People
Folksam
Submitted by Garry Cronan on October 15, 2007 - 2:14pm. Folksam | Insurance | Sweden | People | Principles | Environment | Principles/CSRFolksam is a Swedish mutual insurance company that insures one in two people in Sweden.
Global 300 ranking:
65Number of members:
4,000,000Number of employees:
3,563Gender Diversity:
49% of employees are femaleTurnover:
USD $: 1,127,079,611Type of Co-operative:
MutualDate founded:
1908Operating Countries:
Sweden
Website:
People
Diversity and Equal Opportunities: Folksam’s managers attend a series of seminars on measures against discrimination at work on the grounds of ethnicity, religion or other factors. The ‘Wheel of Diversity’ project creates a climate for spreading knowledge and experience of ways to leverage diversity as a growth engine for companies in the Stockholm region. 87% of employees agreed with the statement, “In my team/department men and women are treated with equality.”
Training and Development: Mentoring programme initiated with Scribona (the Nordic region’s leading distributor of IT and communication products). This programme provides help and support with employees’ career planning with a view to increasing internal mobility.
Communications: Publication ‘Folksam Vision’ describes the organisation's role as a Mutual, its aims and visions and how to achieve them.
Additional Employee Health Services: Managerial staff are encouraged to take parental leave, during which employees are paid 90% of their normal salary. In 2005 the whole of Folksam was again awarded a health diploma by the Swedish Federation for Company Sport. Some workers have been trained as health ambassadors to support and motivate their colleagues to take part in wellness programmes.
Absenteeism Reduction Methods: Procedures and signalling systems for early identification of workers at risk of chronic illness.
Other statistics:
- Top Twenty in Sweden’s Best Workplaces
- Employee Turnover: 2.6%
- Gender Diversity: 49%
- Percent Female in Management: 42%.
Principles
Values: Security, commitment, compassion and professionalism.
Vision: “We work for a long-term sustainable society in which the individual feels secure.”
Socially Responsible Investing: Folksam’s decisions on the companies it invests in are based on ethical investment criteria. They employ positive, supportive investment criteria relating to human rights and the environment and Folksam will not invest in companies providing tobacco products.
Environment
Green electricity: 3 years ago, Folksam began using ‘green’ electricity (BRA MILJÖVAL-EL) in its properties, at a stroke reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from 220 tonnes to 15 tonnes a year.
Standards: Part of Folksam’s operations (in motor vehicle and building claims, and traffic and safety research) are environmentally certified to ISO 14002.
Research: The Folksam Climate Index, now in its 9th year, measures the CO2 emissions of 270 enterprises and their actions to reduce emissions.
Reuse: Folksam saved SEK 50m by reusing original parts and repairing plastic parts and car windows. The total saved by these practices has been SEK 250m over the last 5 years.
Mondragon Corporation
Submitted by Garry Cronan on October 14, 2007 - 10:10am. Mondragon Corporation | Materials | Spain | People | Community | Democracy | Principles/CSRMCC is a business group made of 264 companies and entities active in three sectors: Financial, Industrial and Distribution. It is Spain’s 7th largest industrial company.
Global 300 ranking:
10Number of members:
62,764Member Dividend:
USD $204,832,414Number of employees:
78,455Gender Diversity:
41% of employees are femaleTurnover:
USD $: 2,147,483,647Type of Co-operative:
Employee Co-operativeDate founded:
1956Operating Countries:
Spain, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, India, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.
Website:
People
Stakes in capital: In 2005 worker members held 90.5% of share capital.
Equal opportunities: In the Distribution Area, 80% of the workforce is made up of women, with women occupying 76% of management positions, the highest figure in Spain.
Health and Safety: Ongoing deployment of Systems for the Prevention of Industrial Hazards with many subsidiaries already certified.
Community
Mondragon Unibertsitatea aims to develop knowledge, skills and values. Education is trilingual enabling students to communicate in Basque, Spanish and English. The university offers 7 degree course to some 3,500 students.
Politeknika Ikastegia Txorierri: 435 students were enrolled in formal education during the 2004/5 year. 40 courses in occupational and lifelong training.
The Lea Artibai Ikastetxea catered for around 2,000 students. In addition to formal education (Secondary Education and Occupational Training Courses) the school offered classes in Polymer Engineering, in co-operation with the London Metropolitan University.
MIK: A Business and Organisational Management Research Centre, has been endorsed by the Ministries of Industry and Education as a CIT (Technology Research Centre) and as an OTRI (Office for the Transfer of Research Results), being the first and only one of its kind in Spain.
The Garaia Innovation Park is involved in the promotion of innovation and technology linking the work of Technology Centres, businesses and higher education. Managed by MCC, its aim is to create a sphere of excellence, fostering the introduction of new technologies.
Arizmendi: Reinforced its project as a vital training centre. A recent highlight was the opening of the crèche, or ‘Umezaintza’, for children up to the age of six.
Distributing earnings: Between 5 and 10% of the surplus generated by MCC is allocated to a Cooperative Education and Development Fund (FEPC). Over the 2002-2005 investment in community schemes has amounted to €112.7m.
Democracy
In 2006 80% of MCC employees were members and have the final say on electing governing bodies. These bodies are both accountable to members in terms of management decisions and strategy.
The Co-operative Congress is the supreme body of the MCC, in terms of sovereignty and representation. It is comprised of 650 delegates representing all of MCC’s co-operatives and its decision are binding. The European Federation of Employee Share Ownership (EFES) has recognised the MCC as a best practice example of a participatory/democratic organisation, putting MCC in 1st place in the European ranking of organisations in which the workers have more than 50% ownership.
Migros
Submitted by Garry Cronan on October 14, 2007 - 9:16am. Migros | Retailing | Switzerland | People | Products | Community | Principles/CSRNo.1 retailer in Switzerland with a market share of 18.5%, and the largest employer with 580 stores – supermarkets, convenience and department stores. Migros also has banking and insurance operations, printing and publishing concerns and restaurants.
Global 300 ranking:
7Number of members:
1,982,033Number of employees:
81,049Gender Diversity:
59% of employees are femaleTurnover:
USD $: 2,147,483,647Type of Co-operative:
Consortium and FederationDate founded:
1925Operating Countries:
Switzerland, France, Germany
Website:
People
% Minority Ethnic Groups: Migros employs people from about 100 different countries.
Pension Plans: Women and men at Migros retire at age 63, and that Migros pays an old-age reserve pension.
Senior Citizens: Zurich’s ‘Poschti Bus’ runs four times a week, taking senior citizens to do their shopping at Migros. The old folk are accompanied by retired store managers.
Customers: Migros reinvests its entire profit in its own business, and gives it back to its customers through cheaper products.
Family
- Children: With its day nursery at the Zurich operations centre, Migros is also giving low-income parents the possibility of giving their children the best possible care.
- Parents: Female workers at Migros have been entitled to 14 weeks maternity leave for many years now, and in 2003 the entitlement actually rose to 16 weeks. Since autumn 2004, fathers can take a maximum of four weeks’ paternity leave in their child’s first year.
Attendance: At the heart of the attendance management system are the employees. It is important to have discussions with them and to co-operate with internal and external authorities (for example, internal job placement, company doctor, career counselling, disability insurance).
Rio Negro: In the Rio Negro coffee plantation in Costa Rica, Migros has been funding facilities that benefit the workers – a small restaurant and a medical station where a doctor and a dentist work. There are also two community centres that are used as a crèche during the day.
Products
Ethical Brands/Services: Migros stocks more than 1,000 organic products across its product range. Under the umbrella brand ‘Engagement’, Migros sells products that are
produced under special social and ecological conditions.
Suppliers: Migros suppliers have to sign up to its Code of Conduct. This code, whose terms include a ban on abusive child labour by suppliers, is backed up by the Charter of Human Rights, the United Nations’ special rights of children and women, and the International Labour Organization’s declaration on multinational enterprises and social policies.
Community
The Migros Cultural Percentage provides over CHF 100 million every year to support cultural and social projects, promote talent and offers reduced price tickets for events.
- Supporting Education: Every year half a million people attend the more than 600 different courses and training events at the Migros Club Schools.
- Vocational Training: Migros currently has 2,717 young women and men learning one of 35 different trades.
- Promoting the Family: Low-income families receive family allowances at six Migros Cooperatives and enterprises.
- Artists: Artistic sponsorship has a long tradition at the Migros Culture Percentage, and study prizes are awarded in music, dancing, acting and singing.
- Music: The national pop music festival m4music, which takes place every spring in Zurich, has become established as one of the most important events on the Swiss pop music calendar.
- Museum: The Migros Museum of Contemporary Art is a modern museum, whose focus and meaning lies in identifying new trends.
CSR Streams
Submitted by Garry Cronan on October 10, 2007 - 4:50pm. People | Products | Principles | Environment | Community | Democracy | Principles/CSR | DevelopmentThe seven CSR streams define corporate/co-operative social responsibility for the Global 300 initiative. They are linked to the seven colours of the ICA brand identity and have been designed to identify the main areas that highlight the co-operative difference around democracy. CSR is a broad subject with no clear definition and the streams focus on the areas that matter.
People
The People/fundamental stakeholder groups are customers and employees, and included are aspects such as: health and safety, training and development, diversity, compensation, volunteering, satisfaction, absenteeism, feedback, and access to services.
Products
Products represent the organisation’s products/services, marketing/labelling, the supply chain and interaction with suppliers, around codes of conduct and sustainability.
Principles
Principles represent the underpinning values and principles, as well as the targets, monitoring and day-to-day implementation of CSR throughout the organisation and externally. It attempts to identify organisations that have truly integrated CSR into their strategy and working culture.
Environment
Environment represents all environmental or green initiatives and data such as renewable energy, waste, transport, energy usage, climate change, transport, paper, animal welfare and biodiversity. Processes, accreditations and targets are also included along with research and green marketing.
Community
Community represents local/national initiatives ranging from youth, healthcare, education, employment, working with Governments/NGOs to culture and sponsorship.
Democracy
Democracy is fundamental to highlighting the co-operative difference and represents members and governance. Criterion includes democratic participation, education, training, diversity, Board representation, dividends and satisfaction.
Development
Development focuses more upon international initiatives, support and collaboration with other co-operatives, from philanthropy, sharing expertise, work with NGOs/Governments, disaster relief and favourable access to products.
