CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM IS THE WAY TO GO
SOUTH African businesses, like many others in developing countries, are running into strong headwinds. Even long established and listed companies have effectively shut down and there is a tangible uncertainty that lingers daily.
A sluggish economy, coupled with global factors such as the rising America/China trade war and growing fears over the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has made businesses of all scales jittery.
Given the circumstances, “charity work” may not be top of mind, or should it be?
Triple bottom line reporting was a phrase coined 25 years ago where the impact on people, planet and profit extends beyond maximising shareholder value.
As the world feels the strain of a global recession, the natural environment takes a battering and poverty has reached drastic levels. We must declare a state of emergency.
Perhaps it is time to look at our triple bottom line. If the environment we are operating in is not sustainable – how can we expect business to be so?
Now is the time for change. And while we cannot blame businesses for taking a cautious approach and scaling back on investments in South Africa and their corporate social responsibility initiatives, we cannot be shortsighted either. It’s time to look beyond profit.
We must change the way we think about the world we live in.
We have to see that the major social and environmental challenges of our time are not obstacles to our progress, but are opportunities for growth and business development.
The most recent Nielsen Global Sustainability Report shows that two-thirds of consumers are prepared to pay more for brands that are committed to sustainability, and community development.
It is no longer just about a return on investment, but also the social investment impact we need to make.
Our country faces a host of unresolved problems that were created by apartheid; if not tackled in a meaningful way can fracture all the gains we have made since the dawn of our democracy.
Now is the time for a change and it is going to have to start in our boardrooms where the goals we set must speak to this change.
We have to start challenging ourselves to ask: how do we create jobs and improve the lives of people at the same time?
How do we make profits, sustain our environment and ensure a planet for future generations?
While it is important for us to be accountable to our shareholders, it is equally important to be mindful of the communities we operate in and the only planet we have.
Individuals with the means and businesses have a duty to impact the society positively. If we place people before profits, profit will naturally be the end result.
There is a growing movement around the world towards “conscious capitalism” which we all need to embrace.
The Conscious Capital Credo explains: “We believe that business is good because it creates value, it is ethical because it is based on voluntary exchange, it is noble because it can elevate our existence, and it is heroic because it lifts people out of poverty and creates prosperity.”
At SAS Cares, we are using the area around our premises to empower the local community through work skills and other projects in the spheres of business development and education.
Our trade school equips hundreds of students – most of them women – with the skills and educational qualifications to be used in multiple industries.
We are unashamedly about women empowerment. One of my core beliefs is that if businesses empower a woman, they empower a community and therefore a country. Whatever you give a woman, she multiplies. We should not see the poor, marginalised and the previously disenfranchised as the government’s problem alone.
They are our consumers and if we help lift them out of poverty, it impacts positively on our bottom line.