Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is catching on among companies in Singapore.
Figures show that CSR participation has gone up over the past few years.
A lack of manpower, tight budgets, and worries about expansion – these appear to be a common refrain from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore.
But these problems are not standing in the way of some companies that feel there is more to business than just the bottom line.
Traditionally, companies fulfil their charitable intent through corporate donations.
But for others, CSR is serious business.
Real estate company HSR International Realtors has a dedicated team of staff and student volunteers who deliver cooked meals and food rations weekly to the disadvantaged.
Anne Tong, chief executive officer of HSR International, said: “Apart from that, we help the elderly by giving them some programmes to work on. They come into the office bi-weekly, every alternate Tuesdays, where we’ll teach them handicrafts.”
The benefits run both ways.
Ms Tong said: “In a sense where the staff and the agents are concerned, when they go out and do these initiatives; they learn to care for others. They learn to have integrity; they learn to be more responsible. And we want that value in every agent that we have.
“So that will impact their work, and in return, retrospectively, it will also affect the company at large.”
There are others who are extending their CSR efforts beyond the country.
HSL Constructor is a marine civil engineering company which started CSR efforts in 2010.
Charles Quek, chief executive officer of HSL Constructor, said: “As a company we believe it is not important to just do well as a business, but as a responsible corporate citizen, we should also look at helping the society as HSL grows and succeeds and enters the regional markets, we believe that we should also look at how we can use our expertise and resources to better contribute to the communities that we are having business activities in.”
It has gone one step further to show staff how seriously it takes CSR.
Mr Quek said the company has set up a sustainability and philanthropic unit, to look at CSR in a holistic and purposeful manner.
Anecdotal evidence showed the adoption of CSR by SMEs has gone up by an average 13 per cent yearly since 2011.
APF Group, a professional firm that helps Singapore SMEs grow, believes having a CSR programme gives companies an edge.
Glenn Lim, executive director of APF Group, said: “It then creates a moral position, and that’s what we really hope that SMEs would start undertaking and understanding that we should all withhold our responsibility and our decisions on who we work with should be about working with the right partners, the partners that have made a difference, and are contributing back.”
