The advert read in part, “… ex-convicts with a positive track record during their prison time and after release are encouraged to apply”.
There was backlash from the public because the organization was contradicting the public opinion of previously incarcerated individuals.
Organizations operate with their customers in mind. Not only are organizations extremely sensitive to perceptions from their customers, but they are also ever reading the mind of the customer to conform to it in every step they take.
“Customer is always right” is an anthem that managers continuously sing to their staff. In fact, many managers have a conviction that the success of their organization is pegged on catering to their consumers' demands scrupulously.
If customers - individuals or corporations - are in the tree-planting mood to counter global warming, organizations follow them religiously through corporate social responsibility in tree-planting sessions.
Educating the poor, sponsoring sports, cleaning towns, and donating foodstuff to orphanage homes, are some of the corporate social responsibilities that organizations do.
The idea behind corporate social responsibility is that organizations are human-valuing and therefore have a moral obligation to a social cause by situating the profit-making goals alongside the interests of the public.
There is no doubt that involvement in corporate social responsibility empowers communities and uplifts the lives of many people, besides the branding of the organization. It is just a noble idea.
However, this noble idea need to go further. Organizations need to realize that occasionally the “customer is wrong”.
Faced with this reality, organizations need to put on the armor of confidence and simply educate and correct their customers.
The need to not only follow public opinion by engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR), to shape their customers’ opinion through human resource social advocacy (HRSA) is a win-win for the organization and the public in the long run.
Human resources social advocacy (HRSA) is an interventionist approach where HR proactively engages in efforts aimed at shaping and/or changing people’s perceptions of social issues.
HR advocacy in shaping opinions is done through the conveyance and communication of ideas related to HR matters of public interest.
As a corporate communication artefact, HRSA is developed by the HR department with the aim of attaining social change through proactively shaping public perceptions toward major issues in society.
Organizations need to trade carefully here, though.
This is because unlike corporate social responsibility, human resources social advocacy has the potential of placing the social license of an organization at risk because of an attempt to shape the public opinion of an issue that is extremely unpopular.
This is exemplified by the imaginary utopian advert above.
The reason why organizations would never consider such an advert is because of the negative perceptions towards previously incarcerated individuals in society.
This does not mean that organizations should fear engaging in such unpopular stand, especially when the end-goal benefits all.
What they need are effective strategies to counter initial resistance and negative publicity.
A case in point is employing reformed ex-convicts.
It is a fact that it is almost near impossible for previously incarcerated individuals to get into decent employment.
Most find their way back into crime to survive after missing out on job opportunities and eventually back into prisons.
Many have been denied an opportunity to get into employment despite the fact that their crime might have been extremely minor.
Yet running prisons is expensive and organizations have a role to help out in reforming and depopulating them.
The “human” in human resource need to come out of HR professionals as advocates for social justice for all human beings, irrespective of how unpopular an issue may be.
HR professionals need to be motivated by the desire to make genuine impact in the lives of people and offer real support to the wider community.
All human beings deserve to have a chance, in some cases, a second chance and advocacy through HRSA makes this a reality.