Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash
I have been in the Mohawk Public Relations program
for three months now and I still cannot identify what draws me to PR. Coming
from a social work background, I have always been drawn to non profits so it
made sense to me to aim to work at one after graduation. But during the program
I found myself considering many different scenarios for my future, one of those
being working for a corporation. The problem with being suddenly intrigued by
the corporate side of PR is that I find most corporations unethical.
This mindset was reinforced in the Organizational
Application class when we did an assignment on Rana Plaza. Reading about that
disaster reiterated what I thought I knew- that corporations were about profit
and nothing else. It was hard for me to see the morality of PR when reading
about how company’s cut every corner and occasionally injure people in the
process.
It was in that same class, Organizational Application
that I learned about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). I had seen CSR’s on
website sections but never clicked on it because it was not relevant to
anything I was searching for. During my CSR assignment I was able to take in
depth looks at various corporations CSR plans. Going into this assignment with
close to no knowledge on CSR’s I assumed it was a lot of words for essentially
no action, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. I reviewed various plans from
clothing stores to local steel makers before deciding on a grocery store chain.
Through that search I saw that a lot of corporations do provide a benefit to
the communities they operate out of. Some corporations have their own
foundation, some have specific areas of focus that they financially contribute
to and some even have grant applications local non profits can use to request
money. Even the smaller corporations offer in kind donations or volunteers. Almost
every CSR plan I found listed ways that they create a positive impact and
explain how they follow ethical guidelines.
CSR’s, in my opinion, bridge the gap between
charities and corporations, which makes the prospect of working for one
bearable. It is also interesting to consider how a PR role at a corporation
would be working to establish a CSR plan. That assignment made me realize that
no matter what setting a PR professional works in, there is always an
opportunity to create positive social change. I do think of CSR’s as a PR
strategy to appear better to the public, but I don’t think that is a bad thing.
As long as some good is being accomplished the motivation seems to matter less.
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