I am listening to David Cameron talking about corporate responsibility.

Business, he says should do more, should help plug the gaps and have a sense of social, as well as fiscal responsibility.

He’s talking because there is an unease whenever business or the corporate sector becomes involved anywhere that is felt they shouldn’t be dipping their toes.

Why is that? Is it because when we hear the word “corporate” we think of certain behaviour, emotions and reactions?

There is a scene in one of the best RomComs ever, You’ve Got Mail. Yes, OK, taking business inspiration from a Meg Ryan film might seem strange but bear with me.

At one point, Tom Hank’s character says to Meg’s, “it’s not personal it’s business, repeat that whenever you feel you are losing your nerve. It’s not personal, it’s business.” “The first thing business should be”, she says, “is personal”.

Business it at the very heart of all of our lives. It is the thing that takes us away from our families and homes for over eight hours a day, it is what we often use to define ourselves and help us to live the lives we want. Whether we are fulfilled by it or not business is, to all of us, personal. It is enormously inspiring and motivating for many of us, but that, as I see it, only makes it more personal.

So how come, I ask again, do we not see it that way?

Many businesses and firms should be applauded when it comes to donating their time, energy and effort to the local community. But for others it can seem like it’s an add-on. Corporate responsibility, all too often, is something that is done either to reduce business rates, improve public image or tick a box in a KPI.

Giving 10% of your time and resources with what seems like your hand tied behind your back isn’t going to make a huge difference. Yes it might get you a few nice press cuttings, give you a cheesy pic for your newsletter and make a few board members pat themselves on their backs but, really, what kind of impact are you having?

Over the past five months or so I have been talking to the media about Insight with Passion’s Retail Clinics. The idea of Access for All, of an organisation giving 20% of its time, resources and energy towards community projects has been a tricky one to communicate. Not because the idea isn’t clear but because they simply don’t believe me. I had an email exchange with one editor for the best part of two hours as he tried to clarify what it meant. He simply couldn’t grasp that any company would give that size a proportion of its time on a project that wouldn’t make them any cash.

Isn’t that the saddest thing you ever heard?

Listen up, “business”, this is me with my PR hat on. When you get upset about what people are saying about you either it’s because they don’t like you or because you’re not getting your message out their effectively enough. If they don’t like you, well you can make them but it takes time. If you aren’t getting your message out effectively then that’s something you can change easily.

Business should be personal because it has an increasing part to play in our day to day lives. Everything shouldn’t just be about profit. Business is often promoted in a way that is all about selfish money-making and self-advancement. The consumer should just put up and shut up.

There has to be another way, and there is.

Sharing your skills and expertise with those who can’t afford to pay for it or don’t know they’re looking for it through campaigns or projects is a great way of getting business to be a little more involved.

Being a little less “me, me, me” and a little more “we, we, we” means business can be more personal and be seen that way.

For firms that are already doing it, they should be shouting from the rooftops. And we should be jumping all over ourselves to get involved.