Can corporate social responsibility be guidance to business?

Several years ago, Benefit Systems created an innovative business model based on the MultiSport sports card, thanks to which employers in Poland, and for a few years now also in Europe, can support a healthy and active lifestyle of employees and their families. The company’s flagship product responds to one of the global social problems, i.e. lack of activity, which WHO has considered the fourth leading cause of death globally. Currently, the MultiSport Programme is used by over one million people in Poland, of which 78% admit that having the card motivates them to engage in physical activity more often (MultiSport Index 2018 Study). The MultiSport Programme is a good example of creating products and services that address important social needs at the level of ideas.

Mutual benefits strategy

At Benefit Systems we value teamwork, caring for the environment together, providing suitable conditions for all stakeholders to implement the provisions of the Code of Ethics and supporting our clients in creating healthy and friendly jobs. We build work environment governed by clear rules that is open to diversity and development. We listen to the needs of our employees who want to have an active part in the implementation of social activities. In 2015, inspired by employees’ bottom-up efforts, we launched our volunteer and philanthropic programme, Dobry MultiUczynek. Since 2018 the programme funds have also been used by MultiSport card users who support local communities.

Focus on health

The company keenly participates in actions promoting physical activity and those educating the public on healthy living. Therefore, for many years now it has been analysing physical activity of Poles, and for several years publishing the MultiSport Index Study, which provides knowledge about physical and sport activity of Poland’s residents. Last year’s MultiSport Index 2019 report shows that 36% of Poles do not engage in any activity even once a month, including walking or cycling. Among inactive Poles as many as 53% are those over 55 years of age. Realising how important physical activity is for health, the company has created programmes that encourage the least active social groups, i.e. children and seniors, to engage in physical activity. Two years ago, the first sports card for people over 60 years old – MultiSport Senior – was launched in Poland. Together with the V4Sport Foundation, Benefit Systems has created an educational programme for children, Active MultiSport Schools, which aims at shaping proper activity habits for the proper development and health of the youngest generation. Over 9,000 children, parents, teachers and local authorities from the Lower Silesian Voivodeship participated in the first edition of the programme. As part of this first edition of the Active MultiSport Schools programme, as many as 86% of schools have improved the level of their students’ physical fitness by introducing such simple solutions as active lessons or breaks. These solutions resulted in students recovering 43% of physical fitness, which their peers lost between 1999 and 2009. The second edition of the programme is currently taking place in the Masovian Voivodeship.

B Corporation

Activities and values ​​in the field of sustainable development made Benefit Systems become the first public company in Central and Eastern Europe to receive the B Corp certificate in 2018. As the only company founded in Poland, it joined the international B Corporation movement which brings together enterprises and organisations that have social goals and CSR principles permanently inscribed into their business model, implementing them in five areas: corporate governance, environmental protection, support of local communities, customer relations and employment policy. B Corp is primarily a platform for dialogue and exchanging experiences between organisations. Certified companies also play the role of local ambassadors of social responsibility. So far there are over 3,200 companies operating in 150 industries around the world that have been awarded with the B Corp title.

Author:

Rafał Mikołajczyk, Benefit Systems Deputy Communications and CSR Director

Last Updated on April 12, 2021 by Karolina Ampulska