When we were first assigned the group projects for our CSR and Consulting class I was immediately lost. In my opinion, our client was ahead of the curve regarding anything to do with social responsibility and environmentally sustainable practices. What could they possible want from us? What help could we give them? As we delved deeper into the project and learned more about our client it soon became very clear that green policies were obviously not their problem, what they needed was an effective way to communicate these policies to their employees, clients, and the outside communities. As we continued interviewing a diverse group of employees within the company it became even more evident that there was a big disconnect; some employees didn’t know what kind of green policies were being implemented and some employees didn’t even think there was a problem with the communication within the company.

I think communication is often overlooked as an important part of any company’s success, and a number of companies are hurt when they fail to improve communication efforts within their company. Its clear that within smaller firms information flows easily, however even a small firm can suffer when they are growing at a very rapid pace. Lack of effective dialogue between new and experienced employees in a growing company can hinder their future success, especially when the company is divided geographically. Its hard enough to keep everyone on the same page in one office, but when a company has multiple offices in different parts of the country, it may seem impossible to keep all employees engaged and up-to-date. There are certain characteristics that make a firm more vulnerable, but every company needs to recognize that communication is a necessary component of their success, and they need to utilize new technologies to create innovative strategies to increase communication and engagement within their firms.

—Leah.Mogabgab

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