CSR, Sustainability and the Illusion of “Work/Life Balance” – Are we practicing what we preach?

Posted on 02. Jan, 2012 by

Today, we have our first ever guest blogger, Laura Crandall. Laura is the owner of Slate Communication, a consultancy specializing in workplace communication. She is our organizational and human resources consultant at PMG. A version of this post initially appeared on her blog.

 

We all struggle with how to make our lives what we want them to be. Our goals tasks, obligations, chores and aspirations all compete for our attention. Add the goals and needs of others – spouses, parents, children, friends, colleagues, and the like – and it is a miracle our brains can organize our lives into any workable plan from day to day, much less from week to month to year.

For those of use who work in the realm of corporate social responsibility (CSR), whether from a public relations, management or strategic perspective, the conflict in promoting the triple bottom line of our companies while we attempt to live healthy lives can be a challenge.

We work to create and promote sustainable business practices: good companies tending to people, profit and the planet. Sustainability is the focus. We talk all day about how companies choose to operate in ways that protect the health of the ecosystem in which they operate while still earning a profit. If a company known for CSR does something that is fails to uphold that position – it treats employees in an unjust way, falsifies aspects of a design it promoted as flawless, sources an ingredient from an negligent vendor – its stakeholders point out this discrepancy and call for change. Jeopardizing the health of the system in which CSR companies exist is not an option.

But as we work to help good companies stay true to their visions of sustainable behavior, we work brutally long hours at a frenetic pace and try to manage every media outlet, all possible contingency plans, supply-side conflicts, employee issues, crisis management, new business development, plus our own experiences outside of our paid work that include our family, friends, communities, homes and our personal health. The result of so much chaotic activity is often stress, reduced productivity and mental and physical fatigue that deplete our experience of life. While we work to support our companies and clients and promote their overall well-being, are we practicing what we preach? Is our behavior sustainable? Does it support the health of our equivalent triple bottom line? Who are our stakeholders who tap us on the shoulder and point-out that our pace and methods are not aligned with what we say we value?

Our culture attempts to mollify this conflict by creating the concept of work/life balance. Work and life – “life” being family, fun and the things that we’d supposedly rather be doing other than working – must somehow become balanced. But the balance is like a teeter-totter, and one side can suddenly plummet if an unexpected imbalance occurs, jettisoning the other up into the wind waiting for a convenient time to be recovered. It’s a precarious balance at best.

This is why the work/life balance concept is an illusion. It implies that a) balance is possible and desirable, b) work is something people don’t like to do, and c) work is not part of life. It does not look at individuals and all of the things each of us do in context of our larger systems – our personal ecosystems that can function in sustainable ways if deliberate, kind attention is paid to them. What we seek when we discuss the work/life idea is not balance, but health. Systems needn’t be magically balanced but they do need to be healthy. The health of a system is the foundation for its success.

So, what if we start thinking about our lives like we think about the companies we are working so hard to support: dynamic systems that must be tended to in many ways in order to be healthy and highly functioning? What if we considered ourselves as dynamic, work-health systems?

Like CSR companies and their knowledge that sustainable business practices are the keys to the success of their triple bottom lines, the work we do as humans – whether in public relations, consulting, management or operations in the CSR world or not – is dependent upon our overall health. Health – physical, mental, emotional, social, financial, interpersonal, professional etc., is what every person needs to be sustainable over time. It allows us to thrive.

CSR companies choose to see the health of their businesses as dependent upon all points where they connect with their stakeholders, the financial system and the environment. Thinking that our personal successes can only come from our work and our “life” being balanced on an unstable teeter-totter of doom is akin to businesses thinking that the only way to operate profitably is by disregarding the people and places that allow them to function.

If we can start applying the ideas that we promote about CSR to the full breadth of our lives – the dynamic systems that require deliberate attention to work well – we can practice what we preach and live and work sustainably. Choosing to think of our lives as multifaceted, dynamic systems rather than to two basic parts that just need to be balanced can be a lot to consider. But seeing ourselves as the beautiful complexities we are rather than simplistic teeter-totters is worth it.

When “Local” Means “National”

Posted on 30. Dec, 2011 by

I have been thinking about what “buying local” means for the past few months. Years, actually. But a lot of the time in the past few months. A few events over the past few weeks have had me thinking about my consumerism. One is the Community Supported Enterprise project that I am working on with Janice Shade and Anna Palmer.

Another event, needing to purchase a refrigerator after mine died on 12/23, left me searching for locally owned stores who would sell such a product in the evening to me. I ended up buying it from Sears after trying five stores – only three were open after traditional business hours: Best Buy, Home Depot and Sears. The other two were locally owned, and good places, but they were not open when I had to make a purchase.

I am a huge supporter of small businesses. Heck, how can I not be? I am a small business owner. But also, because it takes some moxi for these people to have opened a business, create jobs and find ways to keep the business open and/or growing. I shop at independent retailers most of the time. I stay mostly at independently owned hotels when I travel.

I buy a CSA every year, try to buy all of my produce from farmers that I know during peak growing months. I purchase cheese that is made in the state where I live. I try and buy meat from local farmers too, when I can.

I also shop at “box stores”, online retailers, chain stores and restaurants, and the like. These businesses employ my neighbors, donate money to local non profit events, etc.

I also make my living supporting brands (made near and far) that are sold in my state at chain grocery stores AND locally owned independent retailers. I represent brands that are made locally, and then sold nationally or internationally. In all cases, these companies have created really good jobs, built sustainable companies and work to make the world a better place by investing in ways to lessen their environmental impact and/or be more socially responsible within their local communities. These same brands hire my company, which allows Ken and me to create good paying jobs with above average benefits.

I think that there is too much emphasis put on the “buy local” initiative. Personally, I am more inclined to buy products made in the USA to help support manufacturing. Buying from companies with solid operations based in the US – employing Americans, offering good benefits and above average wages. Buying from companies who are making an impact on our world – from addressing poverty and malnutrition in third world countries to making sure that their environmental impact is neutral or negative.

Conscious consumerism. This, in my opinion, is more important than the “Buy local!” mantra sung by so many.

Ok. Your turn. What does “buy local” mean to you?

Save My Manolos!

Posted on 02. Jun, 2008 by

I went to pick up some shoes that I had repaired this weekend at the cobbler.  While I was chatting with the business owner, we started to discuss how the art of shoemaking and shoe repair is dying. 

Crap!  Who is going to put new plastic tips on the heels of my favorite pair of C. Labels or put one of those sole strengtheners on the bottom of my Manolo Blahnik’s? (For the record – I have no idea what the technical terms for these things are that save my shoes – just that they do!)

Driving away from the shop, I got to thinking.   Who is in charge of PR for the cobblers of the United States?  Clearly there is one big missed opportunity here!  With the box-office smash hit “Sex in the City” just out this past weekend where the characters are known for their expensive and fabulous footwear as well as the continued concern about rising gas prices and recession, timing could not be more perfect!

There is in fact, an association for cobblers and shoemakers called the Shoe Service Institute of America.  Not an easy group to find; they do not appear easily in a Google search of cobbler associations in the United States.  This is a public call to all shoemakers and cobblers associations… please invest in some PR!!  Strike now – the iron is hot!!

My goal is perhaps self-serving.  One, I get to write about what I know – PR.  And two, maybe a little pr push will help more people enter into this noble and worthwhile trade as a demand will be created for the service.  On a socially responsible front, we change out our shoes too often, hopefully donating them to charity… but chances are too many shoes that still have sole get tossed. 

At PMG, this is what we call being opportunistic.  If you are indeed a member of the Shoe Service Institute of America, give me a call, I will strike you a hell of a deal!

Think you have a story that could help boost your bottom line?  Flush it out and call your media friends… you might just find your company on the front page of the paper!

Well heeled,

Nicole Ravlin