Purpose of the Award: The purpose of the Lithuanian Annual CSR Award is to
raise awareness of and encourage good CSR practice among companies in
Lithuania – therefore every step in the Award Process should be designed to
reflect these goals.
Format of the Award: There will be three award categories, each with three
sub-categories rewarding SMEs, large national, and foreign-owned multinational
companies separately.
In this report, four award category options are proposed, to be selected at
the discretion of the Ministry. These are:
Being an Employer of Choice - recognizing companies for the quality of their
workplace conditions and their level of attractiveness to potential employees;
Valuing and Utilization of Diversity - recognizing companies for valuing and
utilizing diversity among employees and customers for business success, and
as a contribution to fostering diversity in society;
Adding Value to Local & Global Community - recognizing the quality of value
brought by companies to both the local and global communities;
Best Overall Social Responsibility Performance - recognizing the company
with not only top scores in the above categories, but also demonstrating
most visible progress in its overall CSR development.
Evaluation criteria: Following the example of leading cases, this award is
designed to reward companies’ overall CSR strategies and performance as
regards the different award categories, and not specific initiatives or projects.
Therefore, the evaluation criteria aim to evaluate the level of integration into
the business, from strategy into operations, aiming for effective and concrete
improvements, aligned to the needs of the business and its stakeholders.
This approach may seem “advanced” for the Lithuanian business
environment, where CSR has only recently been introduced; however, in
accordance with the expectations of the UNDP and the Ministry, this award
model is purposefully designed so that the process of applying for the award
is in itself an important support to the development of the companies’ CSR
understanding, thinking and actions. The intention is that these
developments will accelerate and become increasingly tangible over the next
years, with the yearly repetition of the award.
Thus, the evaluation process will focus on the following criteria:
1. Identification of CSR issues: What key CSR issues has the company
identified relating to the award categories? What issues are not being
addressed and why?
2. Engagement with stakeholders: Have key stakeholders been engaged
with? How?
3. Development of strategic direction, action plan and KPIs: What
strategic directions, action plans and KPIs have been put in place?
4. Implementation & monitoring of progress: Have these action plans
been implemented and has monitoring of progress been done? How
successfully have targets been met?
5. Reporting, gathering & integration of feedback: What reporting &
gathering of feedback has been done? How have these been integrated
into next steps?
When evaluating submissions, determining factors will be the format of the
submission form, that must effectively support the companies in
demonstrating how they have been working strategically with the award
issues; and the quality, breadth and commitment of the judging panel, whom
must have the ability to evaluate the submissions relative to the specific
contexts of the submitting companies, while effectively representing a wide
range of stakeholder constituencies and their interests and needs.
AWARD CATEGORY OPTION 1: Being an Employer of Choice
This category recognizes companies for the quality of their workplace
conditions and level of attractiveness to potential employees. A successful
entry will detail the strategies, supported by specific and measurable
CATEGORY 2: etc...
The 5 criteria areas follow the five steps in the CSR Implementation and
Improvement Process. These are:
1. Identification of CSR issues
2. Engagement with stakeholders
3. Development of strategic direction, action plan and KPIs
4. Implementation & monitoring of progress
5. Reporting & gathering of feedback
For explanation of each step, see Diagram 1: CSR Implementation and
Improvement Process.
Many of us know the feeling of getting our car insurance bill and thinking, "Again!? Didn't I just pay this!?" Car insurance is one of those unavoidable (in most states) expenses. AOL Autos wanted to find out from an insider exactly what goes into those prices and what we can do to keep our car insurance costs down. We talked to Patrick Lawson, a 25-year veteran auto insurance agent. The
Bottom Line: Premiums
Have you ever wondered how they come up with these numbers? Lawson mentioned the common factors like age, sex, car type and driving record but also noted a new, little known factor. "Companies are now, of all things, checking credit because people with poor credit, statistically, can be susceptible to more claims," he said. He explained that some people in these cases are more apt to file a claim instead of settling it themselves because they might not have the means to handle it any other way. "Insurance is nothing but numbers, and that's all the industry has to go on is how they make these number come out. And the numbers suggest that people with less-than-perfect credit, sometimes, have a higher probability of claims," says Lawson. Regardless of good credit or bad credit, he always recommends that people shop around for car insurance, "Even if you have pristine credit, some companies put more of a value on credit than others," he said. "You can't make a blanket statement, but what you can say is it pays for everybody to shop around a little bit because it's well worth it." He said that some car insurance companies have bad experiences with drivers and some have more positive experiences so, "You as a consumer, have the job to find the ones that are having the good experiences." Once you find a car insurance company that provides the services you're looking for, keep in mind that the prices themselves are fixed by the insurance company, so haggling with your agent is out of the question. "Whatever the price is, it is," he said.
Some Things to Avoid
Many of us have let someone else borrow our car for a short time. Maybe we're hurt and can't drive, a friend needs a car for the day, or we simply just don't feel like driving. Lawson told AOL Autos that lending your car to the wrong person can be a big mistake. "You should always be careful who you let drive your vehicle. You just don't arbitrarily say, 'Hey take the keys and go' because you don't know what that person is doing, you don't know their driving record, you may not even know if they have a license," says Lawson. He explained that if you lend your car to an unauthorized person and they get into an accident, your car insurance company might do everything it can to get out of settling the claim. This is especially important for parents who have their kids named on their policy as drivers. Sometimes their kids let their friends drive the vehicle as well. "As a rule of thumb, only the names of insured persons should ever give permission and only in extenuating circumstances, don't use it as carte blanche," Lawson said. Speaking of things to avoid, we asked him if buying a red sports car was out of the question. "Here's a real misnomer about auto insurance, people say if you get a red sports car, that's like the kiss of death. Color has absolutely nothing to do with whether you get a speeding ticket or you don't," he said. If two cars are going 85 mph in a 65 mph zone, the police are not more likely to pull one over and issue a ticket because that car is red, Lawson said. When Lawson was studying to become a car insurance agent, he said the instructors made it a point to tell students that the red car theory is a falsehood. The real problem with speeding tickets has to do with the drivers themselves, not the color of the car. "Some insurance companies are only equipped to deal with you if you get two tickets in a three year period. If you pick up three, you've gotten out of their underwriting mode where they're not going to renew you," he said. If your tickets (or accidents) build up, some companies will drop you because you're a risk. In some cases, drivers just don't have any control over what happens when they get into their vehicles. Hitting a deer one too many times or being rear-ended on more than one occasion, can also affect your car insurance rate. "You hate to say it but that's almost the case," Lawson said. "Being at the wrong place at the wrong time can come back to bite you." Lawson acknowledged that it may not be fair that insurance companies handle certain people this way. Even if there's no real reason why some people get into more accidents than others, the fact is their claims cause companies to lose money. Another thing to avoid is lying to your auto insurance agent. If you think he doesn't know about your tickets and accidents, think again. He's had a few people tell him their driving record, minus a few small details. He'll look up their record on the computer and, "They'll watch it print," he said, "and I've had a couple people just get up and gather their belongings and just walk out because they know they're dead in the water." The Serious Side of Auto Insurance
With 25 years under his belt, Lawson has seen a lot. He talked about a family who came into his office wanting to purchase motorcycle insurance for a first-time bike owner, their 16-year-old son. They showed him a picture of the bike they were purchasing, a bike he described as, "A crotch rocket that does 0-60 as fast as you can sneeze." He told the mother that it was a mistake, but she emphasized how safe her son was going to be. He told her, "Ma'am, I don't want to be inappropriate or hurt anyone's feelings, but this is a death claim waiting to happen. When you take a fast motorcycle on an inexperienced operator, you're begging for problems." The first weekend the kid was on the bike, he lost control on a rural road, became airborne and totaled the bike. He spent some time in the hospital and later recovered. The mom called Lawson after the accident. "They called me up and the lady was crying and said, 'Why in the world did we not listen to you?' What do you say to something like that," Lawson asked, "You can't say anything except, 'I'm sorry it happened,' and ask 'how is he?'" Motorcycles aren't the only dangerous thing on the roads though. Drivers who talk on their cell phones and send text messages cause accidents as well. Lawson knows firsthand the dangers of these distractions. A close friend of his was permanently disabled when a woman dropped her cell phone on the passenger floor and swerved into his lane when she tried to pick it up. The woman didn't have adequate insurance and his friend ended up being bankrupt by the medical bills. "I think all the states should raise the minimum liability limits and require that all states make auto insurance mandatory," he said. Chances are, most of us live in a state where car insurance is mandatory. By keeping your credit score in check (or working to improve it), shopping around for a car insurance company that fits your needs and avoiding mishaps like speeding tickets and accidents, you'll be able to keep the cost of your car insurance down. Also make sure to know what your current car insurance policy covers. You may have coverage that you don't need like windshield replacement or tow truck coverage. Adjust your coverage to get the car insurance that you need, with the price that matches your budget.