CSR – Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility means a company’s endeavor to meet not only its economic goals but the social ones as well. The CSR model assumes that a business is aware of the impact its actions and decisions have on the business itself and on those around it.

Selling doesn’t mean getting clients to buy products they don’t need or trying to exploit them to a maximum. First and foremost, selling involves liaison, learning each other’s needs and, finally, establishing and maintaining a positive and fair exchange.

What (internal and external) benefits will our business derive from implementing the CSR initiative?

• Better relations with members of the local community and local authorities as no company operates with hardly any links to its surroundings. A favorable opinion from people of the region is a step towards acquiring new Clients.
• We achieve this by taking part in local projects, for example, Christmas gift packages for preschools, “face shields for medics” with our employees supplying protective face shields to hospitals and volunteer fire departments, supporting local football teams – Piast Łubowo and WKS Owieczki. We also engage in charity events, e.g. gaszynchallenge.
• A sharp growth of competitiveness achieved by making the company’s services more appealing. The company’s image is also important for our Clients. CSR may be yet another tool in our efforts to capture new Clients, allowing us to forgo the price war.
• Enhancement and improvement of the corporate culture and raising our standards of conduct towards our employees. Investing in employees is key to meeting our objectives. We offer them employment contracts and comfortable work conditions. By creating a safe work environment, we encourage our staff to further improve their skills, communication competence and engagement. Our offices have a fully equipped kitchen and relaxation zones, including a resting place among trees. Our company has an emergency contingency plan in place. In addition, we integrate our employees by organizing, among other things, family picnics and anniversary events.
• Processing personal data is a delicate matter and increasingly more attention is given to data’s protection. One of the fundamental aspects of the CSR strategy in our company was the implementation of a personal data protection policy.
• Improvement of the company’s image in the eyes of our employees, Clients, business partners, the public and the media. Our activities reinforce our market position, making it easier to win new business partners and maintain good relations with the existing ones. The company’s reputation on the local market adds to our visibility outside of it. Here is where our Facebook profile helps, engaging local people.
• Boosting the company’s attractiveness on the labor market may translate into interesting job applications. Active businesses are more often joined by professionals.
• Owing to the CSR model, the company has been recognized by our employees as a business “with a sense of mission and a wider goal, going far beyond the commercial activities”.
• We care for the environment by operating in the greenest way possible (reduction of the energy, paper, water consumption, resignation from plastic cups). There are mason bee houses on the company’s premises and our ultimate goal is to set up an apiary. Our plans include installation of photo-voltaic panels, which will help us obtain 50% of our energy consumption from renewable sources.

All these activities will translate not only into increasing our competitiveness on the market (maybe even more so on Western markets, where businesses pay attention to whether their partner implements CSR assumptions), but will also allow us to become better people.