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Though many businesses are reopening following COVID-19 stand down periods, the majority of schools remain closed, and many students at those schools continue to struggle both educationally and at home. With students in need, and corporate social responsibility trending quite hard over the last decade, teachers can look to local business to help them further support the students they are trying desperately to keep on the right track during this unprecedented time.
By definition, corporate social responsibility (or CSR) is a business model that requires a company to not only be responsible to itself and its stakeholders, but also to the general public in the sense of bettering the communities they do business in. When the term first surfaced, it was more of an aspect of a company one would look at and say, “Oh, that’s very nice.” Today, however, it is very much a necessity for a large business to engage in their communities, because, in the world of social media and Yelp, poor CSR practices can lead to consumer boycotting trends in a matter of minutes.
There have been countless changes caused by COVID-19, but one that has affected every single person in a given age group is the closure of schools, and here are some tips on CSR methods that can help teachers continue to engage their students.
Help Employees Help Themselves
2020 has really thrust the U.S. business world into making some difficult choices that may ultimately sacrifice revenue for the sake of the well-being of their employees. A simple, but extremely helpful, move for business is to simply let their employees work from home, where their children now have to be instead of school. Depending on the children’s age, this can allow your employees to not have to worry about babysitting services, while also allowing them to fill the personal needs that would otherwise be filled by teachers.
Let Your Business Provide the Help
Some businesses, of course, cannot function in the remote work model, but for those types of businesses that require personnel to be on hand, changing a part of your production can be a great way to showcase your CSR, and can also be geared towards kids. Producing school supplies at a factory, providing food to struggling families at a restaurant, even just financial help for those in need, are all ways to gear part of your business toward helping youngsters in your community who are stuck at home with online learning.
Educate the Educators
Speaking of financial help, if your corporation has provided scholarships to students in the past, this could be a good time to gear something like that to furthering a teacher’s education. As online education continues to grow and offer means of bettering youngsters’ educations, teachers need to grow with the times as well. Setting up a scholarship for a teacher to achieve her or his masters in education policy, or a similar field, helps the kids, the teachers, and ultimately the entire community.
Don’t Stop When They Go Back to School
Helping those in need is, and will always be, a morally sound choice for individuals and businesses of any size, but as a bonus, it is also a tried-and-true way to increase your customer base and increase your longevity in a given community. Hopefully your company chooses to practice CSR methods for all the right reasons, but even if they do tend to focus solely on the almighty dollar, you can tell whomever needs to hear it that there is plenty of proof that having a strong standing as a member of the community will also help revenue grow.
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