Miri Marriott’s (CSR) Christmas Wish Tree project came to an end last Friday. After 3 months of preparation, we delivered all 442 gifts/money donated by guests, associates and friends of Miri Marriott to the various orphanages, disability centres and the hospital. It was an experience that brought on a rollercoaster of emotions, but an experience I will remember and treasure forever. It did get me thinking about CSR; how some companies (corporations) choose not to do it and for some that do it’s all just a load of green, blue or pinkwashing.
Personally, to experience what I experienced last week, it is worth all the time, all the money and all the effort. It’s a given that acts of CSR are not going to solve all the world’s problems (it would be amazing if they could!) but it is a way for companies to extend a helping hand to society, while also benefiting from it themselves. Clearly the feeling of doing something good for others is not enough, so why else should companies embrace corporate social responsibility? Specifically focusing on hotel CSR, I did a little informal verbal survey among my fellow associates and came up with the following reasons:
1. Going Green is the new frontier of innovation – Hotels are constantly trying to keep up with the times, in terms of standards and innovations. New generation travellers (Gen Y) are more environmentally conscious and this can affect where they choose to stay. Hotels are very much aware of this and must think of innovative ways to accommodate to their greener needs
2. It saves money – CSR is one of the easiest ways to cut down on costs. Whether it’s improving energy efficiency or water use, it really can make a difference it terms of saving some money;
3. Competitive advantage – In conjunction with point 1, CSR can set you apart from your competitors, with guests having your hotel as a preference in response to all the your positive impacts on society/environment/etc;
4. Long-term thinking – We are all very much aware of the need to be more sustainable economically, environmentally and socially (triple-bottom-line). Long-term sustainability is just good business when you’re in it for the long run;
5. Communicating and Connecting with Customers – CSR can help you engage with your customers on a more personal level. Since the message you want to put out is about doing something “good,” it can often be an effective way of getting customer attention as well as community attention;
6. Employee engagement – engaging employees in the company’s CSR priorities can really aid in communication and boosting morale.
Of course different companies do CSR for different reasons. But I take back what I mentioned before about CSR not solving the world’s problems; I would like to believe that if every CEO felt what I felt giving a gift to a little girl bed-ridden in hospital and putting a smile on her face, and then felt compelled to make more people smile, the world would be a much better place. Naive? Perhaps, but maybe I'm just optimistically planting seeds for all you future CEOs :)
Rachel Salinah Jackson
15624958/7e0b8041
Curtin Miri
