What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2021 Integrated Annual Report NSB identified a range of material issues, such as legal and regulatory compliance, customer service and experience, innovation and agility, skills and capabilities. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for NSB.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s 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 NSB engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics NSB engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Shareholder/Investors	·      One to one meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Finance and other investors ·      NSB’s corporate website serves as a key information platform ·      Annual and Interim Financial Statements ·      Communicating long-term focus and strategy through Annual Reports ·      Participation at industry and investor conferences
Customers	·      Personal interaction through branches and divisions ·      Operational issues are communicated through various platforms, including emails, the corporate website and phones ·      Customer satisfaction ratings are obtained through surveys ·      Information of products and services are spread through promotional campaigns, the corporate website, mass media, and social media ·      Other communication channels include: ·          – Call centres ·          – Corporate events
Employees	·      One to one interaction between employees and managers ·      Intranet and circulars ·      Quarterly internal newsletters ·      Staff meetings ·      Performance reviews and exit interviews ·      Welfare events and activities ·      Recognised trade union participations ·      Grievance handling mechanism
Regulators and Government institutions	·      Complying with laws, regulations, circulars, and directives ·      One to one meetings and interactions with the Government and regulatory representatives ·      Annual and Interim Financial Statements ·      Participating in industry and public forums ·      Responding to statutory examinations carried out by regulatory and Government institutions ·      Engagement on draft regulations and directions ·      Partnering on various social programmes
Business partners	·      Potential/new supplier introduction ·      Having regular direct communication with major suppliers ·      Tender processes ·      Service level agreement and service delivery ·      Business/Industry forums ·      Ongoing site visits ·      Meetings and presentations ·      Annual reports ·      Corporate websites ·      Training sessions on products and services
Society and environment	·      Community interaction in projects relating to education, health, low-carbon economy, and financial inclusion ·      Corporate website ·      Social media channels ·      Advertorials, interviews, flyers, and notices ·      Annual Reports and Financial statements

What actions were taken by NSB to create economic value for its stakeholders?

In its 2021 Integrated Annual Report NSB reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:

• Creating economic value for employees
• In 2021, NSB paid Rs. Mn. 12,970 in personnel costs.

• Creating economic value for depositors
• In 2021, NSB paid Rs. Mn. 76,809 to depositors.

• Creating economic value for providers of capital
• In 2021, NSB paid Rs. Mn. 3,500 to providers of capital.

• Creating economic value for the government
• In 2021, NSB paid Rs. Mn. 12,965 to the government.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed

Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.1, 8.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

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References:

This case study is based on published information by NSB, 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 following link:

https://www.nsb.lk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NSB_AR_2021_Interactive-PDF.pdf

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