Should awareness be a business responsibility?

A deeper and graver concern is that of awareness not being taken seriously. People hesitate to engage with awareness driven messaging, seeing it as superfluous or not applicable to daily life. Businesses and people often also perceive awareness as being related to self-improvement and, therefore, treat it as a charitable exercise. A ‘good to have’, not a ‘must-have’.

Businesses have been making nominal donations towards awareness drives through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding, but mainly to comply with the government mandate, not always from internal conviction. The potential of increased awareness in changing the business paradigm is missed out.

Of all the tools to maximise profitability and create value for all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and society, awareness is the most underrated. It is not just in the interest of the society but also in the interest of business to extract the most from solutions based on awareness.

The issues that plague our society cut across all strata of society and exist within the microcosms of our workplace. Businesses are not immune to them. Social evils, unaddressed, have a direct impact on productivity in the workplace, employee and customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and profitability.

Once this is understood, awareness moves from being an optional activity to a core facet of business operations. Do you agree that raising awareness on social issues has direct benefits to businesses?