“How do you make banks responsible to the public they are meant to serve?”

I have often asked myself this question…fully realising that the answer to this all important question lies with the Islamic Banking fraternity – with us. Social responsibility is in the heart of Islamic Banking. The discipline teaches us social responsibility in the most practical and powerful manner – with trust, ethics and transparency in its core.

How do we blend Social Responsibility within corporate culture? Here are some very elementary thoughts:

• The challenge is in reinforcing the criticality of social responsibility amongst employees, especially in the present scenario of uncertainty and competitiveness.   

• Reinforce beliefs that the teachings of Islam dictate that the Social responsibility is an integral part of one’s life.

• Induct staff on how they can leverage CSR as a vehicle of trust. - Build organisation wide belief that CSR is not just a PR program and how in today’s context, it can help develop responsible business practises – with a view towards building long term corporate success through confidence building & transparency.

• Encourage captains within the organisation to develop and evolve CSR models and strategies.

• For organisations with multi-locational operations around the globe, encourage regionally contextual programs.

I would encourage each individual to ask themselves, “Does your organization have a CSR strategy? How are you in your individual capacity, making a difference to your community?”



Look out for more writings from Adnan from time to time