Polish companies prefer working with social partners – Press Release

Dozens of Polish companies, from Small and Large Enterprises sector, applied with their projects carried out within the partnerships between non-governmental organizations, self-governments and institutions, for European CSR Award. The aim of the initiative is to award partnerships between a company and at least one non-business stakeholder. In Poland, 43 % of companies presented their cooperation with a social partner. Polish edition of the contest is coordinated by the Responsible Business Forum.

European CSR Award Scheme was organized in Poland for the first time. Our country was at the top when it comes to the number of initiative applications. 52 partnerships applied, 39 from Large Companies, 13 from Small and Medium Enterprises. Almost 65% of the projects had three or more partners. The majority of the projects (43%) were connected with social partners, 40% of the applications were educational projects and 17% concerned environmental protection. Poland was followed by Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary in the number of submitted applications.

– Large number of Polish partnerships participating in the contest is a positive sign. As the Responsible Business Forum, we are noticing a great interest of the companies in cooperation with non-business partners. Such a cooperation helps in creating innovative solutions for sustainable development problems, diversity in the workplace or environmental matters. The cooperation influences also the creation of competitive advantage of the business – states Mirella Panek-Owsiańska, the President of Responsible Business Forum.

European CSR Award Scheme for Partnerships, Innovation and Impact was launched to award partnerships between a company and at least one non-business stakeholder. The contest is funded by the European Commission and coordinated in Europe by CSR Europe together with Business in the Community, which lead the consortium of 29 national organizations. In Poland, the contest is coordinated by the Responsible Business Forum. The Minister of Labour and Social Policy took the Honorary Patronage over the contest.

Horus Innowacyjne Materiały Przemysłowe Sp. z.o.o. from Bydgoszcz won the first Polish edition of European CSR Award Scheme in the category of Small and Medium Enterprises. The company was rewarded for the project “Be visible – be safe” conducted within the partnership between the Municipal Office of Bydgoszcz and other social partners. Orange Poland was the winner in the Large Enterprises Category due to the project “Safety on the Internet” run in the collaboration with the Nobody’s Children Foundation.

Additionally, some companies got special mention. IQ Marketing got its special mention for the project “Hire the Ace” run in collaboration with Synapsis Foundation; Danone Sp. z.o.o. for the project “Partnership for Health” created with Biedronka, Lubella and Institute of Mother and Child; GlaxoSmithKline Poland for the project “We Have Something On Cancer” run in collaboration with Polish Oncology Unit; Microsoft Sp. z.o.o. for the project “Library – a place where the Internet is safe” prepared with Nobody’s Children Foundation; PwC for coaching programme for social leaders “Two Sectors – One Vision” run in collaboration with the School of Leaders and finally UPC Poland for the project “Coalition For The Digital Inclusion Of The 50+ Generation” created with the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.

The national winners from each category were selected based on the positive impact their multistakeholder projects have brought to both society and business. At the same time multistakeholder juries were also looking for innovative and sustainable initiatives that can be replicated effectively.

Źródło: Informacja własna