INTERAMERICAN

To institutionalize volunteering in social responsibility for employees and Sales Network partners by organizing and developing activities for the “Volunteers for Life” team, and instituting the awards “Volunteer for Life” and “Social Responsibility”. 

INTERAMERICAN encourages and utilizes the willingness of employees and Sales Network partners to contribute to society for no  material gain by steering individual volunteering into organized collective action and by creating a resulting force of Active Citizens, where the individual sense of community is given collective expression. For this purpose, INTERAMERICAN created the “Volunteers for Life” team in 2010, which is getting bigger and more dynamic by the year. 

Through “Volunteers for Life” the concept of volunteering has acquired significant value in INTERAMERICAN broadening the notion of participation, a goal strategically promoted by the Company in employment matters. 

All employees of the INTERAMERICAN Group and the holding company ACHMEA and all Sales Partners with exclusive agreements with the Group are eligible for “Volunteers for Life” membership. 

It began in 2010, has been firmly established and is ongoing.

Volunteering is a powerful notion for INTERAMERICAN laying the foundations for developing a social-minded culture. Volunteering is a life value for workers providing a counterweight to the trend of contemporary societies to measure everything according to economic value. For INTERAMERICAN, volunteering goes beyond its traditional forms (charity, mutual assistance associations); it generates dynamic and active engagement with volunteers being involved in the activities of agencies and organizations.

The institution of “Volunteers for Life” indicates organized and systematic participation of Company staff in CSR initiatives while allocating the team’s potential in sub-groups based on the individual choices of “Volunteers for Life”. Volunteer categories follow the five thematic areas of social contribution according to the “Acts of Life” project.  

Participants in the “Volunteers for Life” initiative have accepted and “endorsed” the principles of the “Volunteers for Life” Code of Principles and pledged themselves to the following: 

“As a Member of INTERAMERICAN’s community of people I wish to draw inspiration from a common goal and destination shared by my colleagues. My participating in the social and environmental responsibility project “Acts of Life” reflects my emotional commitment to fulfilling that wish”. 

“Volunteers for Life” may participate in one or more sub-groups. As moral incentives for participation the following annual Awards have been instituted: 

1.“Volunteer for Life” Award for Company’s staff. 
2.Corporate Social Responsibility Award for Sales Network Coordinators. 
3.“Volunteer for Life” Award for Company’s sales partners. 

Award winners are selected by INTERAMERICAN’s CSR Committee which is supervised functionally by the Executive Committee. 

The “Decalogue” or Code of Principles of “Volunteers for Life” includes the basic tenets that govern this initiative by INTERAMERICAN and define the framework of action for volunteers: 

1.“Volunteers for Life” are aware of and agree with the basic concept of INTERAMERICAN’s Corporate Social Responsibility project “Acts of Life” which consists in creating and returning value back to society. 

2.“Volunteers for Life” membership is seen as a gear for building relationships of solidarity, amicable communication and collaboration with colleagues in matters of common interest regarding social and environmental responsibility. 

3.They recognize that CSR should be in line with the principles of corporate governance, customer centricity and compliance with effective legislation in every respect to ensure economic prosperity for INTERAMERICAN and a balanced satisfaction of stakeholders.  

4.They act as ambassadors for the idea of social and environmental responsibility and support the development of this idea at every opportunity. 

5.They have declared their availability in writing, depending on the practicalities of each event, for participating in events in one of INTERAMERICAN’s five thematic CSR initiatives. 

6.They may direct written proposals, in line with the “Acts of Life” project, to the Company’s responsible Public Relations & CSR Departments to be implemented in CSR initiatives. 

7.They enjoy priority preference inside the Company for special purpose offers-contributions pertaining to the area in which they engage as “Volunteers for Life”. 

8.“Volunteers for Life” membership is seen by the Company as a prerequisite for further involvement of volunteers in wider social and environmental actions through the network of agencies the Company participates in (Greek CSR Network, etc.).

9.“Volunteers for Life” may renounce their membership by way of a simple written statement without having to provide their reasons (although they are encouraged to do so) returning their Membership Badge at the same time. 

10.All Group and holding company ACHMEA employees and all sales partners with exclusive agreements with the Group may join “Volunteers for Life”. Membership is automatically cancelled if the employment or the partnership agreement is interrupted for any reason whatsoever due to practical issues of communication and coordination.

Not applicable – implemented internally by Interamerican.

This action is addressed to and regards exclusively INTERAMERICAN’s employees and partners. 

All INTERAMERICAN activities in Greece are included. 

Overall, INTERAMERICAN currently has 390 “Volunteers for Life” taking into account struck-out members according to by-laws (departures from the Company, and other reasons). Annual developments are depicted in detail in the table below:

“Volunteers for Life”          2010    2011    2012    2013    2014    2015
Administrative Staff               38       52        24        13       19       32
Sales Network Partners          53      113       17        23         4        2
Total                                     91      165       41       36        23      34

The Company stands to gain multiple benefits from deploying “Volunteer for Life” actions: 

• Ties between employees and Company are strengthened. 
• Reinforced spirit of cooperation between colleagues. 
• Colleagues develop ties through the unique experiences they gain. 
• The Company achieves an organized contribution to society and to fellow human beings through the CSR actions it organizes. 

Noteworthy in this respect are the findings of the recent Staff Opinion Survey that 84% of employees believe that INTERAMERICAN’s project of responsibility for society and the environment is important and should be constantly improved. Furthermore, the above Survey found that 63% of employees think that the “Volunteers for Life” scheme strengthens the ties of employees with the Company.