THE STAR, TUESDAY 18 JULY 2017

special

CSR

Initiating change
2 CSR
COMPANIES both big and small
have begun to realise that
partaking in green or eco-friendly
activities is an important aspect
of growing a business and a
key factor that would help in
establishing better ties with
stakeholders and, in particular,
the surrounding communities.
In the last two decades, the term
sustainability has evolved from
merely maintaining a certain rate
or level of business to include the
avoidance of the depletion of
natural resources in maintaining
ecological balance.
More often than not, however,
the term is casually used as
organisations seek to portray
themselves as being socially
responsible and active contributors
to preserving the environment.
This then leads to the question of
what is sustainable. What sort of
benchmarks must companies set
should they aspire to be deemed
sustainable?
A lot of people or developers
view themselves as being
sustainable by saying they plant a
lot of trees, but if we were to look
at the context promoted by the
United Nations, there are 17 goals
or aspects that need to be
considered holistically, says Cheng
Jew Keng, head of the Sunway
Smart Sustainable City taskforce.
As one of Malaysias largest
conglomerates with 12 business
divisions including property,
construction, retail, hospitality,
education, healthcare and leisure,
the Sunway Group (Sunway) has
always strived to grow the nations
economy while also keeping an eye
on preserving the planet.
Testament to Sunways
commitment to the cause is its
biggest success story, Sunway City,
which is recognised as the
countrys first fully integrated
green township that has been
Green Building Index-certified in
2012 and won the Low Carbon City
Award by the Malaysian Institute
of Planners last year.
Ingrained in all employees
Such prestigious recognitions
would not have been possible
without the leadership of Sunways
founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr
Jeffrey Cheah, who inculcated a
strong company culture and
commitment to economic,
environmental and social practices.
Dr Cheahs vision, endless
Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, (second from left) is the recipient of the inaugural Sustainability Icon Award, which
recognises his commitment to furthering sustainability over the last four decades across Malaysia.
Sunway City is Malaysias first fully integrated green township as certified by Green Building Index in 2012 and is recognised as a Low Carbon City by the
Malaysian Institute of Planners. Sunway City is making strides in becoming a smart city through a backbone of fibre optics, enabling 100% Wi-Fi connectivity
for the entire city.
Realising a flourishing society
commitment and dedication in
furthering sustainability over the
last four decades has earned him
the inaugural Sustainability Icon
Award by RAM Consultancy.
Speaking in regard to Dr Cheahs
influence on employees, Cheng
explains, Sustainability is not only
a global issue but part of our DNA
at Sunway because, first and
foremost, we view ourselves as a
community developer.
If we can look at sustainability
holistically, there will be savings
and value creation along the way
that can be shared not only within
the organisation but with the
community, nation and region.
Our intention is to convince
other private organisations that, at
the end of the day, sustainability is
not necessarily a loss-making but
value proposition. We wanted to
tell people that this is the right way
to build a township.
Due to Sunways objective of
encouraging more private entities
to take sustainability seriously and
as part of their business models,
Cheng shares that Sunway is
always willing to work and share
the knowledge it has learnt over
the years while also being open to
collaborate with the Government
to embark on larger-scale action
plans.
The big leap
Sunways biggest step towards
sustainability was aligning itself
with the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) and, last year, the Jeffrey
Cheah Foundation donated
US$10mil (RM42.7mil) to establish
the Jeffrey Sachs Center on
Sustainable Development (JSC) at
Sunway University.
The SDGs are 17 global goals
aimed at eradicating all forms
of poverty, fighting inequalities
and tackling climate change,
among others.
These SDGs recognise that
ending poverty goes hand-in-hand
with strategies that spur economic
growth and address social needs
such as education, health, social
protection and job opportunities,
while at the same time being
mindful of environmental
protection.
Prof Jeffrey Sachs is a leading
international authority in
sustainable development, holding
the positions of director of the UN
Sustainable Development Solutions
Network and chairman of the JSC.
The centre at Sunway University
is to be a hub of research and
policy practice, creating world-
class programmes to train students,
practitioners and policy leaders on
sustainable initiatives while also
developing links with universities,
industries, agencies and
government bodies.
We would confidently say we
have actively covered 15 of the
17 SDGs and we are not stopping
there. We would also like to think
of ourselves as the first private
initiative in Malaysia to have spent
such a vast amount of effort and
resources into promoting the
subject of sustainability, says
Cheng.
Through its efforts in
transforming Sunway City from
what was essentially a mining
wasteland into a flourishing
township, Sunway has, among
others, built tertiary education
institutions, a theme park, hotels, a
shopping mall, medical facilities
and homes.
Sunway has also planted 25,000
trees, which will rise to 30,000 in
THE STAR, TUESDAY 18 JULY 2017
In the last two
decades, the term
sustainability has
evolved from
merely maintaining
a certain rate or
level of business
to include the
avoidance of
the depletion of
natural resources
in maintaining
ecological balance.
2020, and created 48% of
open space in the township with
24% being green lungs that
contain more than 170,000 species
of adaptive and native plants.
This infrastructure and the jobs
created as a result of these
developments have always been
part of Sunways long-term
development plan and it is
therefore only natural for the
company to continue incorporating
more sustainable initiatives into
the 21st century.
Sunway City is a great
rehabilitation effort and there
were a lot of sustainable targets set
without external compulsion or
pressures but by the pure intention
of the company, says Cheng.
In terms of safety, Sunway City
has its own 500-strong auxiliary
police, close to 3,000 24-hour
CCTV surveillance units
throughout the township,
anti-snatch theft fencing and
implemented the Sunway Safe City
Initiative.
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THE STAR, TUESDAY 18 JULY 2017
The BRT-Sunway Line is an elevated bus service designed as an effort to ensure extensive
connectivity in a sustainable manner, connecting Setia Jaya and USJ 7 using electric buses.
> FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Sunway also embarked on an
extensive connectivity and transit
master plan for the convenience of
the surrounding communities.
This includes easy road access to
Kuala Lumpur, six major
highways, three highway links to
Sunway South Quay, free shuttle
bus service around Sunway City
and elevated covered canopy
walkways spanning 4km that
encourage people to walk instead
of relying on motorised vehicles.
Another noteworthy endeavour
was the opening of the BRT-
Sunway Line, an elevated bus
service connecting Setia Jaya and
USJ 7 using disabled-friendly
electric buses.
Doing things right
Cheng believes Sunway City is
the first smart sustainable city in
Malaysia due to the companys
relentless pursuit of improving
security and connectivity,
encouraging a healthy lifestyle and
meeting social needs of the
community.
He says, Urbanisation is
something that is unavoidable as
people come to cities to look for
jobs. This will eventually lead to
various urbanisation problems,
including the need for better
hospitalisation and healthcare
facilities as well as education.
Recognising that we are moving
towards a digital world and the
fourth industrial revolution, there
is a need to use ICT as an enabler
to solve the problems of an urban
living space and achieve the 17
SDGs.
Cheng reiterates that it is
important for Sunway to prove
that sustainable
development alternatives
are indeed available
as well as showcase to
other developers and
townships that there is
the possibility of job
creation and community
development without sacrificing
the environment.
Building on its smart township
vision, not only is Sunway City
fitted with a broadband fibre optic
backbone and, in the future,
providing 100% Wi-Fi connectivity
throughout Sunway City, it was
also declared MSC Malaysia
Cybercity and Cybercentre status
an area that provides a business
environment and ecosystem that
can attract ICT investors and
promote the growth of ICT
companies.
With innovation being among
the three main SDGs focused by
Sunway alongside education and a
sustainable community, Sunway
has also opened the Sunway
Innovation Labs or iLabs where
various arms of the company can
work closely together in a
collaborative space to foster
entrepreneurship, stimulate
market-driven innovations and
scale businesses faster.
The idea is to pull academia
from our universities and provide
them with the platform to
communicate and integrate with
the commercial managers of
Sunway, who constantly face
commercial problems and no
solutions.
We believe there is a lot of
knowledge within the academia
and iLabs is seen to enable
innovation, encourage start-ups,
promote entrepreneurship and be
a platform to train young
professionals, says Cheng.
Sunway iLabs has also
established links with government
bodies such as Malaysia Digital
Economy Corporation (MDeC),
Agensi Inovasi Malaysia, PlaTCOM
Ventures, Malaysian Global
Innovation and Creativity
Centre, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd
and Malaysian Business
Angel Network.
In addition, Sunway has
partnered with
international ride-hailing
Cheng Jew
Keng.
The water treatment plant in Sunway South Quay will use the water in the existing South Quay lake to
produce approximately 10,000m3 of water a day to serve a host of commercial buildings in Sunway City.
company, Grab, and Silicon Valley-
based entrepreneur camp
designers, Young Outliers.
Ongoing dedication
Sunway knows it cannot take its
past accomplishments for granted
and is thus continuing its focus on
the environment as well as water
and energy sources for the coming
years.
In the near future, we are
going to install solar panels to
promote renewable energy and
also explore opportunities to work
with academia for battery
technology. As you know, we can
harness solar energy but we
cannot store solar energy in a
meaningful and economical way,
especially when people also need
to use energy at night.
We are also looking into
combined power generation as we
plan to have natural gas supplied
to the township. We hope to be
able to generate our own power
supply and reuse waste heat for
chilled water in absorption
chillers, says Cheng.
Other green power initiatives
planned by Sunway is drawing up
a green power blueprint for
Sunway City, which will hopefully
be replicated in other parts of this
region.
Cheng is optimistic that with the
The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation donated US$10mil (RM42.7mil) to establish the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable
Development (JSC) at Sunway University.
CSR 3
necessary production licence sustainability is because we have a
from the proper authorities, unique business model due to the
Sunway will be able to make use of ownership of infrastructure, which
its water filtration plant at Sunway allows us to maintain control of a
South Quay lake to produce its own
potable water supply for its
wide range of factors.
The advantage of Sunway is
commercial properties. that we have the power to
Reviewing all the efforts plough back the returns into the
undertaken by Sunway over the township, from keeping the
years and the new initiatives township clean and planting so
planned, the company has truly many trees to installing
grasped the concept of CCTVs, having our own auxiliary
sustainability and addressed the police force and building the
crucial 17 global SDGs that affect needed infrastructure, concludes
mankind, covering all social, Cheng.
economic and environmental
concerns. n For more information on
The reason we at Sunway Sunway Groups efforts in
are able to conduct such a sustainability, visit www.sunway.
large-scale approach to com.my/group/social-responsibility.
United for the common good
With a deeply rooted belief that its actions can greatly
empower communities and beneficiaries, Sunways
sustainability efforts are constantly centred on the
environment, economy and society (EES).
The #sunwayforgood movement was launched as part of
Sunways overall plan to deliver enduring growth for thriving
communities by highlighting the broad range of initiatives
undertaken by the respective business units and planting in all
employees the spirit to do good, for good.
For more information on #sunwayforgood, visit
www.facebook.com/SunwayGroupOfficial/.
4 CSR THE STAR, TUESDAY 18 JULY 2017

Engaging your employees

CORPORATE social responsibility
(CSR) is an important aspect of
corporations and businesses. Its
roots can be traced back to
business philanthropy in the 19th
century.
Fast forward to the 1960s, CSR
initiatives were conducted to
engage with stakeholders. These
initiatives broadened to target
issues pertaining to the
communities and consumers.
It does not matter if it is a
multinational corporation or a
business-to-business start-up that is
making a name for itself in a
chosen industry, CSR is an excellent
way for an enterprise to not only
positively impact the community
that it serves but to also inspire
employees.
CSR initiatives have been known
to increase employee engagement,
retention, satisfaction and
performance.
Most CSR initiatives focus on
charity and environmental causes.
However, in a deeper sense, CSR
initiatives are also crucial in the
development of human capital
within a company.
Many companies are now
starting to see how CSR initiatives
can help in developing employees
who are not only at the top of their
game professionally but caring and
proactive individuals as well.
Volunteering at a companys CSR
initiative is not only becoming one
of the key performance indicators
that employees must fulfil, it is
becoming a vital part of their work
culture.
Employers strive to get
employees from various
departments to join CSR initiatives
because these allow them to grow
both professionally and
individually. After all, companies
are striving to develop human
capital, not workhorses.
Millennials, born between
1980 and 2000, will
eventually reshape the
workforce by making up to
50% of it by 2020, according
to PricewaterhouseCoopers
International Limited in a
2011 report.
As more and more young
adults enter the workforce
and the number of skilled,
trained and educated
individuals in the labour
force increases, CSR is a
great platform for training
employees.
A new generation
Although millennials and their
behaviour towards work and
commitment have been a heated
topic among many quarters, it is
undeniable that this group of
individuals are passionate in issues
beyond the constructs of a normal
work life.
A 2015 research conducted by
the Cone Millennial Cause group in
the United States found that 80% of
13- to
25-year-olds
who participated
in the research wanted
to work for a company that
cares about how it impacts and
contributes to society.
The Deloitte Millennial Survey
2017, on the other hand, showed
that
62% of
millennials
consider business
leaders to be committed
to helping improve society.
CSR initiatives help improve the
image of a company, which in turn
affects employee retention and
draws potential talents to the
company.
Today, many potential employees
constantly look to companies that
focus beyond profit-gaining
businesses and give back to the
community or create a system of
sustainable practices.
Especially in the age of
connectivity, companies
can build a good
reputation and leverage
on it by maximising
exposure of their CSR
initiatives through social
media platforms.
A research paper
published in the Journal of
Marketing in 2014
revealed that there is a
significant benefit and
improved job performance
tied to the practice of CSR,
especially among
employees who are in
direct contact with consumers
such as customer service
representatives, account servicers
and salespeople.
Customers tend to be drawn to
companies and services that have
strong and relevant CSR practices.
Hence, employees who have
experience in CSR initiatives can
better engage with these customers
who choose brands based on social
responsibility practices.

It is crucial for companies to find a way to incorporate employee

involvement in CSR projects. There are 10 steps to structure a CSR STEP 6
framework that integrates employees.
Changing work culture Realign and modify the companys
work culture to match the CSR vision, mission and values.

STEP 1 STEP 7
Establishing a purpose Before an employer Getting everyone involved Avoid segmenting a specific group
or the company begins a CSR journey, it is great of employees for the CSR initiative. Help everyone foster better
to establish a purpose for the initiative. professional and personal relationships by getting employees
Develop a vision, mission, values, goals and from different departments to work together on a CSR initiative
strategy for the CSR. Involve employees or even or project.
customers and community leaders in the
development.
STEP 8

STEP 2 Development of policy and programme Research a

cause that will match the enterprise and corporate
Codes of conduct Include the CSR values, purpose identity, such as a wellness initiative, employee
and initiative in the employee code of conduct. volunteerism, reducing the companys carbon footprint or
empowering communities.

STEP 3 STEP 9

Employee management and recruitment CSR is a great Emphasising communication Communicate your plans,
way to empower employees and inspire future employees. aims and progress of the CSR initiative with employees and
Evaluate the skill sets that the company would like to help raise awareness about the CSR cause among them.
inculcate in the workforce by identifying competencies and In-house CSR newsletters, whether printed or through
gaps. e-mails, are a great way to keep everyone up-to-date on the
Build the relationship between employer brand and the companys CSR initiative.
employee value proposition. In addition, attract new talents
through recruitment programmes.
STEP 10

STEP 4 Reporting, analysis and celebrating To keep track of the progress of

Training and development It is important to include CSR
values and focus during the orientation and probationary
review process.
For existing employees, provide general and job-specific CSR
training that will benefit them in paving a long-lasting career in
the company.
STEP 5
Key performance indicators and rewards Incorporate
your companys CSR initiative in your employees key
performance indicator and reward system.
Include additional features of CSR in your employees
annual performance review and exit interviews.
your CSR initiative through employees, incorporate CSR measures into
employee engagement surveys. Use this information to further improve
future CSR initiatives and employee engagement.
Most importantly, celebrate the success, little or big, with employees
after a successful CSR initiative.
It is important for employees to have the right attitude in participating and contributing to their
companys CSR initiative. CSR initiatives within a company require employees who are not only
committed but also proactive and creative.In addition, continuous development of CSR initiatives
can only happen when employees provide constructive feedback for the development and
improvement of future projects.
At the end of the day, the pursuit of a successful and impactful CSR programme begins with the
people working behind it and their passion to make a difference for the people and the world
around them.
Therefore, it is vital to get employees from every level to be involved in CSR initiatives and allow
CSR to be one of the cornerstones of employee development.This will create a working environ-
ment that values employee progress as it strives to create well-rounded and professional
individuals.