For the greater good

A simple case of PR or a genuine desire to improve the world? development and construction Companies may have their own notions about community action – but they do usually benefit the wider public

Mladen Petrov

Philip Bay, the director of the Colliers agency responsible for Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bulgaria, was unable to spend Christmas with his family. After a meeting with a client in Belgrade, he decided to watch TV. However, it turned out not to be the nice evening in that was expected, settling down to watch such traditional Christmas TV fare as ‘Home Alone’. Because December 26th 2004 was the day that the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck. The news coming in about the scale of the destruction it had wreaked was appalling – it was estimated that the number of victims exceeded 193,000 and over 1.5 mln people lost their homes across the whole region. Watching the reports of the catastrophe, Philip’s thoughts naturally turned to his friends in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. He promptly made a call to one of them.

A Balkan idea - a global campaign

A year and a half later, in April 2006, the residents of Kirinda village in southern Sri Lanka received the keys to their new houses. Thirty six houses had been built and others were still under construction. “At that time in Belgrade I thought that we had to help the people in need. We decided to support the rebuilding of a village in Sri Lanka, a country that has also been torn apart by civil war for dozens of years,” Philip Bay recollects. It was in this way that a charity campaign was born in the Balkan offices of a real estate consultancy.

Thanks to the initiative of the Balkan employees of the company – which was eventually supported by all Colliers International offices around the world – USD 1.3 mln was raised for Sri Lanka. To achieve this, the managers of the company took advantage of their extensive contacts with business people and also appealed to their clients for funds. At first only three local companies responded to the plea for help. “The big players did not fully trust our initiative, instead preferring to donate charitable funds to organisations such as the Red Cross. Up until then we, like most other companies, also supported people in need in this way, but this time we decided to act on our own,” explains Philip Bay.

At the beginning the rebuilding of a village chosen by the prime minister of Sri Lanka (and was not included in the list of charity organisations active in this country) was not understood by the other European offices of the company. Their main accusation was as follows: we do not have any experience in carrying out such projects and the money should be given to experienced non-governmental organisations. However, when the US representatives of Colliers heard about the idea, the first funds were transferred – from across the ocean – into the bank account of the campaign.

The company appointed three trusted proxies to work on the site, it held job interviews with project managers, the necessary building permits were secured and houses for fishermen were designed. As time went by the European offices of the company also joined the campaign. The main aims of the project were accomplished in 2007, when the fiftieth house was completed. The village was designed without payment by the famous Japanese architectural studio Shigeru Ban Architects according to the principles of sustainable development. Only natural materials were used for the construction, and in 2007 Kirinda became the first place in Asia to have street lamps powered exclusively by solar energy.

Exceptions and rules

Many schemes similar to Colliers’ action have now been launched. Companies from the development and construction sectors have become increasingly willing to join social campaigns through charity foundations or are carrying out projects of their own. The employees of global firms such as Hochtief and Skanska are all familiar with social responsibility because these companies have their own statements of values and conduct. Smaller companies, even though they do not have a written code of conduct, are also trying to help as much as possible. The Łódź-based development company Tom-Bud supported Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (the Great Christmas Orchestra Charity) in 2009 by buying one of the charity’s heart-shaped stickers for PLN 1 mln. “The credit crunch does not absolve us of social responsibility,” the president of the company, Michał Kołodziejczyk told us at the time. Two other development companies had also bought heart stickers earlier. So is this an exception or is it now the rule?

“Socially responsible activities are an element of business reality for an ever-growing number of companies operating on the Polish market. There are three reasons why a business may decide to act in this way. First of all, it treats the resources it uses not as something it has inherited from its ancestors but rather as something it borrows from future generations – so they should be returned in the best condition possible. We are talking about the inner need for responsibility here. Secondly, consumers are increasingly pushing companies into being as responsible and transparent as possible in their operations, through their purchasing decisions or through organising boycotts. And thirdly, because of the image benefits that a declaration of responsibility brings with it,” explains Karolina Błońska, chief editor of the quarterly magazine ‘CR Navigator’ and the strategic planner of Goodbrand & Company, a consulting company in the field of responsible business practice.

“Companies might exist which are only motivated by the third reason, i.e. the image benefits. There is growing awareness of the so-called ‘greenwashing’ phenomenon, that is, when companies portray themselves as eco-friendly, when in fact they are guilty of polluting the environment. However, the truth will always out. In most cases such companies are quickly identified by sharp consumers,” emphasises Karolina Błońska.

Strong hands of construction workers

Magdalena Juwko, head of the Amber Foundation, has been working for charitable organisations for ten years. “Right now we are observing a very significant change. Only ten years ago the community activities of companies only served – at least in certain cases – the image of the company. It was simply about self-promotion. Nowadays, more and more of the companies we cooperate with do not even want to disclose their identities. In Poland, where it is not so easy to be a benefactor, companies make contributions first of all out of a heartfelt need to do so, but also because they see that being socially responsible pays back in terms of the benefits to society. However, there is little in the way of tax relief or incentives,” explains Magdalena Juwko. She appreciates the involvement of all the companies from the sector. After she was made responsible for raising funds for the Habitat for Humanity organisation, which builds houses for the most impoverished people, she made early contact with AIG/Lincoln. The developer became the first “sunny sponsor” (the biggest contributor of funds) of the charity, and in this role not only made regular donations but also transferred some of its revenue from residential operations into the bank account of Habitat for Humanity. The staff of the company also work as volunteers on the construction sites. Companies such as Ytong, Solbet, Leroy Merlin, ICI Dulux, Lafarge and Cemex also support the organisation. 
  “The culture of giving is still in its infancy in Poland, but we are on the right track. Social awareness is now growing as a result. Donations to charity have become smaller post-credit crunch, but there are also companies that planned their budgets much earlier and got through the crisis relatively unscathed, allowing them to continue to help others,” says Magdalena Juwko.

The foundation she manages is currently trying to raise funds for the renovation of a children’s diabetic ward on ul. Działdowska in Warsaw. A thorough renovation of the bathroom has already been completed. Decrepit baths, smashed or missing tiles, grout riddled with fungus, draughty windows – this is what the representatives of construction company Porr were faced with before they started work. The firm has donated PLN 90,000 towards the scheme, which will go towards the estimated PLN 500,000 of renovations needed for the ward. Another construction company, Eiffage Budownictwo Mitex, has already announced that it will donate PLN 160,000 towards the project.

Kindness has many faces

Generous donations are not the only way that companies in the sector can help those in need. Education is just as important. “Our focus is not only on sponsorship, but also on providing active help,” claims Skanska’s head of communication Marcin Gesing. “The community activities of our company include first of all the education and promotion of behaviour in line with the values of our company. We have been running the ‘Safe on the Way to School’ programme for three years, thanks to which children are educated on how to keep themselves safe on the way to school and about first aid. We have established this social campaign ourselves and are implementing it on our own. Our employees, who build roads, bridges, halls, office buildings, etc. on an everyday basis, are providing safe behaviour foundations for children from the local communities in which we are present while carrying out our projects. We believe that the behaviour and attitude of individual people contributes to the image of the company. What we do not tell them is: ‘You have to be good starting from tomorrow and do something for the community’,” adds Marcin Gesing. Last year 66 schools took part in the programme and 6,000 pupils received training.

On the other hand, corporate volunteering, which provides employees with a few days off work, is still not very popular in Poland. On such days employees, instead of sitting in their offices, work on campaigns supported by their company. “Construction, renovation, building materials, corporate volunteering, payrolling... all these possibilities exist. Companies are wrong if they think that a big budget is the most important thing. It sometimes happens that we start with a budget of PLN 5,000 and end up with a campaign to raise PLN 50,000. This first PLN 5,000 sets in motion an avalanche of activities. When they find out about the campaign, local contractors decide to join in and everyone helps as much as they can,” adds Magdalena Juwko.

Team work is the most important factor for Philip Bay of Colliers International. “In consulting companies there is the institution of the agent who closes spectacular transactions all by himself. For me cooperation is more important. Even if you mostly care only about your relationships with friends and family, at some point you will still have to leave this circle and perhaps then you start caring about the things outside it. Maybe they lie across the ocean – or on the other side of the street, where there could be a practice area for a football team for deprived children, a zoo or a burnt down house,” argues Philip Bay. The success of the Balkan campaign in Sri Lanka became the driving force for establishing the Colliers USA Foundation, which donates funds to support regions which have been affected by natural disasters. One recent beneficiary of the foundation was Haiti. ν