Doing good means doing well financially, Entwistle tells Canadian Club

The longest-serving CEO of a Canadian telecom told the Canadian Club in Toronto that having a social conscience is good for a corporation’s bottom line. Darren Entwistle of Telus Corp. was the featured speaker at Wednesday’s luncheon. “For 24 years, social capitalism has been the central thesis of what we do at Telus, why we do it, and what we stand for,” he told a sold-out audience. Most of that time period coincides with Entwistle’s time atop the western telecom. He highlighted programs the company has undertaken to improve life for the less fortunate while helping Telus grow as a business. There are three key challenges the firm has taken up to implement its plans. First is to bridge socio-economic divides, second is to work on an environmental program, and last is working on the healthcare system. After giving statistics about the soaring use of food banks, Entwistle laid out the reasons companies should show concern for those less well-off. Telecommunications figures prominently in his argument. “The National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that a broadband connection is associated with an average life expectancy increase of three years, along with decreased loneliness, better mental health, improved work-life balance, higher graduation rates, and stronger incomes,” he told the crowd. Rural residents are better able to compete with their city cousins when connectivity is available, he added. The advent of AI is a further challenge to the populace, the CEO stated. He pointed out that Telus has had a program in place for 11 years that offers free digital literacy and online workshops to keep Canadians safe in the cyber community. In the past quarter century, the firm and its employees have donated $1.7 billion and volunteered 2.2 million days at charitable projects around the world. This is more than any other company in the world, he touted. “By way of example, in some countries, Telus builds more schools than their governments, owing to the passion of our employee-volunteers, including their families,” Entwistle explained. There are concrete returns to the bottom line for all this work. The telecom reports 36 per cent higher employee retention than its competitors, 41 per cent lower absenteeism, and 55 per cent higher customer experience and growth. Turning to environmental concerns, the executive said that starting next year all of Telus’ electricity will come from clean sources such as solar, wind and hydro. Since 2022, 98 per cent of its internet customers have been switched from copper networks to fibre grids, cutting down on pollution associated with copper mining. It is sharing knowledge gained from the transition with other global players in the market. He spent the last part of his speech discussing healthcare, a specialty of the firm’s Telus Health division. “As a society, if we do not fully leverage technology to address the challenges before us, the burden we will place on future generations is inexcusable, as healthcare costs are poised to consume 50 per cent of provincial budgets in Canada.” Telus Health has allowed five million Canadians to access telehealth. Entwistle cited statistics which found that nine million citizens do not have a family physician. Entwistle finished his remarks by touting the social capitalism he has brought to his company. “Consider the economic value that can be created in answering the digital transformation opportunities associated with healthcare – which consumes $400 billion dollars annually in Canada alone – as well as agriculture – with an estimated global market of $14 trillion dollars,” he stated. “Clearly, doing good is good for business.” To underscore that statement, he reported that Telus has seen revenue growth of $2 billion since 2020 and generated shareholder return of 766 per cent over the past two decades. He received a standing ovation at the end of his speech. – Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Doing good means doing well financially, Entwistle tells Canadian Club

News | June 12, 2024

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Doing good means doing well financially, Entwistle tells Canadian Club

News | June 12, 2024

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