One Meralco Foundation president Jeffrey Tarayao (left) receives an award on behalf of Meralco from judges Jayanthi Desan and Andrew Bryant.
MANILA, Philippines–Three Philippine companies have risen to the top by going beyond their bottom line. Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Globe Telecom and SM Prime Holdings Inc. were among the 23 Asian companies and nine individuals recognized during the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability (ACES) awards organized by the Malaysia-based MORS group.
Meralco was named the Most Socially Responsible Company of the Year, Globe was said to be the Best Company to Work For while SM Prime was cited as one of the three Top Green Companies in Asia.
In her message during the awards night held at the Fairmont Hotel in Singapore on Nov. 26, MORS CEO Shanggari Balakrishnan said that the winners were chosen from 140 nominations.
The awards recognized outstanding entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, mostly in south and southeast Asia.
Balakrishnan said the awardees “incorporate good practices toward the environment, community, employees and customers. They do this not because the law requires them to do it, not because of the need to react to societal pressures, not because investors needed to see sustainability reporting, but because it’s the right thing to do.”
Companies that won under the sustainability category were judged according to their programs’ public engagement, positive brand communication, creativity, results measurement and continuity.
Meralco’s brand of ‘sustainability’
In recognizing Meralco as the most socially responsible company of the year across Asia, the awards noted that the biggest power distributor in the Philippines had centralized its CSR programs under the One Meralco Foundation, which has programs in various sectors.
In a briefing preceding the awards, One Meralco Foundation president Jeffrey Tarayao debunked the “fashionable” view of “sustainability” as automatically linked to environmental advocacies.
“The normal expectation is that we should be able to look at our energy resources and focus on renewable and clean energy. But when we contextualize what sustainability means to [Meralco] and to the greater growth of our country, it means being able to help innovate energy products and services so that more and more people can have access to energy,” Tarayao pointed out.
Tarayao explained that One Meralco Foundation’s core program was geared toward the electrification of remote communities.
The foundation reported that it had energized 12,000 households and 60 island-schools in the Philippines in the past three years alone.
In 2013, the foundation invested P114.8 million in its CSR programs and tapped 2,724 Meralco employees to render more than 25,000 volunteer hours.
This proved crucial especially in the aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in the Visayas region. Meralco employees donated a day’s worth of their salary, paving the way for the rebuilding of 18 classrooms in the storm-devastated areas.
“For many countries in Asia, sustainability [practices] can address a lot of issues: poverty, health and safety, or workplace improvement,” Tarayao said.
‘Service with a smile’
The “sustainability practice” of keeping a “happy” and “engaged” workplace, meanwhile, earned for Globe Telecom the recognition as the year’s Best Company to Work For across Asia.
In an interview with the Inquirer after the awards, Renato M. Jiao, Globe Telecom chief human resource officer, explained the importance of the distinction the company had received: “We’re no longer just a company delivering telecommunications services, we need to differentiate ourselves with the right customer experience. But how do you expect employees who are not happy to deliver service with a smile?”
“To provide excellent service to our customers, we believe we need to do the same thing for our employees,” Jiao said. “Our vision is to have the happiest employees who will deliver excellent customer service. Then our shareholders will be happy.”
In 2013, 97 percent of Globe’s 6,000 employees participated in the company’s internal rating survey. The company earned a 73 percent overall satisfaction rate.
To keep employees engaged, Jiao said Globe invested in “enablement programs” to equip them with the skills they need to do their jobs well and advance in the company.
Globe runs three major training programs: the one-year Management Development Program, iLeadGlobe leadership program and Globe University which trains employees in five “academies,” namely, sales and marketing, leadership, technical, professional and culture.
Holistic development
Jiao also noted that Globe concerned itself with the holistic, and not just financial, well-being of its employees.
Globe’s main office, the Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City, boasts of an in-house gym and sports facility including a basketball court.
But “the most important factor [to employee engagement] is that every employee, no matter how small the contribution is, sees how his or her contribution truly affects the corporate objective and themselves,” Jiao said.
“We owe it to them to let them know that they themselves have been the key to the remarkable performance of Globe for the past five years,” Jiao said.
‘Minimal negative impact’
Then, in recognizing the top green companies in Asia, the ACES awards sought firms that “run their business operations and yield minimal negative impact on the environment, community and society” and “undertake environmentally friendly activities at all facets of the organization…while maintaining a profit.”
SM Prime Holdings was not able to send a representative to the awards night, but based on the winner profiles prepared by the MORS group, the biggest mall and property developer and operator in the Philippines had earned its distinction because of SM Supermalls’ strict internal reporting system that monitors monthly waste generation and management, and consumption of water and energy.
The awards also noted that SM had invested in disaster-resilient malls that become evacuation centers during calamities.
The awards also took notice of SM’s green initiatives, such as tree planting activities and fun runs, through SM Cares, which runs SM Prime’s CSR programs.
‘To inspire the world’
“We want to briefly retell these stories to inspire the world at large to follow suit,” Balakrishnan said, explaining the mission of the ACES awards.
Balakrishnan underscored the importance of promoting responsible leadership and sustainability practices in Asia, noting that Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change.
“As the population and living standards continue to grow, the projected climate impact on the nexus of water, food and energy becomes more profound. Thus, the choices made over how these finite resources will be produced, distributed, and used will have increasing implications on the course of our region’s growth,” Balakrishnan said in her message.
“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility; recognition on the part of every company of a duty to our nation, the world and ourselves,” Balakrishnan added.
Awards panel
The ACES awards judges include facilitator Balakrishnan; chair Hermant K. Batra, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Law (Saarclaw) secretary general and Kaden Boriss law firm founder; author and professional speaker Andrew Bryant; James John Ku, Gazeley Shanghai business development director; Dr. Jayanthi Desan, managing director of the Malaysia-based Synergio Consulting firm; and Wong Su-Yen, chair of the Singapore Marsh & Mclennan Companies.
The MORS group, founded in 2012, is also behind international retreat program The Gray Affair, exclusive for CEOs, company owners and founders and awarded entrepreneurs.