We need more than social responsibility

These days, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles are what companies that call themselves modern are integrating into their businesses.

These principles include protecting human rights, having racial and gender diversity, and creating environmental stewardship, among others. These companies believe that these should be a way of life and not something they do to look good or to tick a box.

Several companies in the country are beginning to pick on these values. Some ensure to provide significant support either in terms of funds or equipment to help a community get better health services. Others are interested in the environment and continuously seek ways not just to help the community clean their area, but to rework their systems and processes to ensure there is less pollution and they are disposing of their waste in an environmentally friendly way.

Other companies are now working hard to make sure that their human resource is diverse so that both the young and elderly, and the women and men are given equal opportunities to get jobs in their companies, to innovate, and to lead.

Encompassing such values within organisations creates opportunities for various people and also ensures that the community derives value from their presence, not only from what they are selling but from how they are being supported.

In a country such as ours where the divide is huge, and where the government falls short in a number of areas including preserving the environment, providing access to health and education, and other such rights, having organisations carry out these values deliberately and consistently can create significant change.

If a company opens a new branch upcountry and insists on most of the staff across all levels being employed from that area, they create a source of livelihood for many, which has beneficial ripple effects on the families and causes development in the community. If a company is deliberate about processing its waste efficiently, which in turn might create a product worth selling, they save the community from suffering different diseases.

The argument in some quarters might be that the government needs to take responsibility for these things because that is their job in the first place.

While that is true, companies, especially those that significantly impact their communities in one way or another should find ways to work hand in hand with them because that is simply the right (sometimes legal) and honorable thing to do.  The organisations that do so are most likely to be well supported by the citizens and to succeed in business.