Annual Programme Report 2016

Activities Overview of Business Leaders Forum

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Contents Dear Friends, ............................................................................................................. 4

1 BLF Quarterly Meetings, New Members and Internal Communication ......... 5

2 Thematic Part: Environment ............................................................................ 6

2.1 Green Business Breakfast, September 27 – 28, 2016................................... 6

2.2 BLF Recommendations: How workplace influence employees and their performance ............................................................................................................ 7

2.3 BLF Recommendations: Circular Economy ................................................... 8

2.4 European Mobility Week, September 16 – 22, 2016 ..................................... 8

3 Thematic Part: Employees .............................................................................. 10

3.1 Corporate Responsibility in Practice Course, February - December 2016 .. 10

3.2 HR Days 2016, April 28, 2016 ..................................................................... 11

3.3 Action Oriented Forum, December 2, 2016 ................................................. 12

3.4 1st Slovakia Diversity Charter Forum, October 27, 2016.............................. 13

3.5 Night of Chances Conference, November 30, 2016 .................................... 14

3.6 Conference on Active Ageing, October 21, 2016 ........................................ 14

4 Thematic Part: Marketplace ............................................................................ 15

4.1 Slovak Compliance Days 2016, November 7 and 8, 2016 .......................... 15

4.2 Seminar on Responsible Communication, June 14 and 15, 2016 ............... 16

4.3 Recommendations: Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility ......... 17

4.4 Recommendations: Corporate Responsibility Report .................................. 18

4.5 Ideas RULEZZ 2016, May 5, 2016 .............................................................. 18

5 CEE CSR Summit 2016 ................................................................................... 19

5.1 Conference CEE CSR Summit, May 17, 2016 ............................................ 19

5.2 Ari Weinzweig´s Workshop: How to Deliver Great Customer Service; May 16, 2016 21

6 BLF events for the general public .................................................................. 22

6.1 CSR Week, May 18 – 19, 2016 ................................................................... 22

7 Other activities of Pontis Foundation and BLF about CSR ......................... 23

7.1 Fund for a Transparent Slovakia ................................................................. 23

7.1.1 The Anti-Corruption Forum, November 9, 2016 .................................... 24

7.2 Via Bona Slovakia, March 17, 2016 ............................................................. 25

7.3 Our City, June 10 – 11, 2016 ....................................................................... 26

7.4 The Innovators Happening, June 9, 2016 .................................................... 27

8 External Communication of BLF and CSR .................................................... 29

8.1 Media Breakfast, February 3, 2016 ............................................................. 29

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8.2 Presentations of BLF on Expert Events ....................................................... 31

8.3 Project Hi4CSR (Erasmus+) ........................................................................ 32

8.4 BLF Newsletter ............................................................................................ 33

8.5 Web pages: www.blf.sk and www.zodpovednepodnikanie.sk ..................... 33

8.6 Social Media: Facebook and LinkedIn ......................................................... 34

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Dear Friends, Year 2016 brought new partnerships and co-operations to the Business Leaders Forum association (BLF). The activities of our association and its member firms were presented at numerous thematic event, which allowed us to share the concept of responsible business and the best practices of responsible business leaders with entrepreneurs and the public. According to the results of the Edelman Trust Study 2016, business environment has proved to be the most trustworthy and capable to catch up with rapid changes. Furthermore, it showed that the public tends to put a greater trust into the hands of businesses than in the government or the NGO sector. This is why we see the role of BLF and its members essential for cultivating the business environment in Slovakia. We are also aware of the fact that it should be the role of the private sector to counter serious social problems, such as corruption, poor quality

education or employment of marginalised groups, and come up with the options. Hence, we have done a number of actions. We have become a member of the Rule of Law initiative, developed co-operation with the Fund for Transparent Slovakia, involved in the launch of the Diversity Charter in Slovakia, educated students of the University of Economics, and, in co-operation with the Pontis Foundation, we have successfully organised Action Oriented Forum on the topic of the Roma employment. Thanks to your enthusiasm, support and involvement, we are still able to organise thematic events and initiatives that contribute to the fulfilment of our mission – cultivate the society by means of creating and implementing standards for responsible business practice in Slovakia. Throughout the year, we followed a well-tested framework composed of seminars and recommendations in which we dealt with some new topics, including Circular Economy and Innovations in Development, Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility, Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility, and Green Buildings and Health of Employees. The year 2016 was marked by a series of meetings with journalists. In January, we organised informal media breakfast with representatives of the Slovak media. CEE CSR Summit 2016 and Via Bona Slovakia 2015 received very positive reactions. Both were organized in co-operation with the Pontis Foundation. The Gala of Via Bona Slovakia was broadcast on the Slovak Radio and Dvojka (RTVS) TV channel, plus a special supplement of the SME newspapers was dedicated to the prize-winners. We are very pleased that the year of 2016 brought BLF eight new members – Adient Slovakia, Colliers International, CRH (Slovensko), dm drogerie markt, Deloitte Audit, Kia Motors Slovakia, TNT express worldwide and Danone Nutricia. From now on, 38 member firms will work together to find the way to improve their corporate responsibility strategies. We are looking forward to new partnerships and further activities concerning topics that are crucial for us. We believe that together we can create a new impulse in development of business strategies and programmes on corporate responsibility, which may, in return, contribute to the development of a responsible and fair approach to doing business in Slovakia.

Michal Kišša

Executive Director of Business Leaders Forum

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1 BLF Quarterly Meetings, New Members and Internal Communication

Thematic discussions with the representatives of the BLF member companies and the 2016 expert events were focused on Responsible Communication, Green Buildings and the Health of Employees, Circular Economy (Cradle to Cradle) and CSR Reporting.

In 2016, we enriched our regular members´ meetings with discussion on the currently debated topics, such as the Roma minority´s employment in Slovakia. The meeting in March was hosted by Heineken Slovakia, and the BLF association approved two new members: Colliers International and Deloitte Audit. A BLF Advisory Board Meeting was organized in March, which resulted in a resolution to focus on diversity and join the Rule of Law Initiative. Another quarterly BLF meeting was held in June in the premises of WHIRLPOOL SLOVAKIA, where TNT Express Worldwide joined the association. Then, in September, the quarterly meeting was hosted by Allianz - Slovenská poisťovňa. Its main subject was to discuss possible joining the UN Global Compact Network and launching the Diversity Charter in Slovakia. The meeting included a presentation on the changes within the Engage group: in 2017, the activities of BLF and Engage will belong under one administration unit, which should lead to a higher efficiency in performing actions and organising meetings. A special section of the meeting was reserved to the presentation of Mr Richard Bendík, Purchasing Director at Kaufland Slovenská republika, who explained the retailer´s official position in the Rajo affair and clarified the principle of Resales Price Maintenance. Since September 2016, the BLF association has had four new members – Adient Slovakia, CRH (Slovensko), dm drogerie markt and Kia Motors Slovakia. BLF association has currently 38 members. The final BLF meeting on December 8 was held at the Dobre&Dobré café. The main points of the meeting were an evaluation of the year 2016 and a summary of planned activities for the following year. A newly accepted member was Danone Nutricia. Communication channels designed to reach our member companies include BLF newsletter, a special monthly newsletter with the latest news (since 2016), and e-mails with the outcomes from the latest events and meetings. All the important information can be found on our webpage www.blf.sk within the private section For Members.

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Our thanks for hosting the meetings go to:

2 Thematic Part: Environment

2.1 Green Business Breakfast, September 27 – 28, 2016

The Human Spaces Report on Biophilic Design in the Workplace is a research studying the workplace of 3,600 workers from 8 countries of the EMEA region. According to the results, 55 % of the workers claimed no green spaces in workplace, 42 % lack day light, 22 % have not enough peace to concentrate on their work, 20 % lack water view, 18 % would prefer more green spaces in workplace and 15 % demand brighter colours.

The study made by Aon Hewitt also found out that as much as 63 % of the respondents come home feeling bored and exhausted. Whether these issues and demands can be addressed with making buildings greener was the topic of the Green Business Breakfast seminar entitled How healthy workplace influence workers and their performance. Companies know what could be done in order to improve it. The clue lies in better communication and better co-operation between facility managers, human resources departments and financial managers. To engage in the debate, BLF as an association of responsible firms organized an event on the occasion of the Work Green Building Week, which brought together the experience of developers, facility managers and human resources officers. The thematic seminar was held on September 27 in Bratislava and on September 28 in Košice with the support of AON Hewitt, CRH (Slovensko), MultiSport and Union health insurance company. The main speaker was Chris Pottage, Sustainable and Healthy Buildings Officer of the Skanska´s British branch, who provided us with the details of his work about how good office workplace impacts the health of employees. According to him, good workplace could result in greater savings than if firms focus only on cutting energy

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costs. Personal costs including salaries and benefits often make up to 90 % of operational costs compared to only 1 % taken by energy costs and 9 % by rental. Even a minimum improvement in employees´ health and well-being can bring substantial financial benefits to employers (e.g. lower employee fluctuation, decrease in sick leaves, motivation and productivity boost). Healthy offices are those that ensure a good amount of fresh air, visual wellness, the right temperature and where workers are prevented from any exposure to odour, toxic material or noise. The findings of the seminars laid ground for practical recommendations about the influence of good quality workplace on employees and their health. Out thanks go to the BLF partner:

2.2 BLF Recommendations: How workplace influence employees and their performance

The quality of our work environment has a considerable impact on our physical and mental health, but also on our motivation and results. However, only few take real interest in how our offices do look like. The reality proves that open space offices are packed and little equipped, and that employees complain about problems with the quality of their work environment. Overseas experts and professionals from BLF argue that the performance of workers is affected mainly by the following factors:

1. Better quality air is estimated to increase productivity by 8 to 11 %. 2. If employees are exposed to extreme temperatures, their productivity can fall

by around 4 to 6 %. 3. Workplace close to windows, especially windows overlooking green areas, can

be a great performance booster. 4. Green elements in offices significantly affect employees´ physical health and

well-being. 5. Working with enthusiasm falls rapidly with rising noise in workplace. 6. Apart from noise elimination, effective disposition can also help to increase

creativity and interaction between workers. 7. Healthy people are those with physical activity. Therefore, firms should offer

their workers possibilities to do sports. 8. Concerning services, employees highly appreciate when their workplace is

close to kindergartens or schools.

The recommendations have been completed in co-operation with Chris Pottage, Sustainable and Healthy Buildings Officer at Skanska SK. We are grateful to the firms CRH (Slovensko), Hewlett-Packard Slovakia and T-Systems Slovakia for their helpful hints about green buildings and the health of employees. The recommendations for the area of workplace influencing employees and their performance are accessible at our webpage www.blf.sk.

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2.3 BLF Recommendations: Circular Economy The recommendations from external experts and professionals from the BLF member companies are a set of practical guidelines how to maximize the usage of resources within the production process, and maximize product value through re-circulation of materials in economy. The essential rules to follow include:

- Treat waste as raw material. - Use energy from renewable resources and optimize its use. - Design products so that harmless waste materials can be recycled in production.

- Design products as material banks. - Make products of benefit to people and the environment.

Let us repair, renew, share, recycle and reuse all existing products and materials. Let us try to use natural resources more efficiently and create job opportunities for innovations. The application of the principles of circular economy can ensure long-term growth to our companies. According to the European Commission´s information, better product eco-design, prevention of waste creation, or reuse of materials in production can save European companies up to $600 billion. Increasing efficiency of the use of resources by 30 % can help countries increase their GDP by 1 % by 2030 and create two million new jobs. The European Commission´s Europe 2020 Strategy also suggests increasing the municipal waste to 70 %, and plastic waste recycling to 80 % by 2030, which should lead to a 40 % reduction in the emission of greenhouse gasses. Countries that recycle have a better climate footprint. Diana den Held, Strategist and Lecturer C2C at the University of Rotterdam, offered a valuable contribution to the recommendations. A thank you for their inspirational tips and views goes to the representatives of Embraco Slovakia, Kaufland Slovenská republika, U.S. Steel Košice and Veolia Energia. The recommendations for the area of Circular Economy and Innovations in Development are accessible at www.blf.sk.

2.4 European Mobility Week, September 16 – 22, 2016

European Mobility Week (ETM), an initiative that lasts from September 16 to September 22 every year, actively points at the benefits of the 'green' means of transport. It is a great opportunity for companies to learn how to motivate their employees, and for citizens to opt for alternative transportation.

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©Ludovic Lubeigt/flickr.com

Among the BLF member companies, T-Systems Slovakia decided to support environment-friendly transport and motivate its employees to lead a healthier way of life in a newly made project Bike IT. The company has a set of 16 normal and 4 electrical bicycles, plus several scooters which the employees can use freely if they need to go to a meeting out of their office, go for lunch or go on a trip at the weekend. Slovenské elektrárne engaged in the ETM activities for the second round this year by supporting all the workers who took their bicycles to commute to work. It also offered healthy snacks, such as glasses of fresh fruit juice and cereal bars. VÚB banka took part in ETM and organized activities with motto Leave your darling at home. It launched a campaign on the intranet in order to raise awareness about intelligent and sustainable mobility. Apt branding around the car park urged the employees to leave their 'darlings' – cars – at home and go for more ecological means of transport. Stredoslovenská energetika declared the 20th September to be the Sustainable Mobility Day. Those who took their bicycles, buses, and scooter or roller-skates to work that morning had the right for a healthy smoothie.

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3 Thematic Part: Employees

3.1 Corporate Responsibility in Practice Course, February - December 2016

As a part of the Skills4Jobs effort, which is a major topic in the field of employees, the BLF association started to cooperate with the University of Economics in Bratislava. We prepared an attractive course called Corporate Responsibility in Practice. For the period of 26 weeks, students had the opportunity to get a comprehensive insight into CSR. Each week they could engage into discussions about current CSR topics with real experts from the private sector (e.g. circular economy, diversity in workplace, volunteering and business ethics).

Following success of the summer term lasting from February 2 to May 11, 2016, the course was re-opened in the winter term from September 28 to December 21, 2016. Around 100 students took the course, half of them were foreign students (Mexicans, Germans, Romanians, Dutch, Finnish, Russians, etc.).

BLF has been trying for several years already to promote the principles of responsible business practice on the academic field. It believes that if students learn about the benefits of corporate social responsibility at their young age, they will most probably pursue the acquired principles in their professional life and set up new responsible companies. This is why we invited the representatives of the BLF member firms to join the lectures and share their practical experience.

Practical hints about CSR were provided by these companies: Accenture, Adient Slovensko, CRH (Slovensko), Embraco Slovakia, Heineken Slovensko, Kaufland Slovenská republika, Kia Motros Slovakia, Philip Morris Slovakia, Skanska SK, Slovenské elektrárne, Volkswagen Slovakia, Východoslovenská energetika Holding, Whirlpool Slovakia. Apart from the BLF member companies, firms Slovenská sporiteľna and TaylorWessing e/n/w/c Attorneys joined the group of speakers as well. The students could, thus, compare different approaches to doing responsible business within various branches of industry (tobacco, energy, IT, automotive, construction industry and others).

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At the end of the course, the students were asked to fill in a satisfaction survey, in which 34 respondents evaluated the course by 9.83 points out of 10. The presentation delivered by Hana Šimková, Corporate Relations Manager at Heineken Slovensko, was agreed to be the best one of all.

We would like to thank the following companies for their co-operation:

3.2 HR Days 2016, April 28, 2016

How can CSR help to increase employees´ motivation and involvement? Why is it worth to support companies´ volunteering? What are the benefits of Age Management? These are only some of the questions that were raised during HR Days 2016, an event organized by Profesia on 28th April 2016 in Refinery Gallery in Bratislava.

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The topic of M. Kišša´s presentation was how to manage human resources successfully and responsibly. He spoke about possible problems that may arise from a lack of balance between life and work, benefits of applying Open Book Management, community citizenship, and transparent talent management. More than 200 HR managers, HR business partners, recruiters and other experts attended the event.

3.3 Action Oriented Forum – December 2, 2016

An event entitled Action Oriented Forum on the Unemployment of Marginalized Roma Community: From Companies´ Needs to Concrete Answers was held on December 2, 2016 in the premises of the Municipal Office in the city of Poprad. The aim was to open a free discussion about needs, challenges, benefits and best practices in order to inspire companies to look for new ways of hiring qualified employees from socially and economically disadvantaged Roma communities. Although discussion focused primarily on the position and the needs of the business sector, professionals from related areas also took part, proving their deep interest in the issue.

The participants could benefit from the expertise of various speakers. András Szabadi, marketing manager of Boston Consulting Group´s branch located in Hungary, made an introduction about the company´s programme for the employment of qualified Roma people. Alexander Mušinka, a cultural anthropologist, offered his view on the future development of the Roma issue and its impact on business. There was also an open panel discussion hosted by the BLF member companies Whirlpool and U. S. Steel Košice, all the participants could join to help identify the main barriers to the Roma employment. The debate went on with contributions from professionals from the public sector, including Anton Marcinčin, Government Plenipotentiary for the Least Developed Districts in Slovakia, and Stanislav Vospálek, former owner of a personal agency and current Attorney General at the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities. One of the best practices mentioned was a long-lasting close cooperation of the citizens´ association Ľudia a perspektíva (People and Perspective) and the private secondary school SEZ Krompachy. The school actively educates young Roma people and prepares them for their future jobs in the SEZ Krompachy company. Social exclusion expert Mirka Hapalová gave a comprehensive insight on the position of Roma employees by pointing at the challenges these people often face and possible way to overcome them. She supports the need for closer connection between businesses and community centres to help the

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marginalized and long-term unemployed Roma people surmount initial problems linked to the absence of work habits or a lack of qualification. More than 30 managers and HR experts attended the event.

We would like to thank these companies for their co-operation:

3.4 1st Slovakia Diversity Charter Forum, October 27, 2016

Diversity Charter targets businesses in order to encourage them to implement diversity and inclusion policy. We plan it as an official document to be signed by companies and public institutions on a voluntary basis. The initiative emerged from the European Commission´s efforts to support equal treatment and job opportunities for all, irrespective of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex, age, etc. So far, there has been no such action in Slovakia. Therefore, since August 2016, the BLF association has actively worked on creation of the first Slovak Diversity Charter.

After several meetings and discussions with representatives of IBM Slovensko and DiversityPro organisation, which are both deeply involved in the issue, we organized the 1st Slovakia Diversity Charter Forum. This meeting was held on October 27, 2016 in the premises of IBM. It was attended by representatives of the BLF association (Tatiana Čaplová, Radka Jurčáková), IBM and DiversityPro, delegates from the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic and companies Amazon, Amcham, AT&T, Dell, Henkel, ING, Lenovo, Novartis, Philip Morris Slovakia, PWC and Swiss Re. The main goal of the meeting was to identify core values, long-term targets and commitments of the Slovak Diversity Charter, to compare its advantages and disadvantages, and, finally, agree on a possible model of governance of the Charter. Based on the conclusions, the meeting proceeded to a draft of the first version of the document, which was left open to further revisions until the end of the year 2016.

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The official signing of the Diversity Charter is planned for the spring of 2017.

Our thanks for cooperation go to:

3.5 Night of Chances Conference, November 30, 2016

Night of Chances was a conference organized on November 30, 2016 in the premises of the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. The intention was to create a place for networking and new ideas where skilled students and representatives of top successful companies could meet. President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska, opened the event with his speech on responsibility of business leaders for the state of the country. Afterwards, Peter Škodný, General Director of Accenture and President of BLF, together with Michal Liday, General Director of Tatra Banka, went on with a panel discussion on the same topic. Motivating new entrepreneurs to set up their business on ethical and fair conduct was main message of presentation of Michal Kišša, Executive Director of Business Leaders Forum. He pointed at the benefits of doing business responsibly and focused on ways how to launch a responsible start-up.

3.6 Conference on Active Ageing, October 21, 2016 At the occasion of the Respect to Elders Month, Luna Senior Friendly Club organized a conference on active ageing, during which the winners of the competition called Senior Friendly were officially announced.

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Michal Kišša, one of the speakers at the conference, keenly encouraged employers to foster cooperation with seniors by introducing a project called Elderly.

4 Thematic Part: Marketplace

4.1 Slovak Compliance Days 2016, November 7 and 8, 2016

From November 8 to November 9, Trnava hosted Slovak Compliance Days 2016 organized by the Slovak Compliance Circle. This year under the auspices of President Andrej Kiska with a topic Criminal Liability of Legal Persons – the Compliance Context. Tens of qualified and experienced people from both the public and private sector (e.g. Tatra Banka, Taylor Wessing), the Slovak Compliance Circle, and non-profit organisations (e.g. Via Iuris, Fair-Play Alliance) took part in the event.

The presentations were primarily aligned with principles of criminal liability of legal persons and Slovak compliance standards. However, during workshops, the conference participants could also take part in discussions on special topics, such as the public´s view on compliance or the new European Union´s directive on non-financial disclosures. Non-financial reporting and its measurement was the topic of Michal Kišša´s presentation at this event.

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The event´s partners:

4.2 Seminar on Responsible Communication, June 14 and 15, 2016

Thomas Kolster is a Dutch expert on advertising, strategist and author of a book entitled Goodvertising. This year, he came to Bratislava and Košice to present some of the case studies, advertising campaigns and marketing tools, which are in accordance with the principles of responsible communication. The seminars targeted mainly employees from communication departments, people working in marketing and advertising agencies, as well as all innovative advertising enthusiasts and students. Thomas tackled the importance of making connections between businesses and advertising agencies. Companies need to assume their responsibility for local communities, the environment and advertisements. On the other hand, advertising agencies are responsible for their advertisements, marketing output and responsible approach toward the business sector. 'We should talk more about ways of being socially responsible than about social responsibility as such,' declared Thomas Kolster at the seminars in Bratislava and Košice. The goal was not only to break down the myths about sustainability, but also to point out that transparent, honest and sustainable companies take substantial benefits in forms of loyal employees and greater market potential. BLF members T-Systems Slovakia, represented by Communication Specialists Katarína Trnová and Lívia Gaľová, and Východoslovenská energetika Holding, represented by Communication Manager and Company Speaker Andrea Danihelová, presented their CSR strategies and activities.

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Our thanks for cooperation go to:

4.3 Recommendations: Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility

Nowadays, harmony between companies´ actions and their stakeholders´ expectations is increasingly becoming the highest priority for companies. This is one of the reasons why the role of responsible communication is getting more and more important. Our recommendations on communicating CSR were completed in cooperation with Thomas Kolster, founder of The Goodvertising Agency.

Increasing number of businesses is becoming aware of the risks and opportunities that responsible business practices entail for their reputation. According to the Meaningful Brands survey conducted by Havas, if 74% of all brands disappeared for good, a majority of consumers would not notice. Reality proves that companies trying to improve society and make their customers´ lives easier, healthier and more sustainable are getting to the forefront. The main recommendations summed up with the help of overseas experts and BLF members are the following:

1. Nice words are not enough. Be authentic and show your stakeholders “the hidden part of the iceberg“. 2. Don´t be too loud. 3. Be knowledgeable of the issue you communicate. 4. Transparency brings in customers. Be always open! 5. Make your communication visually simple. 6. Profit must remain the primary goal of your business. 7. Don´t forget about internal stakeholders. Use an “inside-out“ approach. 8. Independent supervision ensures greater credibility.

Thomas Kolster, a world-renowned expert on responsible advertising, points out that many companies often do not realize that marketing and corporate social responsibility are two rather distinct areas. As he claims 'While marketing is about emotions, sustainability and CSR, on the contrary, rely on complexity and rationality. Despite that, these two worlds can be linked together effectively.' According to Thomas, todays´ advertisements often serve only to the need of supporting consumption. However, in order to be able to communicate meaningfully and for good purpose, companies cannot be afraid to become ground-breakers in their area of business. Firms must learn to empathize with their target group, with their needs and expectations.

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Our thanks for valuable tips and views go to the representatives of these BLF member companies: Heineken Slovensko, Kaufland Slovenská republika, Slovak Telekom and VÚB banka. The recommendations are available for download on www.blf.sk.

4.4 Recommendations: Corporate Responsibility Report

Dozens of firms in Slovakia are required to disclose information about their CSR activities. Non-financial reporting is the main topic of our recommendations on Corporate Responsibility Report completed in cooperation with the BLF experts.

The European Commission has successfully passed a directive on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information. As a result, the Slovak legislation now includes the term CSR Report and the National Council of the Slovak Republic passed an amendment to the Act No. 431/2002 on Accounting in 2015. According to the amendment, certain companies are bound to add information from the area of CSR and diversity policy into their annual reports.

The amendment to the Act on Accounting concerns only those public interest companies whose average number of employees exceeds 500. That means that the obligations cover, for example, banks, insurance companies, health insurance companies, management companies or even pension fund management companies. It also concerns firms that have emitted securities admitted for trade on the regulated market of any EU member state. The disclosure of non-financial information is crucial for a change in companies´ way of thinking and understanding their responsibility for the impact on society, employees and the environment, their respect for human rights and fight against corruption. The recommendations include not only guidelines for successful reporting and CSR monitoring strategies, but also reporting norms, best practices from the BLF member companies and concrete benefits of regular non-

financial reporting. Our thanks go to the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic and to these BLF member companies: HEINEKEN Slovensko and VÚB banka. You can download a copy of recommendations on www.blf.sk. 4.5 Ideas RULEZZ 2016, May 5, 2016

During a B2B conference entitled Ideas RULEZZ 2016, Michal Kišša, CEO of BLF, explained that the era of CSR 3.0 has already arrived, bringing in new opportunities for the area of B2B.

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Michal Kišša stated that 'Via Bona Slovakia has been the only award of its type in Slovakia since 1998. It promotes good examples from the area of CSR and inspires other firms to practice them. The last year proved that CSR is not only about environment protection and philanthropic activities, as we sometimes wrongly assume. On the contrary, more and more companies tend to implement the attributes of CSR into their core business, such as transparency and ethical business conduct, which is now becoming a new form of their comparative advantage.'

5 CEE CSR Summit 2016

5.1 Conference CEE CSR Summit, May 17, 2016

CEE CSR Summit, the most important expert event on CSR in Central Europe, was held on 17 May 2016 in the premises of Stará Tržnica (the Old Market Hall) in Bratislava. The year 2016 was the 14th year of the conference and brought together more than 200 CSR experts from 15 countries and 4 continents – Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

Several internationally renowned speakers appeared on the stage to give inspiring presentations covering four topics – Investing into Sustainable Innovations, Open Book Management, CSR Reporting, and Behavioural Design.

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Ari Weinzweig is the founder and owner of one of the most successful small businesses in America - Zingerman´s. Offering his experience with Open Book Management, he centred his presentation on the importance of having motivated and satisfied employees to gain success in business. Elaine Cohen, Consultant at Beyond Business, went on explaining that reporting non-financial information can be funny and creative. Moreover, it can make company´s stakeholders feel more involved into the process and increase company´s credibility. Stephen Mooney from Synoptica showed a different view on sustainable innovations, claiming that a business should function as a sustainable ecosystem. Sille Krukow is the owner of Krukow Company. She gave a presentation on the concept of behavioural design and pointed at the importance of choice architecture and the cognitive factors within the process of customer´s decision-making. This year´s CEE CSR Summit offered a place for round-table discussions about various local issues – CSR Cafeteria. These included, for instance, electro mobility and smart cities, women in business, reporting, corporate culture and employment of the homeless people. Each discussion was led by an expert in one of 12 current issues from both local and foreign environment. The participants could thus work on case studies with executives of Deloitte, Dobre&Dobré, GSK Slovensko, Kaufland Slovenská republika, Pivovary Topvar, Philip Morris International, Slovenská sporiteľňa, Západoslovenská energetika, etc. The outcome of the discussions is available HERE. The participants gave the conference good rates, rising up to 9,76 points out of 10. The organizational part of the event was also highly valued at 9,85 points out of 10.

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As a part of the CEE CSR Summit 2016, the Sustainable SOLUTIONS HUB took place, which gathered representatives of 22 responsible companies in order to share best practices of how to be more healthy, fair and eco-friendly. The presenting BLF member firms´ projects were Embraco Slovakia and its Family Day, Heineken Slovensko and its Moderate Drinking campaign, Orange Slovensko and its Innovative Lab, Pfizer with its Country of Wonderland, Pivovary Topvar and 9 Months No Alcohol campaign, Slovenské elektrárne and the Help the Homeless project, and Západoslovenská energetika with its Effective Energy initiative.

Our thanks for a valuable support to the CEE CSR Summit 2016 go to:

We would like to thank the following companies for their support to the CSR Cafeteria:

5.2 Ari Weinzweig´s Workshop: How to Deliver Great Customer Service; May 16, 2016

This year, we decided to focus our attention primarily on executive officers and that is why a unique workshop entitled Great Customer Service was organized in the premises of Impact HUB in Bratislava. The workshop was led by Ari Weinzweig, an anarchist, world-famous businessman and founder of Zingerman’s company.

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Ari Weinzweig introduced a concept of extra mile that helps to go beyond all customers´ expectations. He underlined the fact that what really matters is to have customers who are truly loyal, not just satisfied. Debates with more than 20 managers opened up several interesting topics, such as how to build a good corporate culture, how to inspire employees to deliver top-class customer service, or how to well manage suppliers´ complaints. BLF association organised the workshop with the support of Trend magazine.

Once again, the event gained an excellent score of 90 points in Net Promoter Score. Moreover, Ari Weinzweig enjoyed full attention of 21 participants during the workshop.

6 BLF events for the general public

6.1 CSR Week, May 18 – 19, 2016

During the CSR Week, we organised two discussions for general public with the attendance of around 70 people each. The first one addressed the issue of CSR in Europe and its neighbourhood. The following day was dedicated to an inspiring documentary about waste prevention called Taste the Waste. We would like to show our gratitude to Richard Bendík, Purchase Manager in Kaufland Slovenská Republika, for his valuable ideas and tips which he was open to share.

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Our thanks for their collaboration go to:

7 Other activities of Pontis Foundation and BLF on CSR

7.1 Fund for Transparent Slovakia

The Fund for Transparent Slovakia is a joint initiative of companies that are concerned about a lack of law enforcement in Slovakia and wish to solve it by exerting societal pressure to improve market conditions. This is why they aim to uphold transparent and sound business environment in our country through systematic support of the watchdog and analytic organisations. The Fund´s creation is a result of a common initiative of seven member firms of the BLF association, at the moment it has 23 members. Seven companies decided to join the Fund in 2016: Skanska SK, a. s., Profesia, Websupport, Honeywell, Union, Kaufland Slovenská republika, O2 Slovensko.

In 2016, the Fund supported 6 projects and granted finances in total sum of 230,000 euro to the selected organisations. One of such projects was a campaign entitled Štrngáme za zmenu (Ringing for a Change), organized in collaboration with the organizations Via Iuris, Zastavme korupciu (Let´s Stop Corruption) and the Slovak Governance Institute. During its eight years´ existence, it managed to bring real solutions, while most of the measures now form part of the government´s policy statement. Other supported organisations include Transparency International Slovensko, Fair-Play Alliance, INEKO (Institute for Economic and Social Reforms), the Institute for a Well-Managed Society and the Conservative Institute of M.R. Štefánik.

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BLF member companies that gave financial support to the Fund for Transparent Slovakia in 2016 are:

7.1.1 The Anti-Corruption Forum, November 9, 2016

The Nedbalka Gallery hosted the fourth Anti-Corruption Forum on 19 November 2016. The representatives of non-profit organizations, business, public administration and media came to share their experience in collaboration and joining. Zuzana Čaputová from VIA IURIS together with Ondrej Smolár from Soitron spoke about how systematic measurement meant to demolish political connections of institutions responsible for the execution of justice can turn into an impulse for change in our country. Zuzana Wienk from Fair-Play Alliance and Ján Hargaš from Slovensko.Digital explained how a collaboration of two organizations could help save hundreds of millions of euros given to digitalization projects. The Forum also opened up a topic of value for money. Štefan Kišš from the Institute for Financial Policy presented the idea of effective placement of public resources. Jan Kovalčík, an analytic at INEKO, talked about the effectiveness of this initiative in the area of transportation. Journalists Zuzana Petková from Trend magazine and Marek Vagovič from Aktuality.sk headed a rather tough debate about state kidnapping laws.

7.2 Via Bona Slovakia, March 17, 2016

Via Bona Slovakia award is a prestigious competition of inspiring projects and stories behind responsible and philanthropic business practices. This year was the 16th edition of the

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award, which culminated in the gala-evening of the 17th May 2016 in the premises of Refinery Gallery in Bratislava. The gala-evening was opened by the President of the Slovak Republic, Andrej Kiska, and the whole event was underlined by the key topic of networking and collaboration.

The list of nominees in 2016 set a new record of as much as 75 projects (23 of them were shortlisted). Furthermore, it comprised the highest number of SMEs from different Slovak regions so far. 'Our country is not going to thrive unless we all take care of it. We are very pleased to see how many companies realize this and work to create value for our society. Through Via Bona award we would like to show that there are many small companies who take care of their employees and support local communities,' claimed Lenka Surotchak, Director of Pontis Foundation. The category Responsible Small/Middle-sized Company totalled 18 rivals. The most inspiring CSR practices were classified within eight different categories: Responsible Large Company, Responsible Small/Middle-sized Company, Green Company, Great Employer, Fair Market Player, Supporter of Volunteering, and Good Partner for the Community. An independent jury made up by representatives from the private, state and NGO sector, as well as educational institutions was to choose from a list of nominated companies. The eighth prize was delivered by a public vote on the web page www.sme.sk.

The winner of Responsible Large Company of 2015 is Heineken Slovensko, a BLF member, known for its ambition to become the greenest brewery in Slovakia by 2020. The prize for the Good Partner for the Community was given to another large-sized BLF member, company Východoslovenská energetika Holding located in Košice. Its employees assist the clients of the crisis centres in re-entering normal life through mentoring and regular contact, and take an active part in reconstruction and cleaning jobs in different centres. The Supporter of Volunteering´s winner is Hewlett-Packard Slovakia with a project entitled Elderly, in which the employees take a long-term interest in the elderly, their community engagement and socialization.

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For the first time in history, the final ceremony of Via Bona Slovakia 2015 appeared on television screens. The programme was transmitted on the Dvojka RTVS channel on 24 March 2016 and reached around 44,000 spectators. The footage is available for watching HERE.

Via Bona Slovakia 2015´s partners are:

7.3 Our City, June 10 – 11, 2016

More than 9,500 volunteers from 28 larger as well as smaller cities from all around Slovakia engaged into volunteering projects on June 10 and June 11, 2016. These community enthusiasts painted fences and benches, cleaned parks and public gardens, planted plants and spent time with the seniors. The majority of the participants were, traditionally, corporate volunteers - 5,100 people in total. In 2016, 106 firms joined this nation-wide volunteer event, in which 516 activities were organized by 231 non-profit organizations, schools, kindergartens, towns, villages and town districts from all around Slovakia. Slovak cities involved included Bratislava, Košice, Žilina, Partizánske, Sereď, Spišská Nová Ves, Trnava, Šaľa, Nitra, Poprad, Svätý Jur, Pezinok, Senica, Banská Bystrica, Galanta, Trenčín, Nové Zámky, Hurbanovo, Prievidza, Stupava, Zvolen, Veľké Kapušany, Modra, Levice, Nováky, Zlaté Moravce, Veľký Meder and Prešov.

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The volunteers managed to clean up 166 parks and educational pavements, paint 6,773 metres of fences and railing, spend time reasonably with 353 people in social centres, and much more. The following are sixteen BLF member firms that took part in Our City 2016: Accenture, Allianz – Slovenská poisťovňa, Embraco Slovakia, GSK Slovakia, Heineken Slovensko, Johnson Controls International, Kaufland Slovenská republika, Kia Motors Slovakia, Orange Slovensko, Pfizer, Pivovary Topvar, Slovenské elektrárne, Stredoslovenská energetika, TCHIBO Slovensko, Veolia Energia Slovensko, VÚB banka.

We thank the following BLF member for its support to the event:

7.4 The Innovators Happening, June 9, 2016

The Innovators Happening held on 9 June 2016 was a day full of volunteering, creativity, social innovations and networking with people who strive for a better Slovakia. The core of the event was the Pro Bono Marathon that gathered professionals from advertising, communications and law companies to help selected NGOs and propose concrete solutions to their assignments. In total, 12 chosen companies helped 12 NGOs, which normally would be unable to afford professional consultancy. The collaboration was related mainly to communication and advertising strategies. What is more, a lawyer´s office, an IT company and a consulting firm also took part.

The BLF member company Accenture also decided to help and offered a professional assistance to VIA IURIS, an NGO, to increase efficiency with their CRM system Salesforce. In mere 10 hours, the company was able to analyse the current setting of the CRM system and come up with a new structure so that the employees of VIA IURIS could keep records of their clients, donors, the contact details of their co-workers, the media, and manage relationships with them.

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Apart from the Pro Bono Marathon in the Old Town Hall, social innovators could benefit from a series of parallel lectures and discussions with interesting speakers. Tatiana Švrčková from Slovak Telekom spoke about the ways to get funding from companies. According to her, Slovak Telekom is the most inclined to support projects that are focused on education and people suffering from hearing impairment. Pavel Hrica from Pontis Foundation gave the participants the following advice: 'when fundraising, personal meetings represent 80 % of the success. The remaining 20 % comes from the fact that you are perfectly prepared for the project.' Other speakers were representatives of the companies Istropolitana Ogilvy or Slovensko.Digital. Jakub Ptačin concluded the debates with a fruitful discussion about volunteering with Silvia Jeleníková, HR Manager from Dell, Vladimír Ledecký, the Mayor of Spišský Hrhov, and Lenka Surotchak, the Director of Pontis Foundation. On the event, Pontis Foundation officially launched a new web portal www.inovatori.sk, which follows the existing Social Innovators´ Map.

We thank the following BLF members for their support to the event:

General partner:

Pro Bono partner: In-kind partner:

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8 External Communication of BLF and CSR

In March 2016, SME, one of the most read daily newspaper in Slovakia, issued a special supplement dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility, namely the business projects intended to improve our society. This eight page document covered the most topical information about the winner companies of Via Bona Slovakia 2015 award, their appealing stories and strong experience. The interviews with Peter Škodný, Country Managing Director of Accenture in Slovakia and President of Business Leaders Forum, and Ján Lunter, the owner of AlfaBio/Lunter company were included as well. Via Bona Slovakia 2015 nominations launch and its laureates appeared in the following media: SME, The Slovak Spectator, Hospodárske noviny, Rádio Slovensko, Trend, regionálne noviny MY and many others. For the first time, the gala evening with the award giving ceremony was broadcast on Dvojka RTVS TV channel. A footage of the ceremony is available for watching HERE. Hospodárske noviny, a daily economic newspaper, published extensive profile interviews with the CEE CSR Summit 2016´s keynote speakers, including Elaine Cohen from Beyond Business and Ari Weinzweig from Zingerman´s. The Stratégie monthly published an interview with Sille Krukow. The Summit´s outcomes are also available on EurActiv.sk portal.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming more and more appealing for other media too. A profile article was published in the Connection magazine written by Michal Kišša, Executive Director of BLF, on sustainable brands and the BLF association. There were articles published on EurActiv.sk and in The Slovak Spectator. Furthermore, TASR (The News Agency of the Slovak Republic), www.postoj.sk, www.netky.sk, www.daneauctovnictvo.sk informed about the results of the Perception of CSR Survey among Slovak citizens in a press release. Michal Kišša appeared on the pkacademy.eu portal explaining his views on CSR. The Lumen Radio helped our association with raising public awareness on how to treat waste and recycle correctly. We have also issued an article on the methods of boosting motivation at workplace, which appeared in a business monthly entitled GOODWILL. Trend magazine explored the issue of employees´ satisfaction in an article featuring Michal Kišša again.

8.1 Media Breakfast, February 3, 2016

In the beginning of the year, Peter Škodný, President of BLF, and Michal Kišša, Executive Director of BLF, met with the representatives of the key Slovak media to discuss the issue of justice and transparency. According to the keynote speakers, it is the role of the business sector to exert necessary pressure upon the government and the public sector in order to raise solutions in this matter. The newly appointed President of BLF, Peter Škodný,

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underlined the need for transformation of Slovak business environment out of Bratislava, especially in the areas with socially marginalized groups.

Apart from Michal Kišša and Peter Škodný, we welcomed a pleasant company of the representatives of other BLF member companies at the event, including Slovenské elektrárne (Miroslav Šarišský), Slovak Telekom (Tatiana Švrčková), Kaufland Slovenská republika (Erika Turček Pfundtnerová and Richard Bendík), Skanska SK (Petra Kolberová and Daniela Simanová), U. S. Steel Košice (Mária Janočková) and Accenture (Jozef Kokoška). Our special guest was Henrieta Kiššová from Deloitte, who gave an interesting speech related to the results of the latest survey on CSR and its future development. The survey´s target group comprised CSR Managers coming from Slovakia and Central Europe.

Members of the following media participated in the event: EurActiv.sk, Goodwill, Hospodárske noviny and TASR. A set of immediate media results was published by EurActiv.sk (Deminishing Tolerance for Non-Transparent Business Environment) and The Slovak Spectator (Talking corporate responsibility).

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8.2 Presentations of BLF on Expert Events

The representatives of BLF presented the activities of member companies and the mission and vision of BLF on a variety of expert events, such as:

How to Do Business Responsibly and Fairly, February 16, 2016 – The Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica hosted a lecture on CSR delivered by Michal Kišša (BLF) and Ján Lunter (AlfaBio/Lunter).

Eco Day 2016, June 24, 2016 – Tatiana Čaplová, Radka Jurčáková and Slavomíra Urbanová came to Košice to present the guidelines for a responsible waste management practice to the visitors of the Eco Day 2016. The event was organized by Resonance, a company oriented towards ecological behaviour.

CSR Summer School in Georgia, from July 1 to July 3, 2016 – Michal Kišša and Slavomíra Urbanová discussed the basic concepts of CSR in accordance with the GRI methodology with a group of participants of the Summer School in Georgia. The event was organized by Pontis Foundation in cooperation with CSRDG and Visegrad Fund.

CSR Training for the representatives of Cuba´s civil society, August 3, 2016 - Tatiana Čaplová and Karin Boboková presented the core ideas and practices of CSR, coupled with information on the current development of CSR in Slovakia.

The Oikos Conference, September 30, 2016 – Michal Kišša gave a lecture on the activities of the BLF member companies, as well as the activities of the BLF platform and Pontis Foundation.

Corporate Volunteering Award, December 5, 2016, Belgrade, Serbia – Michal Kišša guided the participants through the concept of corporate volunteering (both manual and expert) related to the Our City project and the best practices of volunteering in Slovakia.

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8.3 Project Hi4CSR (Erasmus+)

Since October 2016, Pontis Foundation has taken part in the project entitled Hi4CSR (Harmonization and Implementation of EU CSR directives) launched under the patronage of Erasmus+ under a common goal to examine the effectiveness of the EU directives related to CSR.

The main aim of the project is to educate and share proper experience and proved practice in the process of implementation and harmonization of EU directives related to CSR among the participants. Besides Pontis Foundation, organisations, such as Abis – The Academy of Business in Society (Belgium), Ekvilib Institute (Slovenia), Global Impact Grid (Germany), Institut za drustveno odgovorno poslovanje (Croatia), LUM University (Italy) and Trucost (Great Britain), have taken part in the project. The chief coordinator of the project is RRIF-plus d.o.o., the leading finance and accounting firm in Croatia.

The role of Pontis Foundation is to introduce the amendment to the Act No. 431/2002 on Accounting to the partners and other supporters of the project. According to the document, certain firms are obliged to disclose information on their CSR activities and diversity policy measures in annual reports. The representatives of Pontis Foundation also presented the best practices of CSR implemented by Slovak companies.

The project will comprise seven main activities, three common trans-European meetings and four five-day trainings, which are to be held in Zagreb, Berlin, Brussels and London. The project was officially opened with a meeting held in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia.

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8.4 BLF Newsletter

Throughout the year of 2016, 5 issues of the BLF Newsletter bi-monthly focused on CSR were published. An average number of copies amounts to 691 pieces of print version and 911 pieces of e-version per issue.

Our mission is to publish relevant news on the BLF member companies, as well as inspiring best practices from home and abroad.

Topics in 2016:

- February 2016 – New BLF President Peter Škodný - April 2016 – CEE CSR Summit 2016 - June 2016 – Sustainable SOLUTIONS HUB - August 2016 – Green Buildings and Health of Employees - October 2016 – Green Business Breakfast / Reporting CSR

We thank the following BLF member company for its support:

8.5 Web pages: www.blf.sk and www.zodpovednepodnikanie.sk

The webpage blf.sk contains news concerning our BLF platform and its members, and is accessible in English language too. The webpage zodpovednepodnikanie.sk informs about recent events from the responsible business environment in a broader scope. Readers can choose from five separate thematic sections: Employees, Environment, Market, Society, and Start up Responsibly. The Start up Responsibly section was launched to motivate young people that wish to start their own business career, and the students of the „Corporate Responsibility in Practice“ university course to enrich their knowledge of CSR.

At the end of the year of 2016, 1,109 subscribers received a week articles summary, that means 168 more subscribers than in 2015.

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Our thanks for the support go to:

8.6 Social Media: Facebook and LinkedIn

The Facebook profile Zodpovedné podnikanie (Responsible Business) was designated to reach all social responsibility enthusiasts, whether they include employees, customers or students. The page periodically brings compelling information, practical references, hints from overseas and home that concern CSR. On November 5, 2016, 3,173 followers tagged the page as one of their preferred Facebook pages, which accounts for a 3.7 % increase compared to the previous year (3,059 followers on November 30, 2015).

Business Leaders Forum Slovensko is the name of the group on LinkedIn that unites CSR professionals. The group was created in January 2013 and currently has 188 members, which represents an increase of around 14 % in comparison with the previous year (30 November 2014 recorded 165 members). We regularly post information about the platform´s activities and other news that BLF members may find interesting. Hence, we are building up awareness about CSR among out-group firms too.

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We would like to thank all our partners for their valuable support provided during 2016. In case of any contributions or proposal for cooperation in the year of 2017, please, feel free to reach us at the contacts listed below.

Michal Kišša, Executive Director of BLF michal.kissa@nadaciapontis.sk, tel.: +421/917 429 85 Radka Jurčáková, Programme Coordinator and Administrator radka.jurcakova@nadaciapontis.sk, tel.: +421/902 098 483 Tatiana Čaplová, Programme Coordinator tatiana.caplova@nadaciapontis.sk, tel.: +421/948 333 028 Business Leaders Forum Nadácia Pontis Zelinárska 2 821 08 Bratislava www.blf.sk