What distinguishes Polsat Group from others?
Polsat Group is a big, thriving organization constantly undertaking new challenges, within which we provide pay TV and telecommunications services as well as deliver a number of additional services – electricity, gas, house monitoring, banking or insurance services and offer a possibility of purchasing telecommunications devices, home electronics and household appliances. We successfully combine these activities, as the access to attractive TV content is extremely important to all our customers, with broadcasting nearly 30 television channels and active presence on the television advertising and sponsoring market. We believe in integration of services which we have incorporated into our development strategy, whereas the scope of our business activities and the nature of our offer make us definitely stand out among the competitors on the market. The smartDOM program offered to our customers communicates in a very comprehensible way that buying services in bundles is not only much simpler, but above all cheaper. Such a structure of the offer is a great opportunity for us, as a Group, to make better use of our resources, capabilities, expertise, sales channels and potential of the team and to acquire new customers whose satisfaction and loyalty are extremely important to us.
High quality and universal availability of services, enjoyed on a daily basis by Polish families and companies, is of key importance to us. We have pursued this goal for many years, as a part of television as well as telecommunications activities, and we prove that an equally attractive offer may be used by all Poles, irrespective of their place of residence, social status, profession or interests.
How would you define the Corporate Social Responsibility of Polsat Group?
Corporate Social Responsibility is inherently connected with our operations on the market, the achievement of our business goals and building of the Group’s value. We do not start from the scratch. As one of the biggest media and telecommunications groups in Central and Eastern Europe, employing nearly 5 thousand people, we are fully aware of the impact we have on our social and economic environment. Our socially responsible activities focus on three main areas – taking care of the needs of our customers and viewers, ensuring opportunities for professional development of our employees and a social mission which we carry out in the area of safety, aid for children and promotion of sports. What pleases me most personally, as the President of the Management Board, is the fact that all the undertaken initiatives are reflected in actual beliefs and needs of our employees, and many of these initiatives were developed because our team followed their hearts. I am proud of what we have achieved so far.
There are many examples of our activities. We are very proud of our long-term involvement in ensuring safety to people who relax by the water and in the mountains. Rescue (Ratunek) application, co-created by people from Polkomtel as well as an emergency number in the mountains and at the seaside and the lakes, were developed by a group of people who – knowing the capabilities of the network and the needs of the society – decided to combine these two elements. The final product is something extraordinary on a global level.
For more than 21 years, POLSAT Foundation – the first television foundation in Poland, has been saving lives and health of children and youth and this is absolutely amazing. The Foundation’s team is a group of extraordinary, wonderful people who are involved in providing help wholeheartedly every day. They help in individual cases, but also change entire healthcare institutions or areas, which is proven for instance by activities undertaken in the Children’s Health Center in Warsaw.
When looking for examples of “Sports CSR”, it is worth focusing on what Polsat Sport and also Plus network are doing apart from the broadcasts of the biggest and most important sports events in Poland. We have an ample evidence that the promotion of physical activity simply works. Our viewers are successfully encouraged to personally participate in running or skiing events, and additionally we help in organizing and financing children’s hockey, football and tennis tournaments. For me an example of responsible activities in sports is also the model of supporting one’s own team in Polish volleyball, to whose development we have greatly contributed. The developed style, in which entire families can support sportsmen in safe and friendly way, is an example for all disciplines. What is more, a cheerful style of support from our halls and stadiums, appreciated by our volleyball players and fans across the world, has been already transposed to stadiums in Italy or South America. Invaluable is also the support which Plus has been providing to Polish volleyball for 20 years by sponsoring, among others, women’s and men’s national teams.
What can Group’s customers expect in the future? In which direction is the company heading?
Most analyses indicate that the services offered by us will continue to develop. Starting from the Internet access at home, through the demand for mobile data transmission and video streaming, to quality and capabilities of a growing number of new devices. On the television market we observe growing importance of thematic channels and high quality television content, produced with the expectations and needs of viewers in mind. If we add to this excellent prospects for the multi-play services or online television (IPTV) market, then it is clear that new business opportunities are constantly emerging for Polsat Group.
Why did the Group decide to publish the CSR Report?
For years, we have regularly published financial statements, reports on the Management Board’s activities and annual reports, and these documents also included some information which is part of the non-financial reporting. We have been a listed company since 2008 and the transparency of all areas of activities is of fundamental importance to us. The obligation of non-financial reporting – which came into force in 2018 – requires us to make certain data more coherent. We decided to choose the Global Reporting Initiative standard – which is the best one in my opinion – and which is appreciated by the market players both in Poland and across the world.
The Non-Financial Report, which presents our activities in the years 2016-2017, is a kind of point of reference for us. We fairly present our achievements in this area together with our plans. The process of preparation of the organization to reporting was a valuable lesson in itself. Different nature of companies, not always consistent indicators or even lack of certain data made the preparation of the document an enormous effort for many people involved – and I would like to extend my thanks to all of them. Due to the fact that at the stage of defining the report’s contents we organized a dialog session, the publication of the report was another opportunity to consult our stakeholders. Although we meet and communicate with them frequently, we do not always have time and opportunity to discuss their expectations and views regarding our business activities in the area of CSR.
What would you like the readers to remember after studying the report?
I believe that each Reader will find interesting information in the report, given in particular that it has been prepared for our key stakeholders based on their expectations towards our organization which were analyzed, among others, during a dialog session held in accordance with AA1000SES international stakeholder engagement standard. As a result, each chapter is devoted to different subject matter, addressed to another readers group. I hope that just as we had a lot of satisfaction preparing the report, it will provide a lot of valuable information and pleasure from its study to our Readers. Although the constant growth of the value of Polsat Group for its shareholders is the primary objective of our business strategy, we show that we want and can achieve this objective in a sustainable, responsible way, while ensuring the best quality of services to our customers and the satisfaction with work for the Group’s employees.