Slovnaftáčik

PROJECT BACKGROUND (WHAT WAS THE CHALLENGE?)

Slovnaft Group, a member of MOL Group, has more than 3,000 employees, many of them parents of small children. To facilitate mothers’/parents’ returning to work after parental leave, the Company decided to build a modern and secure kindergarten and nursery for the children of employees, near to their workplaces. Having a child close by is one of the most common requirements of parents when choosing pre-school facilities for children.

2, PROJECT HISTORY

The most important milestones of project implementation were the following:

• Survey in 2012 of employees’ needs for a corporate kindergarten and nursery – the results indicated great interest.
• Preparation of project and reconstruction of an unused building – Slovnaft invested EUR 325,000.
• Building of a playground and green field area for people from the surrounding area of Vlčie hrdlo during opening hours.

One of the biggest challenges was to find a suitable building and operator who was able to fulfill quality requirements – to provide a secure environment, manage pre-school education and create a multicultural environment (Slovakian, Hungarian and English) with native speakers/teachers.

The Slovnaftáčik kindergarten and nursery are primarily reserved for the children of Slovnaft Group´s employees, but places are also available for families from neighboring districts, thus contributing to our good relationships with neighbouring communities. Finally, the Company provides employees with a further benefit – a reduction in monthly fees of between 20% - 30%.

Project results

1, MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT (WHAT WAS THE RESULT?)

Slovnaftačik opened in August, 2013, and almost 50 children started a new period in their lives in this totally new space. By 2014, the number of children had increased to 63, 38 of whom were children of Slovnaft employees.

• Slovnaftačik provides year-round day care for children, even during the summer holidays.
• For those Slovnaft employees who placed their children in the Slovnaftačik nursery, the benefits have been:
  • Simplified journey to work
  • Simplified transport to and from the kindergarten due to its close location to Slovnaft offices and buildings
• Opening hours tailored to employee working hours: from 06:30 to 17:00
• A reconstructed old building which takes advantage of the surrounding area. For example, Slovnaftačik is the only kindergarten in Slovakia situated in the same building as a swimming pool, to which the children have access.
• Development of talented children through trilingual educational support, dance, playing musical instruments and art workshops.
• Regular safety inspections are made by employees from Slovnaft’s HSE department.
• The nursery contributes to the better well-being of employees – children are close to parents.

In 2013, Slovnaftačik kindergarten and nursery won a Via Bona Slovakia prize, a famous CSR award and our programme came first out of 52 nominations, in the “Best Employer” category.