Speaking Up!

I would be bold enough to suggest that because symptoms present themselves, they need to be dealt with and the strategy is to do just that and inadvertently the real problem never gets a look in. However, just dealing with symptoms will mean that eventually the cause of your problem will come back at some point to haunt you. Is it about time we stop blaming those who don’t want to engage anymore and demonstrate this so clearly with the lack of political engagement that we are experiencing and try to look deeper into what the causes may be?

I could also recant stories which highlight the merits of putting in hard work in the short-term with some suffering, pain and hardship so that in the longer term we can reap the rewards of that hard work. It is unfortunate that sometimes we can’t directly see the results of our hard work but that shouldn’t deter us from grafting now and benefitting later. I am not suggesting that getting to the roots is going to be easy nor that the solutions won’t take hard work, but was anything meaningful ever achieved without hard work?
I have often pondered on the law of reciprocal behaviour or put another way “what goes around comes around”, or “what you sow, so shall you reap.” This serves to remind me that we are not always able to make a direct causal link to what we are doing now and the impact it will have on future generations, but nevertheless, I say, pay it forward!

I am led to write about what I will call responsible citizenship this month. I am talking about being an active citizen, a contributor to society, part of a community and having a social conscience. I am painfully aware that to those that agree with my initial statements what I am about to discuss will be such a no brainer. The concern that I have is that many people will agree but do nothing about it.

I believe that part of the solution lies with business, why, because they can provide opportunities to the disenfranchised and added to that they have no jobs. The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) comes to mind. Corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, responsible business, corporate integrity and corporate sustainability *1 are all terms that help to describe it. CSR then can be quite an emotive term. Companies can get quite defensive when the question is posed about what they are doing to fulfil their social “obligations”.

Our objective as business owners, representatives or employees of business is to recognise all the stakeholders in a community and having recognised them, to appreciate that any engagement should be bi-directional, each party impacts and is impacted. Those in power sometimes forget how one-sided these relationships can be. Whether power is demonstrated through your position because of the ballot box or because you run a large business the important thing to remember is the interconnectedness of all the constituents of society. Businesses do not work in isolation and some would argue they are only allowed to trade as a result of a social contract with society. *2

We need to ask ourselves some questions:
• Why don’t people vote, why don’t they get involved?
• How can we get Collective Social Responsibility as opposed to just Corporate Social Responsibility?
• Do we treat all stakeholders with the right levels of respect?
• Informing certain groups so that we can tick the box is not good enough, again what is consultation and does it really make a difference?

A case in point is young people who sometimes feel because of their lack of power and influence they tend to be ignored and end up voiceless in society. Surely it is incumbent on all of us to do whatever it takes to have an educated and healthy workforce and prosperous local communities. This, in my view, is what will make Birmingham the thriving global city that we would like to boast about.

Let’s start with business and its fundamental reason for existing to benefit and serve others thus moving away from the pristine capitalist view of merely profit maximisation. Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line would seem more appropriate in a collectively responsible society. Businesses considering profits, people and planet or taking a look at the economic, social and environmental impact of business practice.

Is it realistic to expect there to be safe and fairly paid jobs, with all of us following the laws of the land not just the legal form but the real substance, dare I mention tax evasion here! I would venture to say that we want a society where just and fair are by-words and philanthropy or trying to improve the lives of others is the norm.

1. Let’s tackle the causes of the apathy, this will mean investment in education not just at school but education as a philosophy to improve our lives spiritually, mentally and physically.
2. This will mean hard work from all of us investing our collective futures by grafting now. All of us working hard to make a change.
3. Finally how do we pay it forward? Well this has to be a baton to businesses large and small. Give someone a chance. If you can’t provide them with a job, give someone some experience so that they will have a chance to get a job. We may not see the results in bottom line straight away but let’s sow into the future of Birmingham.

When I speak to young people or anyone for that matter who has been unemployed for some time, they tell me what they want is a job. They want an opportunity to become a contributor and share their skills. They are not lazy, they just want a chance, they may not have the skills (and all of us were in that position at one point) the experience and sometimes even the right attitude but what they need is a chance.

We talk about our social and environmental footprint putting more back than we take out and trading in the public interest so that we can all live a better life. I really believe now is the time to do it so the next generation can be proud of Birmingham, the global city in the heart of the UK.

Footnotes
*1 Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Brundtland
*2 Social contract position – businesses enjoy a licence to operate and that licence is granted by society as long as the business acts in such a way that is deserving of the licence