Let us Learn to be better Listeners
by: Rafael C. Lopa
Company-Community Dialogue Facilitators Forum
Ateneo Law School Auditorium
16 November 2012
Good morning.
I am honored to address this forum of Best Practices for Resolving Company-Community Disputes in Asia and the launch of the Company-Community Dialogue Facilitators Forum in the Asian region. As executive director of Philippine Business for Social Progress, the largest corporate-led, non-profit social development foundation in the Philippines, it is in my interest to promote communication between our member corporations and the communities they operate in. It is one of the aims of PBSP, which was organized as a vehicle for collective corporate response to poverty, to work in consultation and in tandem with the community, listening to and acting on the voices of all stakeholders.
Which is why this global initiative to build an international database of a network of professional facilitators in Company-Community Dialogue Facilitation is most welcome. For sure, we in the corporate world, have lot to learn today.
I congratulate the Swedish International Development Aid (SIDA) for sponsoring this important event, and to the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative (CSRI) of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, for its response to the third principle under the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights, of “access to remedy for project-affected stakeholders”. My sincere congratulations also goes to our host, the Conflict Resolution Group Foundation or CORE, the network’s regional coordinator for Asia. Founded by the late Annabelle Abaya, CORE has had a distinguished record of successful mediation in both the public and private sectors here and abroad.
Heaven knows, the corporate world needs this initiative. I look forward to the sharing of best practices lined up for this morning, as we in the world of corporate foundations are ever on the look-out for effective methods of reaching out to our companies’ stakeholders and ensuring that we are not only hearing the noise of our own agendas.
The Philippine Business for Social Progress was founded in 1970 by 50 Filipino businessmen who, wanting to be of help to the majority of our countrymen who are poor, pledged to set aside one percent of their net incomes before taxes to fund programs that would reduce poverty in our midst. The initiative was based on the Dividendo Voluntario para la Comunidad established by the business community in Venezuela, which became a model of corporate social action in the 1970s. Our hard-nosed but compassionate businessmen envisioned PBSP as a means by which they could coordinate their socio-economic projects and programs across the country in terms of funding and technical support.
After over 40 years of trial and error in social development work, PBSP has made an impact in four key aspects of development — Health, Education, Environment Protection, and Sustainable Livelihood Development. And it has, along the way, empowered its assisted communities and increased their participation in their own development.
We feel however, that this is not enough. The world has changed since our members decided to tackle poverty alleviation more directly, and we must adjust to these changes. PBSP started out thinking it was enough to give a poor man fish to eat. Then we realized that it would be better if we taught him how to fish. Then in the course of teaching him how to fish we realize that he is not alone in the sea where he does his fishing. There are many others like him who also want to fish. Sometimes, we even find ourselves fishing in the same sea but with more advanced gear that deprive him of his desired catch. Then we are also reminded that the sea itself has demanded respect and nurturing for the fish to survive in it. In the process, we have learned how intertwined our lives are and how important it is that we each acquaint and fully appreciate each others problems, challenges, motivations, dreams and aspirations. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Here is where we realize we need experienced facilitators to help us dialogue, resolve disputes and strengthen relationships between companies and our stakeholders.
Some companies create community relations groups to see to it that stakeholders are kept happy. When problems arise, some spend large amounts for crisis management and public relations to try and contain the damage through various means, both fair and foul. There are some companies that operate on the premise that everything is a matter of money. While pouring money into a community can keep the peace for a while, as the Beatles have reminded us, “Money can’t buy you love.” Simply paying people off is not the best way to nurture a stable and sustainable relationship. Undoubtedly, money is a big factor. But ultimately, what people seek is respect and everything that goes with it. They do not want to be treated as mere statistics, or just cogs in the wheel of industry. They have names, faces, personalities, families. They have something to say and the company must listen.
But a respectful relationship, to mean anything at all, has to be reciprocal and multi-sectoral, to include inter-locking stakeholders — the families of employees, the community at large, civil society and people’s organizations, and the LGUs that govern communities. If a relationship is to be sustainable, it must be inclusive.
Listening is a skill many people – corporations, governments and their stakeholders –NGOs, POs, CSOs – are not particularly good at. The current debate in this country over mining and the RH bill has demonstrated this clearly. Common sense and experience tell us that the more successful initiatives are those where the doors are open for dialogue among all the stakeholders.
It is clear that conflicts between companies and communities, government and citizens, church and state, etc., would be very difficult to resolve especially if the debate is simply left with hardline positions that are irresponsibly amplified in mass media. Often conflicts are resolved when intermediaries and experienced facilitators are able to inconspicuously embed themselves in the conflict situation to provide the listening and discerning ear that distinguishes the sober voice of consensus from the noise of extreme positions.
Yes, let us all learn to be better listeners! And let us begin today.
Let us all give our undivided attention to the sharing of rich experiences of company-community dialogue and learn about the important role that facilitators play. And as you launch your network and passionately explore ways to move forward, we are equally eager to seek partnerships in promoting company-community dialogues facilitated by professionals in your network. It can only be good for business, the community, the region, and the world.
Congratulations on this ground-breaking activity. May your tribe increase.