Good practice Business in Poland. Is it responsible?

Corporate social responsibility is an element of conscious management consisting in shaping positive relationships within the organization, as well as outside of it – with local communities and stakeholders. It is important that it is not a one-time operation, but a permanent aspect of the organization’s functioning. Business conducted in this way builds a positive image of the company, integrates it with the environment, builds social capital and allows for sustainable development.

Polish enterprises increasingly take into account corporate social responsibility when building a long-term strategy. This confirms, among others, another record of good practices of responsible business, collected by the Responsible Business Forum (FOB) in the latest report “Responsible business in Poland. Good practices”. In the current report, 1190 good practices have been collected, which is by 300 more than in the previous edition. As the report’s authors emphasize, the collected practices are 639 new and 551 long-term ones, which is respectively 39% and 32% more practices than previously. According to the FOB, this proves the growing social involvement of business in Poland and willingness to share results with the industry. Interestingly, CSR ceases to be the domain of international corporations. Until the 16th edition of the FOB report, as many as 50 small and medium-sized companies have applied.

Most companies are involved in practices related to education, care for health and quality of life, or areas related to social involvement and development of local communities. There are, among others, social consul tations, conversations with clients or dialogue sessions with stakeholders of a company (the leader of such meetings Raben Group, for example, prides itself on the implementation of 80% of submitted ideas).

Good CSR practices are also associated with the introduction of tools that facilitate the use of products or services. An example is salary calculator for employees from Ukraine of OTTO Work Force Polska, or free mobile application of the Krakow-Balice airport. This application, which has been downloaded 11,945 times, makes it easier to navigate the terminal, find useful information, receive notifications, includes a 3D map of the car park or an airport blog. Such solutions serve both business, because it becomes more friendly to employees and clients, but also to the environment, shaping positive impact patterns. Reading Responsible Business Forum reports or entering into a dialogue with immediate environment of the company will certainly be a good source of sustainable company activity.