JANUSZ GAWINSKI
GENERAL DIRECTOR JAWOR-PARKIET
Currently people that manage companies, more frequently turn their focus on their organization having a broader social context and undertaking initiatives relating to social responsibility of their business. What actions in this respect is your company taking, how are they realized and what does responsible leadership mean to you?
We have been manufacturing wooden floors for the past 30 years. Our Jawor-Parkiet factory has always been In Nowe Miasto Lubawskie in Warmia-Masuria. That is also where most of our employees are from. This is the context we work in and the area which we want to support with our local activities. This is why we have been a strategic partner with the ski resort, and from this year also the biggest bike park in our region – Kurza Mountain. We support its growth, because we believe it increases the local population’s access to physical activity and their knowledge in the field of a healthier lifestyle. We get involved in the local initiative that supports the local communities growth – education, culture and sport. We also get involved in the most important charity events.
It’s the employees that constitute the values of a company. That is why supporting their everyday surroundings is a manifestation of responsible leadership. Apart from creating jobs, it is caring about social growth that has the most influence on their feeling of safety and comfort.
More and more investors, financial institutions choose to partner with organizations that are up to the ESG standard. Do you think this is the correct way of going about it? In what way does the company you manage go outside of the “business as usual” model? What does it do for the climate, local communities, diversity and what would you like to implement in the near future?
Considering the profile of our production, for years we have been focusing on ecology. First of all, we make sure to use natural resources effectively to the highest degree. We propose taking this direction by introducing the Zero Waste collective into the market, which exposes the natural qualities of wood – large gnarls, varying color patterns or slight cracks. Selling floors of varying classes allows us to optimize production with regard to using natural resources. In the past 2 years we have realized investment into the production lines that are used to process wooden scraps into high quality biofuel. Thanks to this production waste is shredded into pure sawdust and we produce pellets and briquettes for fireplaces. This fuel is used in our furnaces that are used to heat up drying chambers, but it is also available for retail selling.
We constantly modernize processes of production from the ecological perspective. This past year we have replaced our entire forklift fleet with electric ones. For distances greater than 5 hectares, workers move around the facility on electric scooters. Our upcoming plans involve investing in photovoltaics, which will allow us to reduce our carbon footprint created by our company. We plan to build a state of the art boiler house, which will allow us to emit even less fumes in our production process.
Each company creates their own corporate policy, which contains values seen by clients from the outside. Are clients more willing to select a specific company, since it does something good, something which the client identifies with, or does the decision depend mainly on the price? What is your opinion, what trends have you noticed, are you changing anything in that respect?
In the field of premium brands, not only functionality is tied in with the product, but also a kind of promise and additional advantages. It is because of these added bonuses clients reach out for our product.
For many years now, our paramount value has been the quality of our products. Quality comes from responsible management of natural resources – wood. Our FSC certificate is proof of that, which all of our products have. This is a guarantee that in our production process we approach the raw material with extra care. To achieve this high level of quality in our products we also carefully select the right semi products – in our case it is a coating that protects wood or glue. All of these components come exclusively from verified and certified suppliers, they are natural, usually fully ecological, hypoallergenic, in other words, safe for children and animals.
In this field over the years we have seen major change. The deciding factor used to be the price. Today our clients are substantially more aware and through their own initiative searches for manufacturers that are cohesive with their principles.
The growth of values and ethical codes in many organizations can be attest that the awareness of these principles is on the rise. Many managers have declared that their company revolves around ethics. Is honoring the fair play model while managing a guarantee of stable growth?
High ethics and work culture should be a universally accepted standard. Managing a business in the times of access to the internet and various social media, does not really leave much of a choice. If our set of values presented to the outside world are not synonymous with the atmosphere in the company, then the brand takes a high risk of suffering a public relations crisis and loss of credibility from clients and business partners.
Jawor-Parkiet has been building relations with its surrounding for years – with architects, Glaziers, retail stores and clients. Just like we give our clients the guarantee of high level products, we make a promise to our business partners to maintain these relations and safety while working together.
The world needs smart and quality leaders that want to positively affect their environment. Was there ever a time where you started looking for a deeper sense of your work, ability to do something good for your community or country? What were you able to realize?
Jawor-Parkiet is a family company with tradition. Along with growth of the company and the market in Poland and abroad, along with my father, who founded the company and is still fully engaged in its operations, to continue setting new goals. Over 30 years on the market you can’t just solely focus on production growth and scale of operations. This is why we try to revolutionize the market, searching for innovations to give our clients more and more friendly solutions. With this desire to alter the market and production technologies gave birth to fully innovative coating Fusion Hybrid in 2021, which solves the problem for many of our clients, who until now had to choose floors protected only by two coatings – traditional lacquer or oil-wax. This revolution is not accessible in any other Polish or European company in our industry. This coating, which is fully ecological and meets the highest quality standards, ensures better resistance to scratching compared to standard oil-wax coating by 14 times.
We observe the market and try to be flexible. This is why ecology is so important to us. We are well aware that earth’s natural resources are finite. With the desire to use even better quality wood, we introduced the collective Zero Waste to the market, which reminds: true beauty is hidden in nature and opposes the Elegance class, nearly gnarless floors that have been popular for many years. Each board in this collection has each tree’s history etched into it.
Janusz Gawinski
He attained Industry oriented education studying Managing and Production Engineering at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. His adventure with the company started 15 years ago as a sales specialist, then a technical and sales representative, where he was responsible for growth of the sales network on the Polish market. Since 2012 has held the position of production supervisor, and in 2018 he became general director. His current responsibilities include development and realization of sales strategies in Poland and abroad, working with key clients and technological growth. He oversees all production, marketing and sales.
On the job he focuses on consequent growth of the Jawor-Parkiet brand on the national and export markets. In effect of his actions, the sales network has expanded to 250 partner showrooms across Poland. He is also responsible for building the Jawor-Parkiet franchise network, which currently has 13 showrooms and 4 sales studios. Jawor-Parkiet products are currently sold in 50 countries around the world.
Last Updated on December 12, 2022 by Valeriia Honcharuk