Community Building- A Fundamental to Business Success

Most companies today recognize, at least at a high-level, the consequences and negative impacts of their choices on the communities in which they conduct their day-to-day business. Some also employ outreach programs designed to make a positive impact in the local community. However, the evolving face of business sustainability is requiring companies to take it a step further.

Business sustainability is noted as providing solutions to complex problems; specifically in business and community development, it can create solutions sparked by unusual pairings. What are the means in which to grow your business through community building? Match your company values with partnering organizations in the community. Focus on:

• Shared interest

• Creating a win/win outcome

• Meeting commitments to the local community

• Delivering on social business targets

• Building local trust

• Improving stakeholder relations

• Developing a skilled local supplier base

Noting key relationship to leverage is important. Uniting or partnering with suppliers, customers, and employees to collectively contribute to the local community for a common cause allows sustainability plans to synergize in a way neither organization can achieve on its own and also powerfully contribute on a local level. These kinds of partnerships lead to beneficial back scratching -to affect change and get a better grounding for the corporate social responsibility programs and business sustainability strategies.

Another option? Corporate volunteering. Engaging employees in corporate volunteer programs transforms the corporate vision into tangible, qualified action. By tying corporate sustainability initiatives to day to day processes, it makes a corporate sustainability plan more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility. The vision is experienced differently with an emotional link formed between the employee, the organization, and community.

From a business sustainability perspective, no one company can stand alone. Business exists in a matrix of business and community stakeholder interactions. These value adding relationships include the interests of employees, supporting organizations, and the community as a whole bridging traditional business to better business for us all.