Responsible Business Forum Poland

Focus on a Partner - June 2009

In this month's issue, Mirella Panek-Owsianska, Director General and President of the Board of Responsible Business Forum (FOB) in Poland, discusses the state of CSR in Poland today and how it is being affected by the current economic downturn. She also presents the Forum's annual report on CSR best practices in Poland.

Your annual report "Responsible Business in Poland. Good practices" collects best CSR practices from Poland. What are its main conclusions from the last three years?

Mirella Panek-Owsianska

The annual report of the Responsible Business Forum - "Responsible Business in Poland. Good practices" - is a summary of companies' involvement in implementing the rules of responsible business as well as all initiatives which shape conditions for development of this idea in Poland.

It contains the most interesting good practices of companies in four areas: workplace, marketplace, community and environment, as well as experts' statements, press monitoring, and a CSR events calendar.

The last three years have showed that CSR is still booming in Poland. Responsibility in business has become a public concern - even the wide context of responsibility and the overall role of business in a society. Social partners, consumers, SMEs, media, governmental administration and many other players have gained a better understanding of all the CSR issues, concerning various indications of responsibility as well as irresponsibility in business.

We have observed that managers working for Polish companies have started to realize that a company's development, competitiveness, values or even ability to get the best employees depends on proper strategic decisions that simultaneously meet social, economic and ecological challenges. What is more, CSR has began to evolve in a more professional direction.

Can you give examples of the CSR practices in the four thematic areas covered by the Report?

Most practices that FOB presents in its Report still concern community. The majority of them concentrate around health and safety. Many companies are also active in the areas of financial education, community investment and corporate volunteering. What's more there are many initiatives that aim at giving equal opportunities to marginalized groups of the community.

But, what is also visible in this area is that most of the initiatives have developed from one-off, ad hoc actions into a strategic programmes that focus on solving important social problems.

Good practices in the area of environment were presented for the first time in the Report 2007 - there were 8 of them. In last year's edition, this area already contained 25 initiatives. It can be clearly observed that environmental protection and counteracting climate change are issues that are firmly anchored in the public discourse, and they constitute "hot topics".

Most of the environmental initiatives focus on climate change. The Report presents examples of educational programmes addressed especially to the employees, activities aimed at reduction of water, energy and paper use as well as waste management and renewable energy programmes. Companies have started to see the opportunities for being environmentally friendly in every field of their day-to-day business.

Companies who aware of the fact that in a knowledge society employees are their main resource are involved in many initiatives focusing on the workplace. For example, companies engage their employees in solving social problems together with non-governmental organisations. Codes of ethics and employee skills development programmes are created. Moreover, businesses try to address needs of pregnant women and young parents, creating them a comfortable work environment and possibilities to keep their work-life balance.

Companies are also concentrating on making their business activities more efficient by improving communications, employees' participation and implementation of certifiable management standards. Good practices include also activities in the area of employees education, diversity management, creating and maintaining workplaces.

Although the number of initiatives in the area called "marketplace" is increasing, it is still the smallest part of all CSR activities presented in the Report. Companies attempt very hard to listen and respond to expectations of their external stakeholders. They actively engage themselves in consumer education, as well as in training within their supply chains. Alcohol and tobacco products manufacturers undertake initiatives regarding responsible advertising, sale and consumption of products they offer. Other companies support development of entrepreneurship.

The main conclusion is that Polish companies are treating CSR more and more strategically, and try to implement good practices in every out of four main fields of activity. Nevertheless, there is still lot to do, especially in the area marketplace.

When looking at CSR in Poland, what would you indicate as its strengths and what as weaknesses and challenges for CSR in the near future?

CSR has been developing in Poland only for ten years now, but the interest in this idea is increasing very fast. For sure well planned and deliberate corporate community investment (CCI) programmes are one of the strengths of Polish companies who also cooperate with a wide range of social partners in this area. Polish firms also are becoming more aware of their responsibilities for the environment and develop many innovative strategies aimed at minimizing their carbon footprint.

More and more companies are also starting to report on their CSR activities and develop their CSR reports basing on international reporting standards. What's more Polish business and management students are getting very active in this field, taking part in or organizing events, conferences, seminars concerning CSR - and filling that way the gap in the education system which does not cover this topic.

Nevertheless there is still lack of initiatives showing that CSR is treated as a part of business strategy, in which top managers and CEOs are engaged. There are still no professionals dealing with CSR, the minority of Polish companies have separate CSR departments and CSR programmes are still in the competencies of PR specialists. CSR is still seen as occasional community programmes, as many PR agencies still don't see the difference between doing CSR and communicating about CSR. What's more there are still not enough initiatives concentrating on marketplace issues.

Has the crisis influenced the CSR in Poland - taken activities, areas of interest? Have many companies cut back on CSR?

The year 2009 is kind of the year of truth for CSR in Poland. Crisis will show in which companies CSR was a one season's fashion and which organisations build their strategies on it.

Polish companies have to deal with the crisis. They need to take into consideration their limited budgets and try to cut costs, also when it comes to CSR. Nevertheless these savings don't mean resigning from CSR, especially in companies that have integrated CSR in their strategy, even if these companies may have to modify their CSR plans. For example, some companies conducting CCI initiatives won't stop the programmes but will cut promotion costs and try to choose their partners more carefully, so that the programmes could run more effectively and bring more benefit for the society and the company itself.

In other words, the crisis can be even a chance for Polish companies to create more mature and advanced CSR strategies that could really help them in getting competitive advantage on the market.

This situation is also making companies turn into activities such as resource saving programmes that can also bring cost savings to the companies and may allow them to achieve interesting ecological results with a low cost.

Crisis is also a challenge and a place where innovation and creativity can win. We hope this is also the way Polish companies think - not just cutting costs, but trying to be more creative, more innovative and more responsible - and that way have a strong and stable position on the market when the economy recovers.

Looking back at the last meeting of CSR Europe's national partner network in London in April, what do you see as the biggest added value of being part of a European CSR network?

This European CSR network is a great platform for idea exchange and experience sharing, especially in connection with current economic and financial crisis - how to deal with this situation, how to keep up the interest of our partners in CSR and in cooperating with our organisations. What's more it gives possibility to get overview of the development of CSR in other European countries.

More information

Read more about Responsible Business Forum at www.odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl.

For more information about CSR Europe's national partner network and its activities, contact Beatriz Berruga Garcia, bb@csreurope.org.

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