In yesterday’s post, I examined the impact and fallout of the current economic situation. So what are corporate citizens doing about it?

During this economic crisis, corporate citizens are operating at multiple levels. 

Employee Relations – Particularly if you have lay-offs, you are going to be on the front lines of minimizing local community impacts to current and former employees.  A top factor affecting how the public perceives companies as corporate citizens is how they treat their employees. 

Some companies have committed to no lay-offs and have cut all of their community relations instead.  Other companies have tried to cushion the blow of lay-offs by borrowing to extend severance packages, hiring outplacement firms, and figuring out other ways to minimize the trauma. 

Still other companies, such as KPMG, are ramping up their volunteer programs to help their employees express their personal commitment to their local communities.

Customer Relations – Many companies are being solicitous of their customers.  Hyundai made national headlines by promising to relinquish customers of financial responsibility for a lease or loan if they run into financial troubles within 12 months of the purchase.

They are offering little perks as well.  The Baltimore Orioles are offering free birthday parties to fans who celebrate their birthday at the ballpark. Many companies have always offered special discounts and promotions, but the practice has spread across the country over the last three months.  Even Starbucks and Outback Steakhouse are creating new “value” propositions.

Community Relations – While a number of companies have cut back their contributions to outside groups, over 50% of the companies recently surveyed by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy had still held off making reductions.

Recovery Management – Some companies are investing in workforce development and community capacity-building in order to build up their employee, customer, and community base.  Companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cisco, Intel and Applied Materials continue to fund prodigious R&D programs.

Attitude Management – You see it all the time in sports movies – teams get blown out in the first half, and then someone steps up to rally everyone and lead the team to success.  Standing up against the negativity can be a huge lift.  While it may not show up in terms of dollars and cents, some companies are doing what they can to build up morale and public confidence.  Check out UPS, Southwest, Pepsi, and the various cruise lines and the messages they are communicating.

Conscience Management – Amid all of the fear, people can lose sight of their better natures.  Someone in the company has to stand up for the company’s stated values and the right thing to do.  For every Madoff headline, there are thousands of corporate managers doing the right thing by their investors, employees, and customers. 

Good Stewardship – In this era of scarce resources and environmental sensitivity, stewardship is a differentiator that matters.  Companies like Siemens, ING, and Xerox are investing significantly in environmental initiatives that they hope will pay multiple dividends for them and their stakeholders.

BCLC has identified five basic areas where companies are committed to minimizing the impact of the crisis. Learn more tomorrow. (Read Part Three)

BCLC will launch its economic recovery portal and build on these ideas with business, government and nonprofit partners during the 2009 National Conference on Corporate Community Investment in Chicago, IL May 3-5. For more information visit: www.uschamber.com/bclc/events/cciconference_chicago.htm