It is one thing to view CSR from the lens of a company taking an interest in wider social issues. It is another to view CSR as a salient aspect of a business – a nucleus of impact and catalyst for change. The Responsible Business Summit of 2013 made an indelible impression on firms, as can be deduced from powerful keypoints left in its wake, which delineated the essence of Corporate Social Responsibility. One of such key points – a gentle reminder that “businesses cannot be successful when the society around them fails” – is alluded to in Standard Bank’s Social, Economic and Environmental framework which espouses causes of value creation beyond an industry, positive change on the African continent, and far-reaching impact above all. The combination of these CSR tenets is in close alignment with the walk we walk at RightCom.
For the entirety of our seven-year lifespan, CSR has remained at the core of our operations. We have contributed to the advancement of social, environmental, technological and medical causes, through funding, goodwill, staff outreaches and partnerships across Ghana and Benin Republic. In 2018, we implemented Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within our local context, Katagon in Benin Republic, with the objective to provide water to the impoverished community whose only water source was a marigot. Co-financed by the Wannnou Foundation, we successfully installed a new water drill to serve the entire district of Katagon.
This year 2019, in line with our commitment to transforming lives and empowering people, we are financing the Kuenyehia Trust for Contemporary Art, a non-profit art organization empowering artists, championing arts literacy and advancing contemporary African art both locally and internationally. It runs the Keunyehia Prize in Ghana to support local artists. The Prize seeks to reward and encourage outstanding Ghanian artists between ages 25 and 40. Winners receive prize money, business training, coaching, and exposure through art fairs and exhibitions.
As Kuenyehia Trust seeks to expand to the rest of West Africa, starting with Senegal by 2020, we are inspired by its bold and measured strides towards fostering a generation who will use art to spark change, convey truths, and challenge society to look beyond the obvious.
Why Art? Why Now?
At the root of customer experience management, RightCom is grounded on respect, care and attention to humanity – attributes which are deeply felt and conveyed through arts. Blurring the lines between the past and present and carrying the weight of history, politics, economy, and culture, art is an extension of people, nations, and societies. Thus, it is beyond essential to support artists locally and internationally.
RightCom offices are emblems of art and history. Our walls are lined with gigantic art pieces and canvas prints which portray the narratives that matter to us as well as the stories that have defined our organizational growth. Our walls hold canvases carrying the principles of excellence, Afro-centrism, and historical awareness, the spurs of creativity evoked from the world’s greatest innovations, as well as the remarkable talents behind the work that we do. One emblem of history in our office in Cotonou, located at 1030 Rue des Cheminots, Joncquet, is a painting by Beninise artist, Youss Atacora, of Béhanzin, the eleventh King of Dahomey whose strong leadership and fight against colonization remains indelible in the pages of Benin’s history.
In many ways, arts depict creativity and innovation, both tenets for business and individual growth. As RightCom stands to support arts in Africa, we hope to inspire corporates to keep the arts alive, one artist, one art centre, one art piece at a time.
Arts and Customer Experience
The pairing of arts and customer experience should come as no surprise, as both have a lot in common. Firstly, they are often viewed secondarily. In addition, a good number of businesses chase financial success way before they begin to pay attention to customers, in the same way the arts as both field, talent and career is often subordinated in the midst of linear, commercially-driven paths. Customer experience is an artistic pursuit which is steeped in the perceptions, feelings and emotions of customers. As forerunners of modern-day customer-experience management optimize science and technology to identify and meet the needs of customers, it is indisputable that the experience economy is positioned to take over the world. Simple, personalized, consistently gratifying experiences now define the success of companies, brands and industries. Sentience is increasingly becoming the biggest currency, unique in its valuation on the thrill, freedom, belonging and overall satisfaction of customers.
Thus, as we live up to our mission to create customer experience driven solutions that enable companies to make their employees, partners and customers happy, we will not relent in our fusion of arts, science and technology to guarantee customer success. We believe that our footprint can serve as an inspiration for stakeholders across diverse jurisdictions in Africa and around the globe, to pay attention to sentience, humanity and excellence as embedded in arts and customer experience.
Featured Image Credit: Works of Torsu Andrews Yao, 2nd Runner up, during the 2017 Kuenyehia Prize Award Ceremony, The Octagon, Accra, Ghana.
