The FINANCIAL — IRAO Insurance Company, a member of VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP (VIG), will be focused on strengthening its positions on market as far as increasing its market share, moreover enlarging corporate and retail segments of the Company, based on the strategy for the year 2015. Besides, the Company uses maximum efforts for development and renovation of its services and business performance, including CSR activities – for permanent satisfaction of customers and whole society.
“We are also striving for more activation of our regional representations, to make available insurance services to the broad audience of customers across the country,” said Vakhtang Dekanosidze, General Director of IRAO – VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP. “Moreover, IRAO is building its brand platform around its membership and belonging to a big family – VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP and founding European business proceeding model on the national level,” he said.
“As a member of VIG, IRAO actively takes part in CSR annual projects initiated by our shareholders, such as: Summer Camp Art Competition for the children of VIG employees’, participation in the Competition for VIG employees, “ Recognition of Voluntary Commitment”, besides annual Social Active Day project that was initiated by Chairmen of Supervisory Board of VIG, Dr. Günter Geyer,” he added.
“We make CSR investments mainly in the fields that are of top global priorities: environmental directions and education sphere, supporting young generation – children,” Dekanosidze said.
Q. Please describe to us CSR’s perfect world, taking into account recent events. Could you please provide the list and brief description of CSR projects implemented by IRAO Insurance Company?
A. In general, corporate social responsibility is a fundamental concept that become popular since 90s, when companies or organizations decide to contribute to a better society, through environmental and social aspects. Corporate social responsibility is presented by volunteering contributions undertaken by the companies through their business activities and social commitment. Sustainability of the companies should affect on their social responsibility towards customers, employees, environment and on relationships with stakeholders.
On global level there are good examples for broad CSR activities provided by worldwide companies for encouragement of society for participation and development of social responsibility.
Thus it is very obvious that for more sufficiency and long-lasting results it is especially important to implement international or at least nationwide CSR standards. Moreover, in case there be some category of regulations to obligatory implementation of CSR projects by the private companies – it would positively reflect on social life of various countries.
What for our Company, Insurance Company IRAO is operating on the local insurance market more than 10 years and holds one of leading positions. Last years – social commitment became indispensible part of the company’s everyday life. IRAO and its employees were actively involved in various social and charity activities, such as medical support to Retirement Houses, Orphanages, Charity Blood Donation projects, Green Activities in terms of environmental issues and etc. Starting from the year 2012, CSR become one of the top priorities for our company’s strategy: our concerns over wealthy community, healthy generations and environment is embedded in our service proceeding terms and conditions of the insurance products.
Moreover in 2011, VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP, the top insurance group in Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, presented in 25 countries of the region by 50 insurance companies, became 100 % shareholder of IRAO. Since first VIG’s ancestor company was founded in Austria more than 185 years ago, awareness of responsibility, striving for sustainability and value-oriented growth became its major priorities. These priorities create the backdrop for the Group’s social commitment that comes from beginning of VIG corporate history as a matter of tradition. VIG is providing with number of social, volunteer and charity activities as in-house, as on international level – calling VIG member companies for active involvement in social corporate projects in their countries.
From the year 2013 IRAO has joined VIG Social Active Day project, when the part of the companies’ employees, including Management and all structural levels are organizing and implementing a social project, dedicated towards vulnerable members of the society: children, disabled persons, unprotected families and etc. On that ordinary working day, employees of the companies’ have on option, weather they stay at their offices or would spend it through volunteer works.
Social Active Day IRAO, November, 2013
Building Square for children of IDP’s settlement
In the frames of Social Active Day, in November, 2013, around 30 employees of IRAO (20 % of the whole staff), headed by Company’s Management, gathered at the settlement of Internally Displaced People (the victims of Georgia-Russia military conflict in 2008) in village Skra, Gori region, to spend the day with children and built a Square, as long as the infrastructure of the settlement was in terrible condition. The employees of IRAO, together with the locals and their children spent a day: cleaning, planting the Square and building the Rocking-Chair on its territory, adjacent to the Educational Center of the children. Still the Company is providing various aids to the Children’s Center and continuous it support.
Social Active Day IRAO, November, 2014
“Monk Andrea`s Foundation”
The “Monk Andrea`s Foundation” was established in the year 2011, by a mother of 17 years boy, who has died of cancer. Since then Mother Tinatin, together with the co-establishers and supporters, took care over 75 children, struggling with heaviest forms of cancer. Currently there are 28 children under Foundation support. All the children are from socially vulnerable families from various Georgian regions and besides any medical treatments and care, the Foundation insures these children with food, clothes, vacations and trips on Georgian seaside and etc. Some of the children stay in the Foundation (house) on a permanent basis, because of unbearable living conditions in their own families.
On November 28, 2014 around 25 employees of IRAO together with the Company’s Board of Directors, visited the Foundation. IRAO employees organized an entertainment event for children, delivered them gifts and necessary equipment for their proper development and rehabilitation. But the most important and positive impact of this and such events is to have a good time with children that makes proper influence on their spirit.
Starting from August 2014, according to the signed Memorandum, IRAO is providing funds to the Foundation for various needs. We believe that we continue our relations and support to the children of “Monk Andrea`s Foundation” in future.
Q. How long-term are your CSR projects?
A. CSR projects should not only refer to the compliance of human right standards, labor and be provided through one time activities. Together with the State, who is a main body to address social concerns of the population, private sector should be responding to various needs of the society on permanent basis. Consequently we made a decision to provide CSR as a stable attribute to our everyday life, embedded in our service proceeding terms, in the relations with customers and the whole society.
Q. What kind of CSR activities can be the most stable and long-term in Georgia?
A. We believe that stable and long-term CSR activities could be carried out in our country in education sphere, such providing competitions among students with further employment perspectives in the particular company or sponsoring of most distinguished ones for further academic studies abroad.
Environmental activities, such as permanent care and cleaning of particular “Green Zones”, as in capital as in other parts of Georgia and etc.
Q. How satisfied do your employees are and what is the company’s strategy to take care of its employees? How many people are employed in your company and is their number increasing or not?
A. HR sufficient policy and proper corporate governance promotes desirable organizational culture within the Company. As in other development companies, we are also striving towards improvement of the working conditions of our employees, their professional development and maintaining our team in long-term perspective. Besides, healthy corporate environment makes working atmosphere not only joyful, but also increases productivity and better performance.
Currently the number of IRAO employees is around 210 people. This year the number of the employees of IRAO has increased over 25 %.
Q. What impact do you think corporate management systems have on the Georgian economy?
A. The development of private sector and its corporate management systems have positive impact over the Georgian Economy and the country’s wealth indicators. Increased sustainability of corporate systems, as far as development of service and financial sectors, lowers an unemployment rate in the country, decreases risk factors and improves an attractiveness of the country for foreign investments.
Q. What is your company’s mission and vision?
A. The Company’s mission is to provide its customers with prompt, easy accessible and qualified insurance products and services in most rational price, based on reliable reimbursement system.
We are pursuing to permanent renewal of the existing products and services and offer our customers a unique performance based on an individual approach. We perform according to the principles of sustainable relations, transparency and professionalism.
Q. What are the major tasks and challenges for 2015?
A. Taking into account rapidly growing insurance market conditions, moreover the fact, that insurance industry becomes more popular in Georgia, when insurance products, from luxury goods transforms to necessity goods category – our major challenge is to provide our customers with appropriate innovations, adequately and timely address to their demands, therefore to maintain one of the leading positions on the market and increase our market share.
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