Poland: CSR a way to inject trust into civil society

Iwona Kuraszko is Research and Development Manager at the Responsible Business Forum ,the most important business in Poland dealing with corporate responsibility issues. Iwona is also PhD student in Political Sciences and Journalism at Warsaw University. Her dissertation work is about the correlation between corporate responsibility and communication models, civil society, stakeholder engagement.

Iwona, could you describe the current state of art of CSR in Poland?

Corporate social responsibility is a relatively new concept in Poland. CSR activities appeared in Poland under specific circumstances of uncompleted market reforms and as a result of a dynamic process of integration with the European Union.

In your opinion, what are the main CSR topics for Polish companies?

Research shows that social expectations of the business sector in Poland are mostly about employment conditions. There is a growing awareness among company managers that fair treatment of employees, observance of fundamental standards and voluntary obligations improves worker motivation and efficiency, as well as increases the long-term competitiveness of the labour market.

What do you think are the main challenges faced by the CSR in Poland today?

The country faces a problem of a lack of trust which contributes to a low level of social capital. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2008, only 12% Poles trust each other. Only 11% of Poles trust their government to do what is right. The Polish ‘elites’ have the least trust in government than in any country surveyed. On the other hand 45% of them trust business, 38% NGOs and 37% the media. So it is becoming obvious that business and its ethics have an important role to play in modern Poland.

Which companies pay more attention to CSR?

Most of all, multinationals who are the global leaders in corporate responsibility. They can help Polish companies with useful norms. Because one-size-fits-all approach to corporate responsibility does not work, a constant need to adapt CSR notions to local traditions and priorities seems to be of course the mayor component of a successful corporate responsibility awareness.

What about domestic companies?

Domestic companies in Poland often not perceive themselves as important actors in changing social conditions. So they usually improve relations with stakeholders by sponsoring local community initiatives. Many are simply not aware that corporate responsibility represents an opportunity as well as being simply good risk management. Research has shown that 80% Polish managers believe CSR is “an important tool of building a positive corporate image and reputation”, but more than 50% understand CSR as “supporting people in need”. Managers in multinationals are often familiar with the notion of corporate responsibility, however, overall it could be argued that they have not yet fully grasped the potential benefits and values it can bring. So if the motivation and aim of CSR is improving a company’s image, the activities are mostly concentrated on social programmes.

The companies in Poland do not use tools and procedures for managing the whole corporate responsibility strategy, there are only 3 which currently use Global Reporting Initiative, (GRI) tools for social reporting.

After the CSR Polish Forum 2008, what does it emerge?

Generally speaking the situation of exploring corporate responsibility in public discourse has been moving to a large degree thanks to a growing quantity of projects financed by UE, support of World Bank, UNDP, European Commission and first CSR manuals in the media.

To find out more Responsible Business Forum Poland