One of the forms of employee volunteering is the “We are close” competition, targeted at employees working for the benefit of local communities in their area, recognizing their needs. A distinguishing feature of this form of employee involvement in social activity is the variety of volunteer areas and ideas for helping. Direct beneficiaries of the competition are members of recipient organizations, wards of care and educational institutions, participants in workshops and thematic classes, patients in medical institutions, members of sports clubs, music centers, animals in shelters. In 2023, 120 local aid actions were carried out in 100 localities. Nearly 18,000 people were the beneficiaries of the volunteering, including: children and young people, people with disabilities, refugees from Ukraine, sports people, recipients of actions in the area of health and life protection, and animals under the care of shelters and havens.
Commitment
Employee Volunteer Work Program
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3-3
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2-23
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413-1
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Own indicator
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Other non-financial indicators
The idea of helping those in need, involvement in numerous charitable, educational, sports or health-oriented campaigns has become a permanent part of Bank Pekao’s organizational culture. A comprehensive employee volunteer program is implemented in accordance with the Bank’s Strategy 2021-2024, where volunteer activities are in line with the 4th pillar of the Bank’s Business Strategy: “Responsibility”, including primarily the area of “Society”, and in accordance with the ESG Strategy, based on the goals indicated in the 2nd pillar of the ESG Strategy “Commitment”.
Participation of Bank Pekao employees in volunteering is governed by the Rules for Participation of Bank Pekao S.A. Employees in the Employee Volunteer Program. An employee of any unit (facility) of the Bank throughout the country, regardless of location and size, can participate in employee volunteer program. He/she has 16 hours available per calendar year. The Office of Volunteer Services and Corporate Culture is responsible for managing volunteer activities at the central level. In each action, a volunteer action leader is appointed – responsible for the course and implementation of a particular action.
Each volunteer action is documented – volunteer action leaders are required to provide the Bank with a factual report including, among other things, photos, video footage of the course and information on the number of members of the volunteer action team, the number of beneficiaries of the action, the number of hours spent by the team on the volunteer project. The Bank’s intranet features a “Volunteering” portal with information on relief actions and a calendar of actions. Volunteer leaders attend meetings to prepare for this role. They share their experience in an internal publication called “Volunteer Aces”, in the “Promote and Help with the Heart” challenge, and in brochures summarizing volunteering for the year. Volunteer actions were promoted consecutively at all Bank locations in 2023 and were popular with employees.
The Bank is eager to engage in partnerships in volunteer actions. The opportunity to learn about the knowledge and experience of experts from foundations, associations or NGOs is an additional motivation for volunteer workers, while at the same time guaranteeing the comprehensiveness, timeliness and relevance of the program to be implemented. In 2023, the Bank’s volunteer partners were: UNEP/GRID-Warsaw Center – Department of the National Foundation for Environmental Protection, the Apiterra Foundation, the Warsaw Institute of Banking Foundation, Healthy Movement Foundation, Warsaw Uprising Museum, the Polish Red Cross, the Anthill Association, the SOS Children’s Villages Association, and the Polish Animal Welfare Society.
To express gratitude for the care and attention that volunteers give to those in need, an event was held to mark the International Volunteer Day. The community of volunteer leaders from all over Poland integrated and celebrated under the motto “Without elegance of heart, there is no real elegance”, taking part in workshops related to professional business image: workshops with a business stylist, an image photo shoot preceded by workshops with a make-up artist, and creative textile art workshops on painting sweatshirts with the image of a Bank bison. The volunteers present were thanked by representatives of the Management Board of the Bank and the Bank’s Foundation. At the end, all participants had the opportunity to listen to a special guest during a speech, titled “The Power of Motivation” and a mini violin recital.
In addition to the “We are close” grant competition, Bank Pekao has successfully engaged in numerous actions based on the idea of employee volunteering. An example is the long-running action of honorary blood donation with employees. Initiatives were held locally at the Bank’s facilities, with adequate preparation of the venue to accommodate blood donors from outside the workforce as well.
Volunteers from the Bank conducted classes for schoolchildren in the BAKCYL financial education program under the auspices of the Warsaw Banking Institute at the Polish Bank Association. The program targets children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16.
Experts from the Bank also prepared and conducted thematic classes on-line for schools cooperating with WIB, titled:
- AI in a nutshell. Artificial Intelligence in 2023 – with the participation of Bank Pekao S.A. President Leszek Skiba in which about 5,500 students and teachers from more than 200 classrooms and 110 primary and secondary schools took part.
- Labor market and competencies of the future – in which a record-breaking 8,500 students and teachers from more than 300 classrooms and 200 elementary and secondary schools took part.
As the main patron of the “EduActive” educational program, implemented by the Warsaw Institute of Banking Foundation, the Bank became involved in a project aimed at expanding the financial knowledge of young people. The goal of the initiative was to equip children and teachers with inspiring materials – based on the ideas in Janusz Korczak’s book “Bankruptcy of Little Jack”. Its author introduced children to basic commercial and economic concepts and showed them what skills and qualities are needed in entrepreneurial activity.
There is also an entire section on the Bank’s website with interestingly designed and age-appropriate materials to introduce children to the world of finance. There are downloadable videos, coloring pages, games and activities, as well as materials for parents on how to encourage their child to save money, teach entrepreneurship and resourcefulness*.
The Bank’s volunteers were also involved in a unique educational project, which was a project under the banner “Small Town” of the “Now YOU” Foundation. More than 108 children from the municipality of Białe Błota learned 18 professions, learned what it is to earn first money and what the bank’s role is in managing personal finances. An important part of the initiative was the provision of financial education and a “small bank” by volunteers from under the Bison sign, as well as assistance in settling the earnings and taxes of young residents. The event was organized under the patronage of, among others, the Ministry of Finance.
The Bank continued its environmental education program for employees titled EKOlogia na bank!, launching the second edition, during which experts from the UNEP/GRID-Warsaw Center – Department of the National Environmental Foundation introduced the Bank’s employees to issues related to the topic: “Biodiversity in our environment. Trees. Birds. Insects”. In addition, since 2021, the Bank has been participating in the UNEP/GRID Partnership for Achieving the Environmental Sustainable Development Goals “Together for the Environment” initiative, which aims to build the best possible conditions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
Together with the Apiterra Foundation, an urban apiary was opened on the terrace of the ninth floor in the new headquarters of the Bank – Pekao Tower, consisting of 5 beehives – 5 bee families, or about 250 thousand of these beneficial insects. The project is a continuation of the “Bank miodem płynący” [A bank of Honey] initiative. The event was accompanied by an educational workshop titled the ABCs of Urban Beekeeping, during which participants could explore the life of these beneficial insects, as well as receive advice on how to run an apiary in the city center. In addition, there was an opportunity to learn about the materials and accessories used to run an apiary.
Bank volunteers also participated in environmental initiatives in cooperation with the Anthill Association: in New Grove, they made outdoor flower, herb and fruit pots, which were then donated to the SOS Children’s Village in Kraśnik; as part of the Beekeeping Culture Festival in Lublin, they prepared, among other things, two educational demonstration beehives, which, as a donation in kind, were given to the Beekeeping Technical School in Pszczela Wola. Meanwhile, volunteers from the Human Resources Division prepared a campaign to renovate the fence at the bison enclosure in the Białowieża National Park.
The Bank’s employees also took part in eco-volunteer efforts to clean up forests in several forest districts across Poland. The problem of trash in forests is still very common. The trash left behind not only disfigures the forest landscape, but also poses a threat to the environment. Every year, forest districts take measures to preserve the sustainability of the forest and increase its natural resilience to damage-causing factors, so the Bank’s volunteers were eager to join forestry initiatives.
Children’s aid campaigns are one of the most popular forms of volunteering chosen by employees. Renovations in care facilities, organization of cultural events or promotion of sports among young people are examples of local volunteer initiatives. In 2023, two campaigns were organized to prepare gifts for children under the care of the SOS Children’s Villages Association. In this way, volunteers joined in Children’s Day and Operation Santa Claus.
Volunteers also participated in actions for children under the care of the SOS Children’s Villages Association in Poland. They undertook the organization of a sports event, i.e. Krasnik’s 27th “Run for a Smile”, with the Bank as a strategic partner. They also participated in the educational project “Small town” organized by the Now You Foundation for children from the municipality of Białe Błota. Volunteers also undertook the organization of educational events following renovations at care facilities.
In response to the emergency situation of Ukraine and its citizens seeking safe haven in our country, the Bank enabled its employees to participate in nationwide and local volunteer work for Ukrainian refugees. As part of a campaign to help children in Ukraine, organized by the Uniters Foundation, titled “Christmas in the Dark”, thanks to the commitment of bank volunteers and the Pekao Foundation, Ukrainian children received 9,500 flashlights and more than 10,000 chocolates.
Bank volunteers were eager to get involved in actions to uphold and promote national traditions. Together with the Warsaw Uprising Museum, employees took part in the “Freedom Unites” campaign, handing out pins with the symbol of Fighting Poland to Warsaw residents. At the “W” hour, they performed a guard of honor at memorials in 7 locations in Warsaw at memorials located near the Bank’s facilities. It was a unique opportunity to deepen knowledge of Polish history and spread the memory of the Warsaw Uprising.
Volunteers also engaged in educational projects related to the history of art, including, among others, based on the heritage of the Old Powązki Cemetery, and volunteering at the cemetery was a living history lesson and an affirmation of the Bank’s social responsibility and concern for cultural heritage. In the immediate vicinity of the Bank’s headquarters, volunteers donated their time and strength to clean up around tombstones, historic artworks in a large area in the old part of the Cemetery. The Bank volunteers were then invited by the Old Powązki Foundation to tour the Cemetery with a guide from the Warsaw Circle of PTTK City Guides.
Volunteers also helped the four-legged friends of man under the care of shelters and havens. They participated in cleaning and caring for animals at facilities of the Company for the Care of Animals in Poland in Kiczarowo and Celestynów.
In 2023, a Charity Ball was held for the Bank’s employees to raise money, as well as food and medicine for the Zwierzolandia Foundation. In addition, as part of the campaign, six dogs under the care of the Zwierzolandia Foundation were given new homes.
Bank Volunteers are a community that, in an effort to share experience and motivate each other’s volunteer efforts, took part in a holiday contest – a challenge on Idea Crowd # “Help and promote with the heart”. Those who completed the online training about volunteering joined the challenge and went on holiday trips with a Heart of Volunteerism T-shirt as part of the promotion of volunteering. The result of the contest were 44 photos with “Heart of Volunteerism” and posts about helping, many comments and nearly 1,500 reactions, as well as a prize-giving ceremony during an inspiring meeting with the winners.