Corporate Social Responsibility

My personal definition of corporate social responsibility is sharing the  fruits of  your labor, initially within your own organization, as charity begins at home, then to the other people in your community.

A more sophisticated definition is shared by the Financial Times wherein it defines  corporate social responsibility  (CSR) as  a business approach that  drive change towards  sustainable development through the delivery of   economic, social and environmental  advantage and benefits  for all stakeholders.

Our company, IDESS Maritime Centre,   is a  world renowned training center located inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. It is a socially responsible company engaging in many programs that benefit the many surrounding communities and beyond.

Our company should engage in CSR to be able to help and give back to our own people, the community and society in general; it will create good image for the company; be more profitable; be more of a blessing to all our stakeholders; set the company apart from its competitors.

When I interviewed our Head of HR Department, she said that IDESS has created a CSR Committee and is responsible for organizing the  different CSR activities for the company in collaboration with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)  and other private and local government offices. Based on my CSR audit and assessment, the current state of IDESS' CSR in the CSR Continuum is already engaged in philanthropic giving as it is doing more than what is required.

For 2017, IDESS has participated in several CSR activities such as the following: (1). Tree Planting:  On June 28, 2017, IDESS has sent its volunteer  employees to the  Arbor Day celebration organized by the SBMA.  It was participated  by representatives from the SBMA registered companies.Planted by the volunteers  were 5,000 seedlings of narra and fruit bearing species in a graded 2.2 hectare in  a forested area in Bangal. This tree planting activity is part of the SBMA's  program on environmental preservation  and conservation which revived the Arbor Day under Republic Act  10716;

SBMA Administrator  and CEO, Wilma T. Eisma together with  SBMA Director,  Tomas Lahom III, led the   tree planting activity at  the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in observance  of the  Arbor Day  together with the representatives from the various company locators inside the SBMA. Photo credit: SBMA

(2).  Donations for the earthquake victims:  In the aftermath of the 6.5 magnitude earthquake in the Visayas, the SBMA sought assistance from the company locators inside the SBMA.   On June 23, 2017, IDESS participated and sent donations to the SBMA to help families  alleviate their current situation in the evacuation areas by way of donating hygiene kits consisting of toothbrush, toothpaste, face towel,  bath soap, shampoo, and other basic items such as mosquito nets, clothes, blankets, canned goods, rice, milk,  drinking water, etc. (3). Mobile Blood Donation: On July 22, 2017,   IDESS employee volunteers participated in the non-remunerated blood donation organized by the Philippine Red Cross with the theme: " What can you do? Give blood, Give Now, Give Often."

Furthermore, our  management has developed a new external CSR programme for the cadet students of Maritime Schools. Thus, on  July 6, 2017, our Training Manager sent a letter to MARINA  asking for permission for our company to  conduct Basic Training (8.5 day course)  for the  cadets of the various Maritime Schools in the Philippines  as part of our CSR. IDESS is proposing to conduct the 6.5 day lectures  at the school premises of the students and then the remaining 2 days practical at IDESS main training complex in Subic as all the required  equipment and facilities are all here. IDESS shall endeavor to  partner with maritime  schools in the country that shares the same values and  vision.

The Basic Training is composed of four modules as follows:  Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (2 days); Elementary First Aid (2 days);  Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities (2.5 days) ; and Personal Survival Techniques (2 days). In this programme, our Instructors and Technicians will not be charging any salaries. The only fees to be collected from the cadets are their two day stay at our dormitories, their food, consumable materials and electricity during their stay.

In line with this, I also have a  new potential CSR initiative i.e., for the company to provide scholarship grants to  qualified  and deserving personnel of the company who wants to continue and or finish their schooling and enroll in any of the following: Undergraduate Degree Course or Master's Degree Course. Based on the record of our HR Department, 68 percent comprises the workforce.This only shows that majority of the staff are in the lowest level of the hierarchy and in order for them to move up the corporate ladder they should be properly educated and have the corresponding experience in the next level of position.

I believe that education is the great equalizer and  by providing our workforce with golden opportunities to prosper in life such as this scholarship grants to our employees, they would surely seize this and be grateful to the management for this privilege.  This will also enhance their loyalty to the company and management as this will enable the employees to increase their knowledge, technical know how and  skills in the performance of their work.

My strategies will be as follows: (1) Discuss with top management about the proposal and share with them my personal experience as one of the full scholarship grantees of the Philippine Tourism Authority, a government corporation where I started as a working student  and where I chose the De La Salle University to finish my college degree. (2) Get management's  buy-in  and approval. (3) Appoint the CSR Committee to  oversee the planning  and development of the project details and Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) in collaboration with the Accounting and HR Heads. (4) have the memo announcement be signed by the President. (5) Disseminate through email the approval and the details of the IRR. (6) the applicant employees  to be interviewed by the HR Head and the release of the scholarship grant fund will be through the Accounting Head. (7) Periodic review by the CSR Committee of the grantee's performance every end of the semester, for their next semester's grant to be approved, to be conducted all throughout the duration of the scholarship until such time that the employee finishes his/her degree. (8) Have the grantee sign a contract that they will serve the company for another three years to cover the expenses for their  scholarship grants.

In the final analysis, the total CSR of a company should make effort to make a profit, follow the rule of law, be ethical and at the same time be a good corporate citizen. Since IDESS is already engaged and has started its philanthropic giving externally to the student cadets of the maritime schools in the Philippines, then the phrase " charity begins at home" will be highly appreciated by its employees  as soon as the approval of this new CSR initiative of giving scholarship grants  to deserving and qualified employees is announced and executed.