Community relations play a vital role in the survival of organisations. Community relations entail how a business interacts with the local community and stakeholders with the ultimate aim of building and sustaining a healthy relationship with one another. Over the years, scholars have written extensively about the significance of community relations in a highly competitive market. They compared it to a marriage institution, where the business concern, as the suitor, marries the community, settles with it and takes inherent responsibilities associated with its stakeholders. The wife (community) takes a close look at the marriage vows and discovers that her husband (business) owes her more than mere financial support (taxes). It is worth mentioning that the husband (organization) cannot abandon his marital responsibilities; else he will face some negative consequences. Without any doubt, this is the prevailing reality between an organisation and its immediate environment.
Meanwhile, community relations practice is beneficial to both an organisation and its host community. Over the years, an organisation benefits by operating in a safe community and the community benefits by having its environment developed by the organisation. As a consequent of this, they must strive to know the community or communities in which they exist, identify with the needs of the community or communities in which they exist, be and function as corporate citizens of the community or communities in which they exist, ensure at all times that there is healthy relationship between them and the community or communities in which they exist. Effective community relations depend on recognising the interdependence of institutions with their communities. The cycle begins with people wanting to live in good communities and bringing their talents and skills to the labour market.
Therefore, for an organisation to survive, it must accept its responsibilities to the immediate environment in which it is situated. When it does this, it gains a number of long-term benefits in terms of community support, loyalty, and the fostering of goodwill. A solid, comprehensive community relations programme can help virtually any organisation achieve visibility as a good community citizen. This, in turn, will help to raise awareness of the company’s products and/or services. Community relations are therefore mandatory to ensure that host communities receives fair treatment from the organisations operating within their communities.
Glory Olotu, Akure
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