Our founder’s social concern to improve the lives of his countrymen by providing them with good working conditions was one of the fundamental pillars in building our organisation from the outset.
FRICON’s social conscience was developed and guided by Mr Artur Azevedo’s personal passions and by the continuation of the family’s work to this day.
The values of philanthropy that exist in our company are thus a legacy that is nurtured from generation to generation and that leaves its mark both inside and outside the company walls.
Alongside the social purpose behind the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, there is a clear understanding of the added value of this type of investment. And that’s why we’re making our social sustainability policies ever more incisive. We are certain that these are also essential tools for accelerating our growth and success.
But little by little, a new model of social responsibility has emerged in our organisation, resulting from the desire to strategically maximise our social impact and boost the results of our interventions.
This new model, which we consider to be integrative, is determined by the synergies created with the various social actors in our community:
- social institutions, experts in their fields, who help us identify the real needs of society and define priorities, ensuring that projects are effective and relevant;
- private partners, who act as allies in providing resources and enabling projects to be boosted and their impact leveraged;
- our employees, who, when involved, perpetuate the company’s social responsibility identity and become more committed to the organisation themselves;
- the community, as a direct beneficiary of the initiatives, giving them meaning and perpetuating them;
This integrative model maximises results and promotes more effective and sustainable social transformation.
At FRICON, social responsibility projects are now the result of more than an individual motivational element, they are born from the passion of everyone who is part of the company for the cause we want to embrace, from the humility of knowing the limits of our capacities and resources and therefore seeking to fulfil them with the strategic partners we involve, from the senses awakened to the pressing needs of our community and our surroundings.
And because our social responsibility strategy is increasingly adapted to the reality of our context, its implementation takes place in a very natural way, with the involvement of all stakeholders and a clear sharing of mission and purpose.
With this intentional transformation in our organisation, it’s therefore not surprising that when we look at our figures we find a significant increase in our financial resources in the area of social inclusion over the last five years, having quadrupled since 2021, and we are also proud to see a tripling in the number of institutions covered by our social responsibility plan.
There are already more than 50 social organisations with whom we work and with whom we try together to make a difference.
This year, we have once again reinforced our strategic social responsibility plan with numerous actions, in particular the 2nd edition of the Impact Project, which kicks off in the 2nd half of the year, and which will reflect the path we believe needs to be travelled for an effective responsibility strategy, and where the power of partnerships and the community stand out.
Because we believe that only TOGETHER is it possible to build a fairer future, FRICON will continue to cultivate partnerships with impact, reinforcing its commitment to the community and to truly sustainable growth.
Article written by Luísa Ferreira, Human Resources Director at FRICON
