CSR: Where does it start?

In Kenya, all kinds of worthwhile and often life saving activities are undertaken by businesses in the name of corporate social responsibility (CSR), from digging boreholes in remote villages and lighting up previously dark informal settlements to famine-relief and scholarship programs. There are other numerous and diverse examples. In a continent such as ours, where the governments are seriously delimited, CSR has a crucial and high impact.

Nevertheless, I would venture that CSR starts at home, and that any company would be literate to apply basic socially responsible principles at its own level before venturing into off site and off company activities. You first get it right at your home base and you can then look forward to projecting that good will externally. If you follow a different approach, you will not be in business long enough to make any kind of CSR impact anyway.

The best example I can find is Google Inc. The story is well known to most and its ubiquitous search engine used by everyone, I know. Larry Page and Sergey Brin met and collaborated at Stanford University, to form a business first incubated in a 'garage' whose reach today stretches from its Mountain View-California headquarters all the way to here in Nairobi.

I have spent time in their offices and wish to share my observations. There is always a recreation room, with soft toys, a pool table, very informal and colourful furniture, a T.V switched onto the news and as much food as you can shake a stick at. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided across all working days.

Now if you relayed this story to many African corporates, they might think you are insane. You can imagine the reaction; 'Pool Table? Free Sodas! Are you serious?'

I have had a bird's eye view for over a year and I think this model is the right one and has a tremendous effect here in Kenya. And the curious thing about this model is that it is a little bit selfish. Your employees spend more time at work, their comfort zone is on the premises, they are not hungry and the power of the team and positive peer pressure gives the company value. I would submit that a successful company is one best placed to make a worthwhile contribution to its employee’s welfare.

So I do think that Google's model, though once considered a little bohemian and trendy is actually a razor sharp decision. The incremental in staff cost is far outweighed by the benefits. It is said that the best ideas are found near the coffee machine or photocopier and Google is giving itself every chance of unearthing that idea.

Now, once you get it right on the home front, then you can explore how to go forth and best impact the external community.

A key consideration is the size of your organization and right sizing your CSR effort. It should be material but not overwhelming. It is a subsidiary thing and there should be buy in of the project(s) from the employees. Sometimes, there is a tendency to take a Lee Kwan Yew approach and rule by diktat for maximum impact, which is wrong. CSR by definition is something that needs to be democratic and open to all and therefore, a participatory approach is best for crafting something sustainable and durable. The CSR program needs to also be aligned with the company's core business. That way, more expertise can be brought to the social contribution hence making commercial sense. The CSR program rather than being semi-detached from the company becomes embedded and integral to its business strategy.

Now the company has to create a facilitative environment for its employees to chip in. Set up an employee volunteering programme (EVP) and reward the employees for that time. It is an expense to the company and not to the employee. Make it actually count for something in the annual performance appraisals. Expect the same professionalism and passion in their CSR contribution as you would with their work. For a region like Africa, it can really keep things real. Investment bankers who lost their shirts and those of many others in Kenya might have displayed a more mature attitude if they had visited the sprawling Kibera slums, not as gawking sightseers, but as bankers trying to help craft a better future for the inhabitants.

This aspect is difficult to measure empirically but I can guarantee you that a more rounded employee participation will add more business value to your organization in the long run.

I believe we are entering a new business era which will be defined as the ‘knowledge economy’ and the most valuable capital will be intellectual capital. In this age, keeping your organization locked up in an ivory tower will only lead to intellectual atrophy and eventual business extinction. Two and a half years ago, my car broke down just outside Mtito Andei along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. It was an early evening in the middle of nowhere, and this boy appeared and stood by my car. We started chatting and he told me that he spoke Latin which actually he did. Can Kenya afford to leave him on the side of a road, watching cars flash by? Surely, he has a positive contribution to make in our society. CSR might allow your corporate to find such a rare talent.

My point is this; the most successful organizations are out in a war to hire the best talent and such minds will only work for an institution that puts societal interests first. CSR in Africa affords corporates a unique opportunity to make a huge impact and contribution to our society. This engagement with the community will keep the employees centered on the needs of a society and in this regard turn businesses into change agents in Africa.

In conclusion, I would argue that CSR is not a mere public relations affair but a collective business engagement to ensure a successful and sustainable business practice while at the same time creating a healthy society.