Three things I’ve learnt so far about responding to community needs in a time of crisis

By Simon Boss, Chief Executive of Shoosmiths LLP

Through my involvement with the Social Mobility Pledge since Shoosmiths became signatories in 2018 (and now the C-19 Pledge), and as a member of the BITC West Midlands Advisory Board, I have become aware of many nuances to successful engagement with communities across the UK. I’ve also started to understand how we can better look out for, and be part of, these communities – although there’s always more for me, and other business leaders, to learn.

I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learnt so far which are most relevant to the current crisis. I hope they will be useful as businesses adapt to these strange, and uncertain times.

Identify the need first.

Doing this first really helped us to structure our approach. With so much going on, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. By speaking directly to charities and community organisations and responding to specific requests, efforts are more likely to have the desired impact. It’s not always immediately obvious what the most impactful action will be, so taking that time enables the business to best match the resources available to them.

There’s no one way to help, and everyone needs to do their bit.

One of our strengths is our geographical coverage, so we have been able to leverage that network to direct support to where it’s needed. We’ve always had a close relationship with community partners local to each office, so turned to them first. Many are struggling, so we’re glad we can play our small part in assisting them.

For other businesses though, the most effective way to help will be different. It might be through one partnership with a national charity, or it might be bringing employees together to volunteer virtually. No one business has all the answers, so it can be just as helpful to make connections across networks – thinking about who you know, not just what you know.

Whatever a business’ unique skills and resources are, the key to delivering much needed support is that everyone contributes as best they can.

This new reality continues to change every day.

We talk about consistency a lot at Shoosmiths, as the situation continues to change almost every day. Honestly, being consistent has never been more difficult, but we hope our continued presence in our communities will help. Many of our offices have chosen to extend their current local charity partnership for another year, so hopefully that will offer some reassurance. For businesses with existing charity partnerships, reach out to them, even if just to check in for now. I’m sure it will be appreciated.

It’s so important to me as a Chief Executive to be vocal about the importance of being a responsible business, especially when facing such significant challenges, and I encourage those in my position at other organisations to do their bit. Signing the C-19 Pledge is a clear commitment that businesses can make to contribute to the national Covid-19 recovery effort, and the framework of three simple principles – employees, customers, community – is a really helpful tool to shape the response and act in a way that really will make a difference.