April 2011 – Poland’s Responsible Business Forum recently released the ninth edition of Responsible Business in Poland 2010: Good Practices Report. This annual report contains the results of surveys of good practice in the area of sustainability by companies operating in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. The 2010 report highlights increasing interest for CSR among small and medium enterprises and notes increasing use of social media in corporate sustainability practices.
For the 2010 report, a total of 108 companies, large and small, submitted 117 examples of good corporate sustainability practices. These were divided into five areas of corporate social responsibility: community, marketplace, environment, workplace, management and reporting. In addition, four new categories with a total of 48 different examples of good practice were created. The four categories covered: corporate volunteering, help for people affected by the 2010 floods in Poland, eco-offices, and preventive health care for employees. These latter categories were developed in response to the growing number of natural disasters experienced in Poland and other parts of the world, which necessarily have an impact on corporate decision-making, activities and performance.
In an addition to an analysis of the descriptions and data covered by these metrics, the report also includes expert articles, Internet users’ opinions about CSR in 2010, summaries of the most important research in the area of CSR, reports on events, and a press review showing that the number of media articles devoted to CSR is on the rise.
Until recently, in Poland there was a strong belief that CSR practices were the exclusive domain of large corporations operating in big cities and that smaller companies either didn’t need or were not able to factor CSR considerations into their operations. The 2010 Report illustrates that this perception is changing. “We are very happy that companies are engaging in implementing CSR. The 117 good practices that we’ve chosen show that small and medium enterprises from outside Warsaw are becoming more interested in CSR, which will definitely remain a future trend” – said Mirella Panek-Owsiañska, General Director of the Responsible Business Forum.
Another emerging trend is the growing use of social media in CSR activities and the greater number of initiatives and actions specially directed at employees: education on CSR, competitions for best initiatives, rewards and awards for good practice.
Overall, the report points to promising and positive trends in the uptake of CSR by large and small companies alike, which can only bode well for the future of companies and society.
Responsible Business Forum is the oldest and the biggest non-governmental organization in Poland providing in-depth focus on the concept of corporate social responsibility. For more information please see www.odpowiedzialnybiznes.pl or contact Karolina Szlasa, Promotion and Portal Coordinator, Responsible Business Forum, tel. +48 22 627 18 71, mobile +48 669 510 483, e-mail: karolina.szlasa@fob.org.pl