Companies should place more emphasis on the welfare, and not just the wages, of foreign workers and improve efforts to upskill retired employees rather than simply handing out monetary contributions to recipients, say judges of the corporate responsibility (CR) component of The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (BRC) Company of the Year award.

“While not an insignificant number of PLCs (public-listed companies) continue to hand out the proverbial fish to the less fortunate, it is noteworthy that quite a few companies have not only ventured to teach the less fortunate how to fish but have also ensured that they can safely go out to sea and to be able to sell their catch on their return,” says Datuk Dr Nik Ramlah Mahmood, director of the Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corp  and former deputy CEO at the Securities Commission of Malaysia.

Nik Ramlah, who joined the CR judging panel this year, likes CR efforts that empower the less fortunate by enabling them to be economically independent. Such initiatives, she says, “reflect long-term and meaningful commitment to improve the livelihood of the less fortunate”.

An example of this are efforts by the TA Foundation, which through the TA Family Living Skills Centre (TAFLSC) not only sponsors materials to make school uniforms but also pays wages to single or poor mothers for sewing them, regardless of race and religion. According to TA Global Bhd’s annual report, all women who graduate from the basic sewing classes were hired by TAFLSC to sew school uniforms. Plans are underway for educational and motivational classes to be given to the women’s school-going children.

“I am moved by the efforts of companies to align their corporate philanthropy to their business. This is notwithstanding our high corporate taxes. Those that creatively align CR to all communities, regardless of creed and race, is especially laudable,” says Philip Koh Tong Ngee, senior partner at Mah-Kamariyah & Philip Koh.

He likes Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd’s (MRT Corp) centralised labour quarters for foreign workers — which can fit up to 3,500 beds — involved in the construction of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line. construction.

“Efforts by companies to enrich the lives of their foreign workers may seem small but in a way, you are empowering them. It’s always good to have some sort of recognition for the dignity of these employees,” Koh says. “I have been told of cases where a large group of these foreign workers are forced to live in just one small dorm room, when it is bad enough that they are not earning much. It’s a bad state that they are living in,” he laments.

Efforts by United Plantations Bhd also won praise. “United Plantations impressed the judges this year with its new initiative — the construction of a room with individual passport lockers on its Jenderata estate so migrant workers can keep and access their own passports without any restrictions,” The Edge Education Foundation CEO Dorothy Teoh says.

“Ultimately, true corporate responsibility should be in the lifeblood of a corporation, as part of its DNA, and reflected in all that is done by the corporation. The mainstreaming of corporate responsibility is well reflected in the way companies like Nestlé Malaysia Bhd and United Plantations carry out their business activities. Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s efforts with rural electrification and registration of patents are also exemplary in this regard. Unfortunately, many companies still regard corporate responsibility as an additional responsibility, which is distinct and disconnected from their business activities. Hence the tendency to adopt a piecemeal activity-centric approach,” Nik Ramlah adds.

According to her, integrating corporate responsibility with business strategy is key in ensuring that efforts to create value for society do not undermine, or are not in conflict, with a corporation’s primary goal of creating and enhancing value for shareholders. “It is therefore encouraging to note that some PLCs have developed longer term corporate responsibility strategies,” she says, citing Sime Darby Bhd as one example.

“It’s heartening to note that there are companies that have moved beyond philanthropy and are actively integrating sustainability in their businesses. They’re also doing a good job in reporting on it. We hope more companies will follow suit,” Dorothy concurs.

Judges also urged companies to be more creative in being better corporate citizens and good employers.

“An unusual environmental initiative is that by OSK Holdings Bhd, which last year collected 27,000 plastic bottles to turn into recycled polyester for use in their corporate uniforms,” notes Dorothy. She also likes ViTrox Corp Bhd’s way of encouraging volunteerism by donating RM50 to NGOs for every hour contributed by staff volunteers.

“In terms of the environment, TNB’s Kampung Kuantan Firefly Conservation has benefited not just thousands of residents but allowed countless others to enjoy this natural phenomenon. And while IJM Plantations boasts its 100 Acre Wood, companies can also do their part for the environment on a much smaller scale, as E&O Bhd shows with Straits Green, its four-acre public park in Penang that functions as an outdoor classroom and community urban garden,” she adds.

Koh suggests that companies step up their CR efforts to include microfinancing so that retirees can afford to set up their own businesses.

The need for a more culturally-diverse approach in CR undertakings was also raised as it was observed that many companies are more inclined towards reaching out to certain ethnicities. According to one judge, there’s an “ethnic line” that, if it were not there, would enable a greater percentage of the less fortunate community to be assisted.

“There is an ethnic line [that divides companies and those who they can actually reach out to]. If you see certain companies … they are more focused on specific ethnicities,” Koh notes. “While it is not wrong, it would be better if companies adopt a more multicultural approach in their CR practices. That way, they are able to connect with different groups of the community,” he says.

The judges also called for greater gender diversity.

In recognition of the importance of CR, the component constitutes 30% of the score for The Edge BRC Company of the Year award. Returning to the panel of judges this year are Dorothy, Koh and Jeffrey Teoh, senior-vice president and head of corporate and commercial banking of OCBC Bank Malaysia Bhd.

“Sustainability, in every sense of the word, must be recognised as the uniting thread that binds the collective conscience of the members of The Edge Billion Ringgit Club. It is by modelling a sustainable mentality that socially responsible cultures are ultimately created and then entrenched in society. This gathering of the top businesses in the country is an opportune setting to create our desired Malaysian business culture and to have best practices cascade,” says Jeffrey.