Siemens Ltd. Seoul - Siemens Caring Hands - Ai Sa Rang Ki Keum (= Fund to love kids)

Background to the casestudy

Initial situation

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is business management with rights and responsibilities as a social entity complying with orders of market and society, and reflection of our company’s identity and the values for which we stand. For all global companies, Corporate Social Responsibility management is not an option, but a prerequisite for business continuity for Brand Value Enhancement through differentiation, Social acceptance in a local market, and Continuous and long-term relationship and commitment in Korean society. Before we had launched this CSR program, the overall CSR activities at Siemens Ltd. Seoul (SLS) were either a global Generation21 program such as Siemens Student Program or one-time charity event without any long-term strategic objective and plans. As a result, there was no integrated message and visibility available to position Siemens in Korea strategically for its community.
While most of global companies in Korea have their CSR initiative and communication programs committed to the local society to position themselves as good corporate citizens, it was detected that it is necessary to launch more strategic and long-term local CSR program in parallel with the global CSR programs.

Relationship to core business

N/A

Intension of corporate citizenship

Description of the issue

Siemens Ltd. Seoul has been running Ai Sa Rang Ki Keum (=Fund to love kids), employee’s voluntary donation matched by the company with collaboration of Kids and Future Foundation, one of the local NGO's in Korea. The main recipients are elementary school single-parent children. There are three different categories of our own program;

- Monthly Donation; Starting from April 2007, monthly donations of KRW 10,000 (approx. USD 10) from each employee have been provided. The total donation amount is matched and provided by the company. 50 children over Seoul and suburban areas receive a sponsorship of KRW 100,000 (approx. USD 60) in a monthly basis which is used for their education.

- Monthly Home Visiting; Two or Three Siemens employees visit and meet the children on the last Wednesday of each month where they get to know each other. The purpose of this program is to strengthen the relationship between the children and Siemens employees.

- Annual Siemens Science Camp; Siemens employees and children get together to have a cultural experience outside. During the Siemens science camp, many science related programs such as air-rocket flying competition, dry ice balloon bomb and scientific experiments are provided for children to experience a variety of science education.

- Others; Gift for birthday, Children’s Day, Christmas is provided for each child.

All these activities are communicated and promoted in various internal and external communication channels such as press release, interview article, face to face meeting/workshop, online communication such as intranet and internet etc.

Target group

The main target groups of our CSR communication activities are Siemens employees and General Public.

Implementation

Strategy

Our program helps children to prepare for their future by providing them the opportunities to learn and play with stability. With the launch of Siemens Caring Hands - Ai Sa Rang Ki Keum, two major factors have been contributed to Siemens Ltd. Seoul.

First of all, since the program is based on a matching donation system where the employees total donation amount is also equally donated by the company, employees feel more attached to the company and proud for their participation. Unification among employees and the company into becoming part of this program has also shown satisfying results that fulfill management level expectations. By increasing the participation of employees through Siemens Caring Hands Ai Sa-Rang Ki-Keum, teamwork among employees and belongingness to the company is also created.

Secondly, through this program, we are able to position Siemens Ltd. Seoul as a company that cares for the society so that a positive public awareness and understanding on Siemens as a good corporate citizen in Korea is acquired. Also, the strategic message can be communicated by reflecting our company's identity and the values for which we stand in our own CSR communication activities.

Resources

The company provides a matching amount of donation to that of the employees'. This helps to engage the participation of our employees and more actively involve them in this program.

Partners

In order to manage the fund efficiently and create synergy with our business we work in collaboration with a non-profit foundation, Kids and Future (K&F). It is an independent private corporate body with total 10 employees, launched in March 2000 to create a new welfare venture in the field of social welfare. K&F provides professional social welfare services to kids who have been left behind without any support from welfare corporates, foundations and the government. Its total size of fund was KRW1.1 billion (=USD 1 million) in 2006.

K&F is a strategic partner to run this program with us and their main roles are:
1)  Announcement of recruitment and selection of Siemens Caring Hands fund recipients
2) Provision of management for Siemens Caring Hands fund recipients and their case managers.
3) Execution of the budget for Siemens Caring Hands campaign in a transparent and fair manner. Provision of advance notification to Party A on any expenditure related to Siemens Caring Hands campaign.
4) Planning and management of events participated in officers and employees jointly with Party A in relation to Siemens Caring Hands campaign. 
5) Periodic participation in meetings related to Siemens Caring Hands campaign. 
6) Assessment of performance on Siemens Caring Hands campaign and submission of corresponding report to Party A on a regular basis.
7) Support in the form of promotional activities for the effective implementation of the Siemens Caring Hands campaign.
8) Providing Party A every month with the details on donations made to Siemens Caring Hands campaign.
9) Implementation of other activities related to the project.

Challenges

Still lack of understanding and low participation among Siemens employees is a big challenge and barrier. Considering the fact that active participation from Siemens employees is essential for achieving successful results in Siemens Caring Hands - Ai Sa Rang Ki Keum, we felt that most of our employees are not proactive to participate in the program. In addition, some employees who worked in other districts and factories were not sufficiently informed about our program.

To overcome this barrier, we found it important to increase our promotional activities through employee trainings and corporate events such as the Annual Training, Newcomer Training and the Year-end Party. Moreover we continuously increased the exposure of Ai Sa Rang Ki Keum through our in-house magazine, intranet, internet and other communication media and this effort has shown some degree of results of a monthly increase of participants.

Achievement

1. An increase of monthly donations on a regular basis
Starting from 292 donators on April 2007, the number has jumped to 334 as of January 2009, which shows that employees’ interest has grown through continuous internal promotion.

2. Contributing to a better educational environment for children
- Children who receive the donations have the chance to improve and develop their education.
- We continue to receive a positive comment and feedback from the 50 children via various communication channels

3. Positive Press Coverage in the media
Strong presence in the media through our publicity activities such as 
-  Press release for CSR Signing Ceremony, April 2007: 7(Donga Ilbo, Yonhap News, Hankook Ilbo, Digital Times, Financial News, Digital Daily, Inews24)
- Press release for 2007 First Donation Ceremony, June 2007: 4 (Money Today, Yonhap News, Digital Times, Electronic Times)
- Press release for Siemens Science Camp, August 2008: 3 (KBS, Money Today, Asia Today)
- Ongoing feature articles

Lessons learned

When organizing a social welfare program, the concept should be focused on the circumstances that your region is positioned. Siemens Ltd. Seoul has provided professional social welfare services to young people who have been left behind without any support from welfare corporations, foundations or government. Another thing to keep in mind is that all activities should be based on the commitment of our employees.