An overwhelming majority of employers in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) considers corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be important for their community engagement, says a survey by Bayt.com, an online job portal.
More than 95 of Mena respondents want to do more community service work. But 41% say they don’t know where to start, according to the survey “A Corporate Social Responsibility: Is Your Company Making an Impact?”.
Respondents across the Mena region are eager to dedicate themselves to CSR work, with 73% preferring to give time and effort towards charitable causes rather than merely donating money (mostly because 62.2% cannot afford to contribute financially, while 22.6% of them believe that donated money will not be used correctly).
Seven out of 10 respondents frequently participate in charity or community service work, with 95.3% saying they would like to do more.
While the number one reason holding would-be volunteers back is “not knowing where to start” (40.9%), 15.1% state that they are held back because their company doesn’t engage in CSR activities.
To the majority of respondents (76.8%), working for a socially-responsible company is very important, with 89.8% stating that they believe the corporate sector has a moral responsibility to do CSR work.
Nine out of 10 favour products and services from a socially-responsible company.
The most common types of CSR activities that companies in the region are involved in, according to respondents, are feeding, housing or clothing the poor (25%) and working with orphans and underprivileged children (13.2%), the survey says, adding that 14.4% of respondents state that their company participates in many more fields, such as aiding refugees, providing education and scholarships, sponsoring people with disabilities, medical research and aid and environmental causes.
“There is clearly the need for more companies to consider developing CSR programmes or to enhance their existing ones. Not only is there a desire from employees to participate in more activities that will benefit the community, but respondents have shown that they feel more warmly towards companies that engage in CSR, giving companies the potential to benefit in return for their community work,” Suhail Masri, VP of Sales, Bayt.com, says.
The three main benefits of adopting a CSR strategy are considered to be enhanced corporate reputation (28.5%), improved relationships with the community and stakeholders (10.4%), and strengthened employee commitment (9.9%), the survey says.
According to 64.7% of respondents, companies that engage in CSR do make an impact. “An overwhelming 94.3% of respondents feel that corporate CSR strategies can directly contribute to business success,” it says.