The top five Croatian companies with the largest share of women in management in 2017 are Ericsson Nikola Tesla, AD Plastik, Optima Telekom, Zagreb Stock Exchange and Hrvatski Telekom. The latest CROBEX Women index that measures the share of women in the management of the most significant companies on the Zagreb Stock Exchange shows that the share of women in the management of leading Croatian companies in 2017 is only 17.3 percent. This represents a reduction in female representation in management by three percent in this year. The previous two years CROBEX Women index was over 20 percent.

With a 50% share of women in the management, AD Plastik belongs to the five leading companies at the Zagreb Stock Exchange. The CROBEX Women Index has been computed from 2014 by the company Selectio – a company for Human Resources Recruiting and Human Resources Management Consulting. This index makes it possible to compare Croatia with other European Union countries according to the European Commission’s report on gender equality in company management.

According to the latest available data of the European Commission from April 2016, the highest number of female managers belongs to France in the amount of 37.1 percent, Sweden 36.1 percent, Italy 30 percent and Finland 29.8 percent. These countries, along with the Netherlands with 28.1 percent, have recorded the highest growth in the number of women in management in a year. This growth averaged up to five percent.

Over the past year, the number of zero companies – companies which have no women in the management, grew by seven percent in Croatian companies within CROBEX. There are 55 percent of those companies.

As part of the 8th Conference on corporate social responsibility, organized by the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development, CSR Index awards were presented. AD Plastik was awarded with the highest progress award and President of the Management Board Marinko Došen took the award on behalf of the company.

„It is my great pleasure to receive this award because it is a confirmation of the successful implementation of socially responsible practices in our company. This award is also a great responsibility and an incentive to be even better in the future. We are aware of the responsibility towards the community and the environment in which we operate, and just as every individual should strive to live in harmony with nature, so every company should work in harmony with its environment. And that’s what we’re aiming for. We have set very high standards of quality and innovation in our business, but we have also set very high and ambitious goals for corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility is a part of our corporate governance, and in the future we will strive to be even better partners to the nature and community we work in,” said Marinko Došen.

The CSR Index is a methodology for assessing responsible practices in business of Croatian companies, created in accordance with similar global methodologies, in the first place Business in the Community CR Index. It has been remodeled as a questionnaire consisting of 119 questions from six core areas of corporate social responsibility. This assessment method enables an objective assessment of corporate social responsibility of companies and a comparison with practices of other companies.

Based on the results obtained by completing the questionnaire, Croatian Chamber of Economy and HR BCSD once a year give the award CSR Index for the successful implementation of corporate social responsibility in the category of small, medium, large and public companies.

AD Plastik Group has published third Sustainability Report for the year 2015 on its website and in such a manner it began reporting according to GRI G4 guidelines. Since this year, AD Plastik has begun to report in one-year cycles, as opposed to the former two-year cycles. For the first time, verification of content from an external specialized agency was requested, Commission of the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development gave more accurate opinion about the content of the Report.

„With its contemporary approach and design, third Sustainability Report of AD Plastik Group has met the purpose of non-financial reporting, which is to understand the needs and expectations of stakeholders regarding information and to present the non-financial impact of companies in accordance with their needs,“ says HR BCSD Commission opinion expert.

Corporate social responsibility is an integral part of corporate business and behavior in the AD Plastik Group, but it is also a tool that helps manage risks and assess the business environment in a better way. Experiences of the companies that apply corporate social responsibilityy show that they are more successful. They have more satisfied employees, business partners and the social community, and by taking care of the environment and people’s health they reduce the risks of possible crisis situations, provide better ratings in the business and social community and so on. The importance of corporate social responsibility has been recognized all over the world and the EU has also introduced a legal obligation for large companies to publish non-financial reports from the beginning of next year – for the AD Plastik Group it will be just a continuation of the ongoing reporting.

AD Plastik has been recognized as one of the most successful companies regarding corporate governance in Croatia and it has won a corporate governance excellence award. As part of the second business conference Corporate governance in Croatia, corporate governance excellence awards have been given for the first time to joint stock companies. The awards were given by a weekly magazine Lider and Governance Research and Development Centre and are based on an analysis of the results of all joint stock companies in the regular and official market of Zagreb Stock Exchange. Based on the submitted questionnaries and according to the SEECGAN methodology, assessment of corporate governance is defined.

The conference is dedicated to the important issues of corporate governance and its role in the business of trading companies and the main goal is to warn about the need and the possibilities of improving the system and practice of corporate governance in Croatia. President of the Managament Board of the AD Plastik Group Marinko Došen participated in the round table on the topic „First-rate corporate governance in Croatia – experiences of the best joint stock companies“.

„Corporate governance is extremely important for achieving top business results, as setting high standards of corporate governance and business transparency facilitates access to capital at lower costs. By means of responsible management and control over business and management functions, interests of the shareholders and all other stakeholders are protected, which represents a benefit of good corporate practice. Good corporate governance pratice is extremely important for us, especially if we take into consideration that we conduct business on several locations in several different countries. By conducting a business in accordance with the applicable regulations of the countries in which we operate, meeting the highest standards regarding organization of business and the application of modern business principles, applying and incorporating recognized international guidelines, the prerequisites for making legitimate, reponsible and optimal business decisions are fulfilled“, said Marinko Došen.

Apart from AD Plastik, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, Hrvatski telekom, Končar elektroindustrija, MIV – Metalska industrija Varaždin have also won the awards and excellence awards were also given to Podravska banka, PIK rijeka and Optima telekom. Award for the best practice of corporate governance in Croatia was given to the Atlantic Group.

Project Experience is worth more than gold allows students with disabilities to apply for an internship in the company whose nature of work complies with the direction of their studies. AD Plastik has been part of this project second year in a row considering it to be useful and necessary. This project contributes to raising the awareness of the business community and society in whole about the problems people with disabilities are facing with when getting employed.

“This is a good way to speak openly about a specific problem, but at the same time about positive practice that should serve as an example for all companies in Croatia. Through this project students with disabilities are given chance to gain practical knowledge and experience necessary for further development of their business path. This is more than enough reason to support such project,” pointed out President of the AD Plastik Group’s Management Board Marinko Došen.

When AD Plastik participated for the first time in this project, it had a very positive experience. Young female student with disabilities was enabled to undertake internship in Solin and she has provided herself a future job in this company with her commitment and effort.

At the 19th Assembly of HR BCSD, AD Plastik has become its full member. Assembly was attended by over 60 members, associates and partners who had the opportunity to hear everything about the past and future activities of HR BCSD. Considering that the Assembly was held at the premises of HEP, President of the Management Board Perica Jukić introduced the members to their sustainability report. Director of HR BCSD Mirjana Matešić informed the attendants about the work of the Governing Council and the office and introduced them to the Work Program for 2016. Apart from AD Plastik, four more members introduced themselves at the Assembly, namely PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lidl Croatia, Schneider Electric and Valamar Riviera.

The presentation and introduction of the company were held by occupational safety and general affairs director Jadranka Konta.