When it comes to next-generation businesses, corporate social responsibility is not a mere obligation but rather a useful business tool, which can seamlessly integrate with the company’s strategy and operations. Corporate ethics, process transparency, and responsibility to clients and employees not only allow businesses to make a positive impact on the society but also help them effectively solve their business problems.
Running a socially responsible business has grown into a worldwide social trend. According to the 2020 Global RepTrak reputation study, the majority of consumers prefer to buy goods and services from socially conscious and proactive companies.
Parimatch Tech has been putting a lot of effort into realizing its CSR strategy and upholding the values that unite several thousand of its employees into a single team.
Social impact: The work of Parimatch Foundation
The international charitable organization Parimatch Foundation appeared in 2019 as a part of Parimatch Tech global CSR strategy. This is a not-for-profit entity run by a team of professionals, who strive to implement real, systemic change. The foundation helps local communities in the countries where the company operates. Parimatch Foundation’s efforts promote the health and well-being of the society by providing equal opportunities in education and sports to all children regardless of physical ability or socioeconomic status.
In Ukraine, the foundation implements three integrated programs:
“Yes, I can!” aims to support children with disabilities and special educational needs by involving them in sports activities;
“New Physical Culture” develops and promotes physical education in schools to encourage children to be physically active;
“Sports Mentor” strives to provide all children, regardless of their social background, with opportunities to realize their talents and follow their dreams.
It is essential to understand that every community has its specific needs, which can vary significantly. For this reason, each program must be adapted to the local peculiarities while at the same time staying in line with the main goals and strategies. One good example of such local adaptation is the program “Boost4Best” launched by Parimatch Foundation in Cyprus in collaboration with the Olympic Committee. Having realized that Cypriot athletes had not excelled at high-performance sports for quite a while, Parimatch Foundation offered future champions a great opportunity to train and pursue a professional sports career, which will surely help the nation win more Olympic medals.
Taking care of the people: Innovations to increase comfort and safety of Parimatch Tech employees
Parimatch Tech regularly makes it onto the list of Ukraine’s best employers. First and foremost, this implies that the company and its employees share similar values. To be fulfilled at work, people need good working conditions, fair pay, enough space for growth, and proper work-life balance. These values have been the fundamental principles of cooperation between Parimatch Tech and its employees, while the company’s top management constantly strives to implement innovative methods to improve the workplace environment and strengthen the team.
For instance, during the global pandemic, safety has become the top priority, so each Parimatch Tech employee now gets basic medical insurance. In addition, HR specialists have introduced a hybrid workplace model: work groups can choose to work remotely or on site, depending on their preferences.
Benefit Cafeteria, another effective project aimed at increasing job satisfaction, offers a personalized range of incentives to each employee: for example, one can get a gym membership, extended healthcare coverage, and additional child-care benefits, among many other options.
Parimatch Tech also places a lot of value on corporate volunteering and allows each employee 16 hours of working time annually to take part in volunteering projects. According to the company’s beliefs, corporate volunteering benefits the company, society, and especially the employees, since they have a great opportunity to network, gain knowledge from other spheres, and, most importantly, make a contribution to societal well-being.
Cooperation and partnership: Socially important initiatives call for synergy
To make a positive impact on society at the country level, one needs to cooperate with like-minded partners. A great example of such collaboration is the creation of SportYouth — a digital system that will store all of the current information on physical culture and sports. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the international charitable organization Parimatch Foundation, and Parimatch Tech Academy. The system will have a separate application called “New Physical Culture”, which will allow Parimatch Foundation experts to work with physical education teachers to improve their motivation and capabilities. While signing the memorandum, the chairwoman of Parimatch Foundation, Katerina Belorusskaya, emphasized that the foundation works with the relevant government organizations and responsible businesses since this is the only way to carry out long-term and socially significant projects.
The application prototype will be created by the students of Parimatch Tech Academy, another CSR project of the company, whose participants get their training free of charge. This will also save a significant portion of the state budget funds, since the company will cover the cost of program prototyping.
To conclude, CSR is a powerful driver of innovation. A number of business cases proving this point were presented by local and international companies at the recent business conference PM GO: Go Global. It is noteworthy that the conference itself was also a part of Parimatch Tech corporate responsibility strategy as it was open to the general public. This is by far not the only time the company has made its contribution to the development of the business community and the IT industry while at the same time doing social good. In December 2020, the international charitable organization Parimatch Foundation and Parimatch Tech hosted an open product conference, where the visitors could donate money to support inclusive football classes for children from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, and Lutsk within the “Yes, I can!” program.
The examples of world’s most powerful companies clearly demonstrate that when a business seeks new ways to become socially responsible and environmentally friendly, it comes up with innovations which eventually strengthen the brand equity, boost employee motivation, and often multiply the company’s revenue.
