A Business Trend Important for Success in 2021

I was reading a couple of articles this week and noticed that both addressed an important business trend we need to pay attention to in 2021. One article was in AARP’s January Bulletin by former CEO Bill Novelli. The article is “Doing Well By Doing Good.” His focus is that “businesses thrive by following a strong moral compass.” The essence of his message is that the emerging workforce is seeking to work for companies that are engaged in their communities and, while achieving business success, they are simultaneously supporting opportunities to positively impact their environments.

The other article was by Brett Bond, account executive at RFP360. Brett discusses three important (and impactful) government Requests for Proposal (RFP) trends for 2021 which include social responsibility, technology for managing RFPs, and prioritizing partnerships over transactions. The essence of Brett’s message focused on a similar trend as Bill Novelli’s. Brett shared that in the coming year, government RFP evaluators will be looking for companies that articulate social responsibility in their responses. He wrote “[I]t’s not uncommon to encounter social responsibility questions in an RFP.”

So, summarizing this trend as it relates to government support contractors, as we move into 2021, we need to purposefully develop employee recruiting material and verbal focus in our conversations with employee candidates and make clear that we are serious about our companies’ community outreach objectives. When recruiting, talk to candidates about the company being involved in community support and share with them that you are looking for people who understand the importance of that focus.

Some specific approaches to accomplishing this are to share that your company has joined the local chamber of commerce and encourage the leadership team and employees to get involved in their events and initiatives. You can also discuss that you are always thinking of ways you and your company can contribute and donate to community organizations like a community foundation that is supporting your community’s recognition.

While accomplishing the above employee and candidate community focus strategy, you need to ensure that your proposal team members internalize the company’s social responsibility activity and assure they work that theme into every RFP response.

In your current business engagements including with your employees and customers, have you noticed an increased concern and interest in your community’s social outreach and engagements?