Partner Article

Giving back – are businesses getting complacent?

What would happen if every business made it one of their goals to make a difference, to really contribute and help other people?

With the pressures of managing work with family and other commitments, it can be easy to start living in a bit of a bubble and lose track of what’s really important. I speak from experience here and I’m not pointing the finger at other businesses. It’s a lesson we all can learn.

Ask yourself if, on your deathbed, you could look back and say that you’d helped enough people or made a positive difference. Personally, I still think I have a way to go before I feel satisfied that I have done enough and I’m willing to bet that there are many other business people reading this who have come to the same conclusion.

Recently, I got involved in a project that reminded me just how important it was to give back. I’ve written about it on my personal blog so I won’t go into too much detail here but it involved a family who were robbed of their gift for their autistic son on Christmas Day. Although there were many businesses, along with our own, that got involved and donated not just their services or products, but their time, to helping this family, there were also many others who simply refused.

Whilst I appreciate that not everyone can get involved in every cause that comes their way, I really feel like there were a number of businesses who just didn’t see the value in giving up their time to help people they don’t know personally. This isn’t just about money either. I understand that not all companies can afford to donate products, but that’s not the most important thing. I think, nowadays, time is the most expensive commodity out there.

I also think these businesses are missing a trick. There are plenty of benefits to reap from helping others. If you were to take your team to help with a community project or charity, what would you gain? Well, on top of the endorphins and sense of accomplishment, you would also benefit from that change of scene – getting out of the office and working on other areas that you need to focus on for business success; teamwork, empathy, problem-solving.

It also teaches you about the importance of going the extra mile to help others and this can be translated into the standard of customer service you provide to your customers. Focusing on the success of your own business is only a small part of a bigger picture. If you could bottle some of that success and put it into the local community, wouldn’t that make it an altogether better place?

Remember what Winston Churchill said: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lawrence Jones .