate governance , developing communication campaigns , and developing mutually beneficial stakeholder relationships . Most importantly , PR practitioners should support sustainability as a management function by serving as insider-activists to ensure stakeholders ’ concerns are acted upon and that sustainability represents authentic commitments .
Indeed , PR practitioners need not be complicit in toeing any company line that conflicts with the set company values . Explicating the agency concept through communication management lenses , numerous PR practitioners have defended the internal-activist role for public relations by arguing that those little resistances in everyday life snowball into significant social change . It is therefore important that practitioners continuously learn how organizations and the larger society interconnect and have a willingness to critique and fight for solutions .
Despite at least four decades of scholarly and practical attention to sustainability , the concept defies a common definition due to cultural and other contextual nuances among organizations and nations globally . PR links to sustainability goals , programming and measurement , however , are becoming understood - even though opportunities and challenges lie ahead . The search for universal understanding of Sustainability is ongoing because the stakes are very high - for both organizations and the larger public sphere .
Overall , safeguards against potential abuse of corporate power remain minute and ineffective . Critics have accused corporations of pathological behavior with a negative-consequences-bedamned attitude . Consumer attitudes toward sustainability are mixed , too . In fact , consumers care more about price and quality than their overall impact on the environment . Moreover , barriers to sustainability include nations ’ resistance to groups working to develop global standards , as well as business claims that imposed standards would interfere with operations . Repeatedly , research findings have suggested that when faced with doing the right thing by people ( beyond stockholders ) and the planet - or preserving profit margins - corporations inevitably opt to protect the latter . Hence , trust in firms continues to decline .
The argument which maintains that corporations exist because the polity allows them to [ and ] that corporations are accountable for the use of the vast financial , human and community resources entrusted to them increasingly rings hollow . Of course , there exist trade / industry watchdog groups and unions , NGOs , and activists organized to shame bad corporate behavior through the media , by organizing resistance , and by lobbying governmental policymakers . These have achieved some degree of successes , such as when groups organized a boycott and pressured Nike to improve labor practices . I hold the view that sustainability goals must , therefore , be firmly entrenched at the core of business operations , and not just be practiced as a compliance issue .
The PR profession has the opportunity to perform a normative function in stewarding sustainability . PR practitioners are uniquely positioned to manage communication and to build relationships within organizations and across stakeholder groups . At the same time , they have the opportunity to move PR past being a reputation management tool , to that of promoting good corporate practices . As PR practitioners , we embody the insider-activist role to flesh out predatory capitalism and to confront instances of injustice and corporate immorality in order to inspire authentic positive social change .
Irene Mbonge is the Group Head , Corporate Communication & Public Affairs at CPF Group . You can commune with her on this or related issues via mail at : Mbonge . Irene @ gmail . com .