Grawe marks 30 years of work in Croatia. In these 3 decades, they paid special attention to Corporate image and Social responsibility.
Sustainability
In today’s world, economic development seems almost unstoppable for years already. Related to such rapid production and growth of industries, the irresponsible and often unethical human behavior is also growing, which has an extremely negative impact on environmental well-being. Caused by human activity, alarming changes in nature warn us that it is necessary to stop for a moment and think about which direction we are going. It is becoming increasingly clear that it is necessary to change lifestyles and business approaches in order to achieve collective environmental responsibility and sustainable development to ensure a better future. Building environmental awareness and responsible business has always been an integral segment of the Company’s activities. In addition to the effort to manage the available resources in a responsible and sustainable manner through our corporate activities, we continuously improve the community in which we operate through projects aimed at the betterment and health of life and the restoration of nature, thereby actively working on the positive impression we leave as an organization. We always try to encourage our employees to pay even more attention to ecological activities themselves, so that they can set an example for the wider business community with their responsible actions and thus start a wave of changes towards a better future.
The umbrella title of the “green” project, GREEN GRAWE, obliges the Company to carry out various activities throughout the year, and all activities have a common denominator – sustainability. In addition to being aware of negative changes and the necessity of implementing new ways of doing business, it is even more important to act according to such principles. That is why the Company has been supporting the EU Climate Pact initiative since 2021, present in 27 EU member states, whose goal is to make citizens aware of the global problem of climate change and encourage everyone to contribute to ensure a better future for our planet. The company joined with a pledge of active contribution to reforestation activities in the next 3 years. In 2021, with the help of modern technology and an unmanned aerial vehicle, over 5,000 tree seeds were planted in the Grubišno polje area, from which around 2,000 trees will grow, and this year the afforestation campaign continued in the burned area of Oklaj with the help of an unmanned aerial vehicle for rapid afforestation and restoration of forest ecosystems. In addition to reforestation, this year a presentation on the importance of forests, their preservation and care for nature was held for elementary school children from the Oklaj Regional School. The initiative itself aims to bring the idea of sustainability closer to children and instill in them the values of nature conservation. As part of the lecture, a workshop was held where children made fat balls for birds, and thus they were also involved in the process of natural reforestation. With its commitment, the Company contributed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, raising awareness among employees and the general public, and supporting and developing the Croatian start-up Project O2, whose goal is to stop the negative trends of forest destruction and greenhouse gas emissions.
Corporate volunteering
After two pandemic years, when corporate volunteering was forced to be of reduced intensity, in 2022 the Company again held several corporate volunteering actions in 5 cities across Croatia. As part of the global World CleanUp Day campaign, GRAWE employees cleaned our environment. The actions carried out were as follows: in Pula, the bunkers of the MO Gregovica Pula were cleaned, in Zagreb’s Žitnjak a large illegal landfill was sorted, in Dalmatia, employees cleaned the area of the Trogir municipality Žedno, in Škurinje in Rijeka, employees cleaned illegal landfills in large numbers, while in Slavonia the volunteer action was conceived as a “road” through the villages of the Tompojevci municipality through which discarded waste is collected. A total of 5 tons of waste was collected! The company is extremely proud of all involved employees who set aside their free time for at least a small improvement in the healing of our environment and the greater noble intention for the well-being of the environment in which we live. As an employer, observing the direction our employees are heading and how they represent our Company is of inestimable value.
Strengthening awareness of the importance of wellness exams
Awareness of the importance of wellness exams in the preservation of our own health is extremely important for the Company as a whole, because it contributes to reducing pressure on the health care system, and timely detection of diseases and conditions, leads to a higher percentage of recovery from the mentioned diseases. From 2021, the Company launched the 90/98 project, the goal of which is to raise awareness of the importance of preventive examinations in the early detection of breast and prostate cancer, not only during October and November, but throughout the year. The name of the project derives from the figures that indicate the percentage of cure in men and women: the percentage of the possibility of individual recovery from breast cancer is 90%, and the possibility of recovery from prostate cancer in men is a high 98% if detected at an early stage. That’s why the Company, through communication and charitable activities, continuously tries to raise the importance and awareness of preventive examinations, which often represent the first step towards a high possibility of cure.
This year, a large part of communication, marketing and donation activities was focused on this topic. The donation at the GRAWE Night Run was also related because it was directed to the non-profit association Europa Donna Croatia, focused on providing assistance to women suffering from breast cancer, including free psychological assistance. The donation, in addition to the emphasis on wellness exams, was intended to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and help in maintaining it, especially for women who are going through extremely difficult moments in their lives.
Through internal and external communication, social networks and media representation, October was dedicated to the empowerment of women, i.e. all activities were aimed at reemphasizing the importance of women’s health and breast cancer prevention. Even before October, the Company made a donation to the Marra Altrui Association, which provides educational, humanitarian, medical-aesthetic support to women during and after chemotherapy and to alopecia patients. The association provides free micropigmentation of eyebrows and nipples to affected women, and thus, at least initially, helps the affected women regain their self-confidence and the possibility for a better life. In November, the Company placed equal importance on men’s health, and this year it was especially focused on the internal activation of fundraising. GRAWE Hrvatska donated a certain amount of money to the County League against Cancer for every employee who grew a beard during November and shaved it at the beginning of December as part of the Beard Auction from Split initiative.
Financial literacy
In order to satisfy our basic need for security of life, it is necessary to achieve financial stability. Certainty that we can overcome extraordinary financial challenges through planned investments, savings and insurance. Research confirms that the citizens of the Republic of Croatia are still not inclined to keep a personal budget, nor to long-term financial planning. One of the main causes for such a situation is insufficiently developed financial literacy, that is, the lack of education and information processes that help to better understand financial products and develop skills to achieve financial stability. Every year, the company carries out activities that contribute to a better understanding of insurance concepts and products. In 2022 as well, the Company actively participated in the campaign for financial and insurance literacy of the public, Safer Tomorrow, which is a joint project of the Croatian Insurance Bureau and other insurers from the Republic of Croatia. The joint campaign resulted in several months of activities and a large reach to the audience for whom the campaign messages were intended. In addition to the joint campaign, the Company also carried out its own activities related to public financial literacy. This year, we became the first insurer to use the social network TikTok as a platform for insurance literacy, and to bring the importance of insurance to the younger population in a more accessible way. In addition to the continuous communication of key messages via social networks, the educational platform “Today I live, tomorrow I will have” is still active in cooperation with Telegram media, whose goal is to increase the level of financial literacy of citizens, help them achieve financial stability and ensure their better future. During the Global Money Week, educations were also held in secondary schools, and they were attended by more than 1,000 students so far.
PoKRENI Project
The PoKRENI initiative was created with the aim of initiating changes and encouraging the adoption of healthy and life-important habits that are the basis for a better future for every individual. For the eighth year in a row, activities were carried out with an emphasis on the continuous maintenance of physical activity, necessary for a person’s physical health, as well as the general state of body, spirit and mind. Throughout the year, citizens were invited to exercise for free in the squares of major Croatian cities with the Active Croatia project under the guidance of numerous well-known trainers. The GRAWE Night Run was held again this year at the end of August, which gathered 30% more participants than the previous year.