Small, but responsible business

We do not need to be a multinational, we do not need to be a publicly quoted company, and we do not need to have a rich investor to be socially responsible in business. Smaller companies can also successfully follow Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. That was the idea lying behind the creation of the corporate business responsibility strategy in the Institute of Media Monitoring.

The idea of implementing CSR in IMM arose two years after the company appeared on the market. We created a complex implementation program which involved all aspects of company’s activity. In addition, we wanted this strategy to improve our relations with employees, improve the relations among co-workers as well as strengthen the company’s image.

The strategy was based on the following pillars:

• relations with customers,

• relations with employees,

• relations with partners,

• relations with society.

It is IMM's PR Department that is primarily responsible for CSR implementation.

Relations with clients

Corporate Social Responsibility is an extremely important issue in our relations with clients. We decided to hold a two-tiered strategy in this aspect:
• support for both our clients’ campaigns and charity campaigns,
• regular research into our clients’ satisfaction with the Institute services.

In the first case, the Institute supports non-profit endeavors. Very often customers ask the Institute for this kind of support. Our clients often ask us to join various charity actions, such as The Foundation of Charity Journalist's Ball, The Polish Humanitarian Organization and The Nobody's Children Foundation. The organizers of the campaigns do not receive notable benefits in this way, but support various social groups, such as sick children or the disabled.

We carry out cyclic (repeated every half a year) research, in which we determine our clients' satisfaction with particular elements of our service. We prepared a mail survey questionnaire, in which we asked our clients to evaluate and comment on IMM's service. The comments include valuable information that enables us to adjust our services to our clients’ suggestions, as well as eliminate the factors that contribute to their dissatisfaction. 

In August 2004, the Institute launched a special project aimed at our current and prospective clients – a public relations website - PRoto (www.proto.pl). This website is an interactive platform where PR specialists can exchange their ideas and opinions, which is supposed to make everyday work much easier. PRoto keeps PR-specialists informed about what is happening on the market, gives practical hints and presents various scientific achievements in the field of public relations. 

Relations with our employees

Since our employees are one of the pillars of the Institute, they constitute one of the primarily important issues of our CSR. Thus, IMM decided to constantly measure the level of IMM employees' satisfaction in many aspects with a special questionnaire that comprises questions concerning self-evaluation, evaluation of colleagues, evaluation of superiors, level of job satisfaction, motivation incentives, the office atmosphere etc. The questionnaires are anonymous and a comprehensive report based on them is prepared, which is later presented to IMM employees.

Another action in the field of IMM internal relations is the improvement in the company’s internal communication, information flow coordination, as well as raising employees’ satisfaction with the work they do. As a result, each of the 120 IMM’s employees uses a computer, intranet communication has been working well, due to which employees are kept very well informed about the company’s activity– it has boosted workers’ motivation and eliminated rumors.

IMM has also been preparing a code of corporate governance intended to avoid discrimination against employees, promote individualism and education. IMM praises to have already reached a fair remuneration system for women and men, while women constitute 58% of IMM's management team. IMM has also implemented a wide range of conveniences for young mothers, which enable the women employed in the Institute to combine household duties with their job. IMM also finances employees’ periodic tests and vaccinations.

Relations with suppliers and partners 

The third area of CSR implementation in The Institute of Media Monitoring concerns relations with suppliers and partners. Our main partner are media.

We wanted to provide them with a unique survey, which had not been conducted in Poland at the time and which would become a useful tool for our partners. The analysis based on a German research provides media with the number of particular media quotations in other media (apart from information agencies), the knowledge of which has a direct impact on media's credibility and at the same time raises their audience, readership and listening ratings (depending on the media type). The report called “The most opinion-making media in Poland” is published free of charge every month. Media often refer to it when describing their latest achievements.
 
Relations with society

Developing relations with society is another aim of the Institute’s CSR scheme. Its important element is the establishment of a strong collaboration with several social organizations and supporting their actions. The group of IMM’s social partners involves: The Polish Humanitarian Organization, Responsible Business Forum, the Friends of Integration Association, the Anna Dymna Foundation- „Despite all”, SOS Association Children’s Villages in Poland and Amnesty International.

This group is of high importance for IMM, which in tandem with a particular non-profit institution organizes the „PRactice abroad” contest mainly for students. It is an initiative aimed at public relations and social communication students, which provides young people with an opportunity to gain professional experience through the training abroad in international public relations agencies.

Apart from supporting social organizations and contest organization, IMM is also engaged in other pro-social activities. The initiative connected with Christmas cards can be a good example. For two years now, we have resigned from sending traditional postcards to our clients and we give them our wishes via electronic mail. The money saved in this way is later allotted to the „Pajacyk” campaign.

Challenges and strategy assessment

The implementation of CSR in IMM has always been and still is connected with a few challenges and problems. The major ones are:
• program coordination and development – adjustment to current conditions,
• raising funds for particular activities,
• efficient collaboration with partners.

In spite of this, the three years of the strategy being in action can be considered IMM’s success mainly due to its smooth operation and the development of particular actions in each of the four areas. In the past six years, the value of IMM’s service sales increased fivefold. On the other hand, rotation of employees fell, which reduced workers’ costs in the filed of trainings, as well as increased the quality of the company’s service. It guarantees a long-run growth of the company’s value, proper standards of cooperation with other enterprises and lower costs.