What Does It Mean To Be A Strong Corporate Citizen?

Tom Knowlton, Partner and Director of Corporate Practice at TCC Group, interviewed with Forbes to share his insights on what it means to be a strong corporate citizen.

His interview with Christopher Skroupa is previewed below, and the full content is available on the Forbes website.

Christopher P. Skroupa: What does it mean to be a strong corporate citizen?

Thomas Knowlton: The best corporate citizens are providing positive value to society and meeting or exceeding the expectations of their stakeholders. That means they are clear about their purpose, have clear social impact goals that align with their purpose and are able to communicate the results of their initiatives clearly to their stakeholders.

The best companies have built a strong level of trust with their stakeholders – customers, employees, government officials, suppliers and community leaders.

We help companies build this trust by first developing a corporate citizenship framework based on the primary drivers of stakeholder expectations:

1. The impact of their products and services;
2. The impact of their operations – employment, environmental, etc.; and
3. The impact of their citizenship programs in the communities where they operate.

Once the framework is established, we work with corporate citizenship leaders to either develop or strengthen initiatives to ensure they achieve the social impact goals that are critical to building strong relationships with their stakeholders. This creates a number of benefits for the company, resulting in improved reputation, increased employee retention, more effective recruiting, and increased loyalty from their customers.

Read “What Does It Mean To Be A Strong Corporate Citizen?” on Forbes.com >