Community outreach through corporate social responsibility: corporate social responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of their stakeholders and society at large. The Young Expedition Project may be one way for companies to achieve this.

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CORPORATE social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that frequently overlaps with similar approaches such as corporate sustainability, corporate sustainable development, corporate responsibility, and corporate citizenship. While CSR does not have a universal definition, many see it as the private sector's way of integrating the economic, social, and environmental imperatives of their activities.

It has its roots in the recognition that responsible practices can help organisations to innovate and develop new products and services, access new markets, and minimise risk. A company with strong corporate social responsibility will often be more successful in generating economic value added, for reasons rooted in business strategy. Thus, organisations implement initiatives and programmes to improve their positive impact in society, not just to minimise their negative impact.

Different organisations have framed different definitions, although there is considerable common ground between them. For instance, it is agreed largely that CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. So by balancing profits with an overall understanding and awareness of the short- and long-term consequences of an organisation's activities on the environment and community, a company can help to ensure that future generations not only enjoy its products but also the environment.

As organisations seek various initiatives to expand their CSR efforts, the National Youth Council offers one option that could fit the bill. Called the Youth Expedition Project (YEP), its mission is to inspire youth through meaningful community service, to make a difference to the lives of others, at home and abroad. It supports groups during all phases of an expedition--planning, organising, funding, and training of expedition leaders and facilitators.

Theodore Teo, assistant director of youth engagement and expeditions at National Youth Council, explains how the YEP would be applicable to a business organisation: "YEP's issue-based approach enables the matching of interests of the organisation with related social issues such as those pertaining to education, healthcare, environment, and conservation. This flexibility sets the framework for a development programme that can meet the company's CSR objectives, with YEP as a complementary, CSR platform that is built on the concept of International Service-Learning, which can be integrated into the company's CSR blueprint."

The definition of "youth" in this case, includes anyone between the ages of 17 and 35 years. Thus, it should be something that most organisations can consider as their younger, and often junior, staff would fit this age group.

YEP expeditions develop human capital to help achieve the HR objectives of a company. Available corporate training focuses essentially on job skills and leadership development. However, through the YEP, the experiential learning that employees could gain from an expedition would add significant value to the company in the long run, as staff participants get to provide services related to their work, and gain a community perspective of it as well.

Developing Leaders

Teo says that YEP also nurtures leaders for the future in that a team co-leader from the organisation will have ample opportunities to build his or her leadership and teambuilding qualities outside of the work environment, and subsequently be empowered to lead the next YEP-Corporate Team.

He adds: "Understanding the issues of working adults, the YEP-Corporate Package allows flexibility for companies such that the corporate teams can fully experience the benefits of YEP without having to compromise work in office. For instance, companies have the option to undertake a shorter nine-day trip instead of the usual 14-day minimum."

There has to be a certain size or level of commitment from a company towards the overall success of an adopted YEP project. The recommended team size, for instance, is between 14 and 20 persons, but quality is valued over quantity.

"To maximise the potential of participating employees and achieve the most meaningful results for the company and the beneficiaries involved, employers are encouraged to provide their staff flexibility to strike a good balance between YEP and their work commitments," says Teo.

Companies with insufficient manpower to send a team on an expedition may choose to participate in YEP progressively through sponsorship and consultation for existing projects. They can also collaborate with teams from tertiary institutions from the departments that are in line with the core business of the company.

A project is not a short haul effort. YEP-Corporate teams have six months to spread out the learning and complete their pre-, overseas, and post- projects, while building relationships and establishing their corporate presence in these communities. After this period, teams are encouraged to continue their positive contributions to the local community.

"Prior to the expedition, all staff participants will get to attend a one-day training to manage cultural and environmental changes. Leaders who are appointed by the company can avail the YEP Leaders' Training. They will learn imperative pointers on effective community outreach, working with hosts, basic emergency preparedness and other foundational expedition and leadership knowledge," explains Teo.

Besides the obvious feel-good factor, each YEP participant works in a team to research and champion a social issue of interest locally and then explores this issue overseas. They then return richer to share their experience with colleagues, friends and family, fostering the esprit de corps in both the public and private spheres.

For the individual, YEP aims to develop thinking leaders for the future and create a stronger sense of belonging towards the community in Singapore and communities in the region. The long-term impacts of these YEP teams are tremendous as the goodwill and positive Singapore presence in these countries will contribute to the fostering of friendship and meaningful exchanges.

With project ranging from teaching, environmental work to health care, there are diverse opportunities for YEP teams throughout China, India and the Asean countries.

For instance a YEP team visited Yong Ning village in Luxi county, Kunming, China in 2006. The purpose was to emplace a community service programme. Besides helping build toilets for the Yong Ning Primary School, the team established a free clinic with health screening consultation.

Projects can be categorised by the areas of services like Community Income Generation, Education, Environmental Conservation, Healthcare, and Technology Transfer. There is a wide scope for corporations to get involved and intervene.

Sceptics may question how much good a 14-day expedition can achieve. Teo believes it's not just about what occurs in those 14 days: "How much 'good' a team can accomplish corresponds with the efforts made by the team to achieve the goals that they have set for themselves. 'Good' cannot be measured by merely visible contributions. It is also subjective because the meaningful experience that participants gain from the expedition is something that cannot be measured but is felt by the individual."

YEP advocates sustainable partnerships, meaning that an organisation can continue to engage a host partner many times. --N Ravindran

Getting Started on a Project

THE Youth Expedition Project (YEP) has been a key programme to encourage volunteerism since 2000. It supports young Singaporeans to embark on community Service-Learning projects with the objectives of building up self-confident volunteers who can identify needs and contribute to the community both at home and abroad.

If you are between 17 to 35 years of age, or are able to lead people in this age group, and desire to make a difference in Singapore and abroad, here are some steps you can consider:

* Form a team of between 14 to 20 persons

* Select an experienced project leader and facilitator, or volunteer as one

* Decide on specific areas you wish to address and serve in

* Decide on possible overseas and local projects relevant to your interest area

* Craft a proposal on the areas of learning for the programme

* Get endorsement from the organisation you are representing

* Apply for funding at www.yep.sg