It's not only about profits

There is no dearth of young and exciting talent that organizations can tap for that much needed infusion of new and fresh ideas. The crème of the crop these days is composed of highly educated, bright, well-travelled, and digital-savvy individuals, in their mid-twenties to early thirties, ambitious and hungry to make a difference in the world.

The challenge is that it takes more than just an excellent remuneration and benefits package to lure the so-called Generation Y into deciding to work for you. Being more socially aware, they are very conscious of the many challenges facing our environment and society. Their social conscience dictates that they strive to find meaning beyond their self-centred career goals. Thus, they are passionate about transforming the world into a better place, even as they work to achieve their personal dreams.

This new generation of leaders is much more discerning and, more importantly, possess the luxury of choice. They go beyond rhetoric or spin to examine closely a company’s history and track record, beyond financial profits to values and social contributions.

It is no wonder then that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a major component in the agenda of most large corporations. In their quest to sign up a fresh generation of promising leaders, corporations have been promoting their CSR activities as not just the right thing to do but also as a competitive advantage.

Standard Chartered Bank has deeply woven into its corporate fabric a number of causes that are closely tied to its business and geographic footprint. While more recently we have also come to embrace environmental protection in response to climate change, programs generally fall under the umbrellas of three big causes. ‘Seeing is Believing’, ‘Living with HIV’ and ‘Nets for Life’ of which more is said at the end of this article.

As the country’s first and oldest international bank, with history dating back to 1872, Standard Chartered has grown alongside the Philippine economy. Our commitment to the Philippines remains constant and so we strive to channel resources back to help the country achieve genuine progress. Quite apart from supporting the causes that we have led on globally, we also find space to contribute and otherwise support other national causes that deserve an immediate and local response.

Against this backdrop, corporate social responsibility takes on a more profound meaning. It is not limited to doing charity or community outreach programs. It, ideally, should underlie every decision and action of an institution. Superior financial performance must be anchored on strong values and a culture of service to customers and the communities in which we operate. Only in so doing will business become sustainable, and attract young talents who are looking for differentiators in their selection of employers.

In an age where the practices of profits at any cost, personal greed and the social value of actions and activities are being increasingly openly questioned, corporations that do not respond in a way that society is demanding will risk finding themselves isolated and, at worst, shunned by consumers and employees.

Standard Chartered’s global causes:

Seeing is Believing (SiB). SiB is a global fund-raising campaign that aims to help eradicate avoidable blindness. It aims to change millions of lives through fund-raising that will support eye operations, medical equipment, education and training. Since 2003, SiB has raised over US$25 million for eye-care initiatives. It has impacted more than 16 million people and helped over 2.5 million receive sight-restoring cataract surgery. SiB’s latest commitment, A New Vision, will generate US$20 million for eye care programmes by raising US$10 million which will be matched by the Bank and will benefit a further 20 million people by 2014, with a focus on education and prevention of blindness in addition to sight restoration. We are halfway to achieveing this goal. 

Living with HIV. The program, anchored on staff volunteers called “HIV Champions”, helps our employees and our communities prevent and fight the global pandemic of HIV and AIDS by educating people with the facts to make safe lifestyle choices. We share our HIV education tools (available in more than 10 languages) free of charge. Since 2007, more than 1.4 million people have attended face-to-face HIV education workshops through partnerships with more than 70 organizations. To date, we have pledges to educate 2.3 million people.

NetsforLife. NetsforLife works to eliminate malaria which kills nearly one million people every year, most of them children under five. Malaria affects many of the African communities in which the Bank operates, thus, we believe we had a duty to act. We joined forces with five other donors in 2006 to provide long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLITN) across 15 African countries. As of 2010, 1.6 million nets had been distributed. Standard Chartered further hopes to propagate a “net culture,” where communities understand the protective value of nets, how to prevent malaria, when to seek medical treatment and access to said treatment. We hope this will result in less sickness, fewer deaths and stronger communities. Efforts in this regard have, so far, reached 13 million people and saved the lives of 65,000 children aged under five. We committed a fresh $5 million in October 2008 to distribute a further five million treated LLITNs by 2013.