This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 12, 2022 - December 18, 2022

OCK Group Bhd took home the gold award for the most improved performance over three years category for companies with a market capitalisation between RM300 million and RM800 million.

Group managing director Sam Ooi Chin Khoon attributes the win to its telecommunications infrastructure sharing business, which saves resources, and its investments in solar farms, among other things.

The firm encountered difficulties with data inconsistency as well as measuring and tracking the impact of its ESG initiatives.

“We overcame the challenges by ensuring management expectations and employee realities were aligned. Being transparent with the staff about what’s going well and what’s not. Give them the right tools and resources they need to succeed,” says Ooi.

The company’s culture of open communication also boosts employee productivity, he adds. “This will liven up the stream of ideas, resulting in a more productive team overall.”

On the other hand, to integrate ESG into its operations, Ooi strongly believes that the company needs to have good data governance. “This comprises aggregation, management, storage, security, retrieval and destruction [of data],” he says.

To further promote the adoption of ESG among public-listed companies, he believes that government agencies should provide clarity on the importance of ESG. This will increase investor confidence in the country.

Companies should also pay attention to the wants of customers, who are becoming more sensitive to environmental, social and political issues. “That’s why ESG is important for consumers to the point that it has become a driver of their purchasing decisions,” says Ooi.

As for investors, they play an important role in encouraging companies to become more sustainable as well.

“Without investors’ engagement, managing risk around access to market, capital and talent is impossible,” he says.

Ooi expects growth in ESG investments for the remainder of 2022 and the upcoming years. He encourages other businesses to be ESG-compliant.

“All businesses seek profits, but today’s investors and shareholders want to see businesses making efforts to make the world a better place as they generate those profits.”

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