Corporate Social Responsibility
In keeping with the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility, Wide Bay Australia is always conscious of the impacts our activities have on our:
Community
The relationship between our organisation and society
Wide Bay Australia plays an active part in our local communities particularly in regional areas.
We evolved as part of these communities - managed by local Board members and managers and staffed by local people who identified with these communities - to more adequately meet the financial and customer service needs of these communities.
These relationships continue to build as Wide Bay Australia reinvests the confidence shown by the community in its operations by carrying out a role as a good ‘corporate citizen including:
- financial support through sponsorship (where possible) of a number of community activities, organisations and events - covering a wide range of sporting, cultural and community interests and endeavours. Some recent examples can be found under Community News
- donations of cash to various charitable organisations (where possible) e.g. Legacy, Salvation Army, Royal Flying Doctor Service, Leukaemia Foundation, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Guide Dogs etc
- provision of promotional items & vouchers (where possible) to a range of organisations to assist with their own fundraising efforts e.g. school fetes, cent sales, trivia nights, raffles etc
- allowing availability of branches as collection points for community fundraising efforts e.g. “Give me 5 for Kids” Children’s Ward Hospital Appeal, “Oldies Angels” Community Appeal, Mackay Flood Relief Appeal etc.
- promotion of our Today’s Club Account as an attractive financial option for community not-for-profit organisations and the structuring of account and transaction fees to suit.
- accommodating (if possible) staff acting as volunteers or office bearers in various community organisations e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Charities, Service Clubs etc
Workplace
The environment into which individuals are recruited
and perform their roles within our organisation
Wide Bay Australia’s success as a leading financial institution is the result of the individual and co-operative efforts of a dedicated team.
While we demand commitment and proactivity from our people – Wide Bay strives to provide satisfying and rewarding career opportunities through:
- remuneration commensurate with industry standards, personal effort & experience
- a friendly team environment including social activities
- direct communication with Management
- an investment in training and nationally recognised qualifications
- reimbursement of costs associated with approved professional development such as Institute of Financial Services Inc courses
- payment of financial incentives to selected staff in return for additional effort
- opportunity to participate in company success through a Staff Share Plan
- discounts on selected products and services
- equal opportunity employment
- meeting compliance standards and duties of care
- monthly staff awards to recognise individual contributions
- a commitment to employee health and wellbeing eg discounted private health cover, free annual influenza vaccinations
- post ‘hold-up’ trauma debriefing counselling
- subsidised uniform costs
- general encouragement to meet corporate values – relationships, growth, ambition, performance, leadership and flexibility
Find out more about current Careers & Vacancies
Marketplace
The relationship between our organisation
and our external stakeholders
Our organisation strives to balance the needs and expectations of our business partners, consumers, shareholders and suppliers.
- ensuring the financial integrity, security and profitability of our operations including meeting required standards and appropriate Reporting and Disclosures
- meeting good Corporate Governance practices and placing value on honesty and integrity and acting in good faith in all our transactions
- monitoring the competiveness of products and services to ensure continuing value
- aiming to provide adequate and easy to understand disclosure in respect of product terms and conditions, contracts, leases etc
- purchasing from suppliers where benefits flow through to our communities where this is possible and economical
- meeting our financial obligations in a timely manner
- providing avenues for and responding in a timely fashion to feedback & complaints and providing avenues for complaint resolution
- responsible lending practices and assisting loans customers to meet their financial obligations
- meeting our legal and other compliance obligations including privacy
- investing in customer relationship building and management systems and practices and training of our personnel in customer service standards
Environment
The impact of our operations on the
natural environment and resources.
At Wide Bay Australia, we are very conscious of our impact on the environment. We are also increasingly aware of our community's changing attitudes, expectations and our need to set an example to other businesses.
While the environment is a big winner, reducing waste and increasing efficiency also makes sense financially. Higher costs also impact on our customers and shareholders. Our overall approach means Wide Bay Australia has been judged as one of the most cost-to-income efficient building societies in Australia.
Ways we are helping our environment include:
- reducing the use of paper through shredding and recycling the majority of the paper generated internally.
- encouraging customers with messages on paper statements to cancel or reduce the numbers of statements they receive by mail
- promoting Internet Banking and other electronic options as an alternative to receiving paper statements and reducing customers’ needs to travel to branches for simple transactions
- promoting BPAY® as a free service allowing customers to pay any paper bill bearing the distinctive BPAY® logo (such as rates, electricity, phone, credit card bills etc) on-line - negating the need for them to travel from business to business or posting cheques. We are also one of the few institutions offering this service over-the-counter at our branches which is particularly helpful to the elderly.
- promoting BPAY View™, which enables our customers to receive bills online from selected billers - rather than paper bills in the mail.
- allowing ATM users accessing our ATM’s to elect at the time of their transaction whether they wish to receive a printed receipt
- paying the majority of our suppliers electronically rather than by cheque
- providing our shareholders with the option of receiving annual reports and other shareholder communications on-line rather than in printed form
- actively sponsoring community organisations such as Landcare in their initiatives such as National Tree Day.
