Case study: How CIB promotes employee welfare
With a well-established network of 207 branches and banking units and a workforce comprising of 6,900 employees CIB is Egypt’s leading private-sector bank, serving an expansive network of retail customers, high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, enterprises and institutions that drive the Egyptian economy. CIB offers a comprehensive range of benefits to its employees Tweet This!, so as to support their social and financial stabilities and increase the levels of employee satisfaction and retention.
This case study is based on the 2019 Sustainability Report by CIB published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
CIB is keen to maintain a truly diverse, inclusive, and healthy workplace with an accountable, collaborative, and trusted culture, where all of its employees can bring the best of themselves to work each day. In order to promote employee welfare CIB took action to:
- implement an Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- promote parental leave for both men and women
- provide comprehensive benefits
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) CIB has identified;
- How CIB proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by CIB to promote employee welfare
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2019 Sustainability Report CIB identified a range of material issues, such as financial performance, governance and compliance, privacy and security, financial inclusion, operational efficiency. Among these, promoting employee welfare stands out as a key material issue for CIB.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups CIB engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics CIB engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Shareholders and Investors | · Quarterly Financial Results · Annual Analysts and Investors Meeting · The Annual General Meeting |
| Board of Directors
| · Board Meetings · Board Committee Meetings · Board Strategy Meeting · Annual Report · Annual General Meeting |
| Employees
| · Annual Assessment · Ongoing Coaching and Supervision · Training Sessions · Internal Meetings on all Departmental Levels |
| Industry Associates and Sustainability Partners
| · UNEP-FI · Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index · Annual CDP Reporting · FTSE4Good Sustainability Index |
| Customers
| · Branches Customer Services · Account Relationship Manager · Call Centre · Public Website · Brand Activations · Satisfaction Surveys · Social Media Interaction · Career Fairs · Fintech Programmes |
| Suppliers
| · Pre-tendering Meetings · Project-based Satisfaction Surveys · Briefings and Feedback on New Bank Policies on S&E Assessments and Criteria |
| Government and Regulatory Bodies
| · Central Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Stock Exchange, and Others · Quarterly and Periodic Meetings · Daily and Periodic Emails and Direct Communications with CBE Department and Investors Relations Team |
| National Community
| · Partnerships with Nonprofit Organisations · Periodic Mutual Press Releases · Social Media Announcements · Programmers, Initiatives, Sponsorships, and Donations for Cultural and Social Developments · Accessible Branches · Annual CIB Foundation Activity Report · Annual CIB Report |
What actions were taken by CIB to promote employee welfare?
In its 2019 Sustainability Report CIB reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee welfare:
- Implementing an Employee Stock Ownership Plan
- CIB implements an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as part of its compensation strategy aimed at attracting, motivating, retaining, rewarding, and strengthening ties with outstanding employees, managers, and executive board members. ESOP allows designated employees to own CIB stocks at face value via promise-to-sell agreements. CIB allocates 1% of its issued and paid-in capital to ESOP. During 2019, CIB allocated a total of 10,541,330 stocks to 4,242 employees. Since the inception of the plan in 2006 and its renewal in 2015, CIB has allocated 91,032,963 shares to its employees (taking into consideration capital increases throughout the stated period).
- Promoting parental leave for both men and women
- CIB is among very few national organisations in Egypt that promote parental leave for both men and women. CIB fathers are entitled to a short-paid leave of three days from the delivery date. In 2019, 105 fathers requested and were granted paternal leave, while all 96 mothers who took parental leaves in 2019 returned to work, in addition to 13 mothers who started their parental leave in 2018.
- Providing comprehensive benefits
- CIB provides comprehensive benefits to its employees that promote financial security for them and their families. CIB’s benefits include full medical insurance for all employees who are covered by social insurance. CIB has agreements with an extensive network of first-class doctors, hospitals, and labs in all cities across the country. Other benefits include:
- Interest Free School Loans: CIB’s interest free loan is equivalent to a maximum amount of two months of gross salary or one month of gross salary based on the employee’s grade. The loan is to be repaid over a maximum tenor of 12 months to support CIB’s employees with accommodating the current school fees. In 2019, more than 1,000 employees benefited from the loan.
- Staff Loan: A loan with a subsidised decreasing average interest rate of 7.75% to be repaid over a maximum tenor of six years. In 2019, over 4,000 employees benefited from it.
- Mortgage Loan: A loan granted to CIB’s staff with a subsidised average interest rate of 11% as an employee benefit.
- Credit Cards: Credit cards are given to CIB’s staff with a subsidised interest rate that is less than 1.3%.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
2) Disclosure 401-3 Parental leave
Disclosure 401-2 Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
- Targets: 3.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.4
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.5
Disclosure 401-3 Parental leave corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.1, 5.4
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.5
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by CIB, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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