PUBLIC RELATIONS
The Role Of PR In Driving Corporate Sustainability
By Irene Mbonge
Perhaps no concept has gained greater popularity ( or notoriety ) in business management circles in recent years than sustainability and related discourses on good corporate citizenship . Sustainability has grown in importance for businesses , PR practitioners and scholars even though it remains a grey area for many .
Fundamentally , the sustainability narrative refers to the ability of business to practice their trade , without adversely and irreparably damaging the environment . Over the last many decades , we have continued to witness the consequences of natural resource consumption and commerce . It is at the back of this reality that the sustainability agenda has taken a front row seat for the global community , and more so for corporates . Business Strategic plans now more than ever ; have to demonstrate a clear link to sustainability .
Communication practitioners use the sustainability narrative to enhance corporate image / reputation , which ultimately supports bottom-line profits . It is however very important that such narratives are , at the heart if it , driven by authentic , ethical commitment to sustainability to a wide number of stakeholders ( people ), while also being respectful of natural environments ( planet ) and earnings ( profit ).
Links between CSR , Sustainability and PR have been uneasy ones . In fact , CSR has been called an invention of PR - a mere tool used for communication , image / reputation management , and relationship building . More critically , PR is considered by some to be a strategy for complacency and control and an instrument for propaganda . In fact , some argue that the PR profession has lost significant credibility since being paired with CSR . It is important that Sustainability does not suffer the same fate , incorrect as it maybe . With the current global environmental crisis , it is important that all stakeholders recognize the critical role sustainability plays or ought to play in ensuring our continued survival on planet earth .
Sustainability is about systems . They operate at every scale , from the microscopic to the planetary . Human society and economies are connected to and intimately dependent upon these systems . Yet our brains are not wired to process interconnectedness and systems thinking ; we are wired to see primarily simple cause and effect . And so a significant part of our goal in communicating sustainability is to make the work of the biosphere visible , including the ways ecosystems are intertwined in all the dimensions of life on Earth : environmental , economic , and social . Sustainability means enduring into the long-term future . It refers to systems and processes that are able to operate and persist on their own over long periods of time .
In the modern era , however , the planet faces many problems that are connected , including poverty , impaired health , overpopulation , resource depletion , food and water scarcity , political instability , and the destruction of the life support systems on which we all depend . We live on a planet that is changing fast .
Looking back , impact communication and PR has been a missing piece . Thanks to decades of scientific research , we have ample information to understand the severity and causes of the global problems that face us , and projections of future trajectories of these problems are remarkably consistent . We have enough understanding to be able to halt and even reverse these trends . Yet year after year surveys find that the level of concern over climate change and other environmental issues remains relatively unchanged despite increased public debate and media coverage . Apparently , pure facts are not enough . A fundamental goal for all people who work to educate or to foster positive change is to make the issues and potential solutions of sustainability visible .
In addition to all that , the world is awash with information . PR practitioners must compete with voluminous quantities of information and visual pollution . Our perception is selective , as it has to be ; we would be overwhelmed if we were aware of everything around us . We are wired to see what we expect to see . In order to deal with floods of multiple stimuli and to prevent information overload , people use selective attention to filter out information that does not match what they are looking for . Attention is a valuable commodity . In this era of information overload , finding ways to make information visible is essential .
Secondly , PR practitioners must deal with the problem of confirmation bias , the human tendency to pay attention to evidence that confirms our beliefs , and to ignore information that does not . Search engines and social media intensify confirmation bias by filtering out information with which we disagree . Confirmation bias means that we will not change our ideas about an issue just because we are given new facts ; because at the touch of a button , we can equally find alternative facts which are aligned to our beliefs .
The clarion call to sustainability for organizations is one of the best things to happen , and its overall goal is one that is perfectly aligned with PR as a whole . Sustainability is about delivering greater value to customers and ensuring that your brand remains viable over time - all actions supported and enhanced by a strategic and sustainable business plan .
For PR practitioners , focusing on
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