Ask us more

Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

A necessary premise

We have always maintained that our point of reference should be common sense rather than legal years. We've told ourselves that we're not sticklers! Principles of legality, correctness, honesty, integrity! We've told ourselves that we're influenced by the insecurity of not being or not appearing competent in front of diversity! Inclusive, right? We've told ourselves that this is in front of diversity!

But if someone has doubts, isn't it that our company has a specific "buzz under the skin"? We all get a bit paranoid when it comes to ethical, environmental presuppositions! But, first of all, we shouldn't take anything for granted, so let's not confront ourselves with our ethics.

We wanted something else to measure and how ethical this code was at the moment of reflection to bring out the balance with everyone: in some cases, to ensure it, with a work of sharing and collaboration with all our partners (who we call or champion all our "and our stakeholder partners"). We think that this defines shared values. We believe this to be a society benefit, we experience some ethical differences in empathy, we experience this difference in our simple, but best, definition of our identity.

Therefore, this code takes a concrete form, we hope useful.

Who We Are

We make sustainability come alive

Let's start from the beginning. Amapola is a consulting company specialized in sustainability strategies and projects, with a particular focus on communication. This is a positioning choice we made from our inception in 2009, proposing ourselves as the consulting and communication partner for companies that choose sustainability as a strategic value. Since late 2021, we are also a benefit corporation, a journey that involved everyone in the agency, from defining our common benefit objectives to direct operations in individual benefit projects. The helm of our common benefit is the Impact Council, which by statute is composed only of under-36s, a choice that is "political" in some ways: we entrust ourselves to younger generations and their undoubted ability to lead us toward more sustainable development.

The ethical dimension of business, as our journey demonstrates, is a fundamental aspect for Amapola, which manifests internally, toward all our people, and externally, in relation to clients, suppliers, institutions, media, environment, territory and communities.

Rather than mission and vision (which is always about the same thing anyway: surviving, trying to enjoy the journey and generate more positive than negative impacts along the way), we prefer to talk about what we do and how we do it. Our ultimate objective could be summarized in the expression "making sustainability come alive". Because it's true that sustainability must be acted upon and accomplished, but we also believe it must be shared, told, nurtured, brought to life with passion, consistency and intensity. From this conviction takes shape every consultation we provide, every strategy and project carried out, for us and for others.

For this to be possible, our interpretation of "communication" is the original one of "putting in common": messages, information and meanings, certainly, but also and above all values, to give form to discussions, confrontations, knowledge, culture.

Our Values

Three values that encompass our actions

These are the values that represent us, inspire us, and guide us. Nothing imposed from above, but the result of a moment of dialogue among all the people who are part of our reality.

Excellence

The pursuit of excellence is a journey we approach with passion, competence, and enthusiasm.

Care

Care for people, relationships and details. Attention and kindness inspire our actions.

Sharing

We generate value through sharing ideas, meanings, and objectives.

The Code of Ethics

The code of ethics has been suggested as a document written by Amapola and shared with the entire team, with the aim of defining the ethical standards that guide our behaviors and comportment that shape our actions, whether it be at the level of company, relationships with the single individual, or in practice everyday and in our relationships.

Respect the code of ethics is a duty of all people who are part of Amapola – partners, employees, collaborators – without any difference of role, seniority, headquarters, type of contract. Our team is a complex entity that needs to express itself in norms and behaviors which comply with our teams’ Ethics Code of conduct and internally through the PDF available on www.amapola.it and the constant action of internal communication that we’ve allowed to accept listening about ethics themes. The code of ethics is a dynamic document, and every project of improvement or modification comes proposed in the Board of Directors (if requested by the Board of Directors) in the context of direct vision and in the context of impact. This is a document that is also shared clearly among all new clients, the new registrations for administrative and formalization of contracts. For all external stakeholders, the code of ethics is available on the site of the company. The document is also shared clearly with all new clients, new registrations for administrative and formalization.
Amapola and all people who are part of the company work according to principles of correctness, integrity, honesty, legality, impartiality. In all relationships with all stakeholders (including competitors). A minimum and necessary foundation of life civilly as a guiding institution that benefits our commitment to save some people always more transparent, respectful of diversity and promoters of inclusion, recognizing their equality and equal opportunities, aware but also sometimes even more transparent, respectful of diversity and promotion of inclusion, recognizing and equality and equal opportunities, aware of our responsibility as well as of the widespread of sustainability culture and that respects the rules and all ethical norms of the communication sector. We also inspire our work is the most important key national and international:
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.
  • The ILO Constitution
  • Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
  • The Code of Ethics and behavior for our references for our professional (The International Code of Ethics (Codigo de Atenas) adopted by CERP – Confédération Européenne des Relations Publiques and IPRA – International Public Relations Association – includes the successive derivations – Code of Ethics of Global Alliance, Code of Autoregulation IAP.
We support, moreover, in full harmony with Global Alliance and FERPI (Federation of Public Relations Publiques Italia), the use of a 18° Goal target SDG, dedicated to responsible communication.

In Detail

For Amapola, the true value of a company is its people, with their diversity, experiences, sensitivity, and stories. We believe that dialogue is an element of growth and an experience of profound enrichment, both personal and professional: welcoming and integrating diversity, listening, opening ourselves to sharing makes us not only better people but also better professionals.
  • In our company we are committed to supporting the principles of inclusion, protecting and valuing diversity, with reference to gender, age, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religious creed, ethnicity, nationality, health, disability. Amapola also opposes any type of discrimination within the organization. The company and all its people are also committed to being “ambassadors” of diversity and inclusion externally as well: this includes the use and promotion of inclusive and non-discriminatory language in our professional interactions.
  • We are committed to building a safe, positive work environment that is open to sharing ideas and experiences, collaborative, respectful and aimed at the full realization of people. This includes training opportunities for our team, plenary assemblies for discussion and debate on priority topics (agency performance, benefit objectives, team building), periodic surveys on team happiness, annual individual meetings to explore work-related issues, requests and professional opportunities.
  • Every member of the Amapola team is committed to adopting responsible and respectful behaviors toward other members of the company, also engaging in active prevention and opposition to any form of moral and sexual harassment. Amapola adopts a zero-tolerance policy regarding moral and sexual harassment. Should situations of this type occur and the violation be verified, the procedure provides for an initial formal written warning and the adoption of protective measures for the offended person. In case of verified repetition, an urgent joint meeting of the board of directors and the gender equality committee will be convened to take appropriate disciplinary measures, which may include both dismissal and the initiation of legal action to protect the offended person and the company’s reputation.
  • Kindness is a fundamental requirement not only in relationships with clients but also in relationships among all amapolers.
  • We respect everyone’s right to disconnect.
  • We carry out our work with great attention to work-life balance. Flexibility and smart working are a real competitive advantage for us. Remote work management should only be shared with the managers of one’s area and communicated transparently through the shared calendar.
  • We pay great attention to our communication. Each of us communicates on behalf of Amapola and each of us must pay proper attention to these aspects. Every team member must communicate our projects externally (through press office activities, media relations, social activities, advertising and more) with transparency and measure, highlighting the results achieved but also anchoring them to the steps still to be taken.
  • Every person at Amapola is committed to adopting environmentally responsible behaviors: this includes adopting rational management of water and energy, sorting waste for recycling, avoiding waste (for example, we avoid all unnecessary printing).
  • No amapoler is justified in accepting gifts of any kind during their work.
  • Every person at Amapola is committed to treating the company’s equipment and resources with attention and care.
  • Our commitment to clients primarily concerns the quality of our work: the pursuit of excellence is one of the values that Amapola recognizes profoundly. This means putting at clients’ service not only competence, experience, analytical capacity, research and updating, but also listening skills, empathy and intellectual honesty, always promoting strategies and actions that we truly believe are useful for the client.
  • Relationships with clients are carried out with integrity, correctness, confidentiality, transparency. We particularly care about this last point: from defining offers to project management, from administrative aspects to meeting deadlines, we communicate with our clients in clear, understandable and accurate terms. We also commit to never omitting critical aspects and possible image and reputation risks and to compare our evaluations with those of the client. At the same time, we commit to avoiding dogmatic attitudes before getting into the details with our interlocutors.
  • With our clients, we are committed to spreading the culture of sustainability and social and environmental responsibility.
  • We pay great attention to analyzing the local identity of our clients’ businesses (including those with multiple locations and international dimensions) and to relationships with reference territories and communities.
  • Our consulting is highly personalized and therefore cannot be separated from listening and in-depth knowledge of our client.
  • For the tasks and work assigned, Amapola requires fair compensation commensurate with the quality and quantity of services offered, providing evidence of the resources activated.
  • Our consulting is carried out with precision and respect for agreed deadlines.
We have also written this in our Benefit Corporation statute: we want to be the best client for our suppliers.
  • The relationship with suppliers is carried out with correctness, honesty, integrity. This includes fair and previously agreed compensation, respect for deadlines, clarity in briefs and assignments.
  • We choose our suppliers based on quality and costs, but also taking into consideration respect for the environment, social issues and human rights.
  • We evaluate suppliers’ various offers in a fair and transparent manner.
  • The relationship with suppliers is based on dialogue and listening: every year we conduct a survey to map their satisfaction with collaboration with our company. And based on the results we adjust our approach as much as possible.
  • Collaborations with suppliers are based on continuity and the creation of synergies and partnerships, if deemed appropriate by both parties.
  • We pay attention to the local dimension of our suppliers.
Amapola and some of its people belong to professional and trade associations (mainly in the fields of sustainability and communication). We are committed to open and constructive collaboration with various networks, for co-designing partnership initiatives and sharing know-how and experiences. Furthermore, every relationship we have with these organizations, whether personal or on behalf of Amapola, is carried out with transparency, correctness and integrity, to avoid any conflict of interest or inappropriate conduct.
Amapola is committed to seeking synergies and stimulating collaborations with Benefit Corporations and B-Corps to enhance the positive impact of shared operations. In particular, we recognize the Benefit Corporation form as the reference business model for a sustainable economy. We actively participate in promoting the benefit approach also through membership in associations and participation in educational events.
In our work we often deal with media – online and offline – and with journalists. Every relationship we have is based on professional respect for respective roles, collaboration, transparency, correctness, trust, but above all credibility. This includes the commitment not to spread not only false information but also partial, misleading, deceptive, out-of-context or in any other way manipulative information. In carrying out activities for our clients, we always recognize the complete freedom of information outlets to publish or not publish news, in whole or in part. We also commit to adapting our style and language based on the reference medium.
In our relationships with institutions, we are guided by the behavioral standards described in this code of ethics. Even in the institutional sphere, our commitment is oriented toward collaboration, cultural dissemination, synergy, correctness, transparency, and respect for current regulations.
We approach relationships with our competitors with absolute respect for others’ professionalism and with honesty. We observe national and European regulations protecting free competition. We do not accept the use of illegal and unfair practices.
Becoming a Benefit Corporation is a strategic choice. It has helped us concretize our commitment to people, communities, the environment and new generations.
  • We act so that our impacts on people and the Planet are, as much as possible, positive. This means first of all analyzing them, measuring them and adapting our actions accordingly. We do this every year with our Impact Report.
  • We deal with communication: we put this expertise at the service of sustainability culture, working for its dissemination at local and national levels through pro-bono training activities and pro-bono participation in cultural dissemination events on the subject.
  • We engage in concrete projects to support local communities where we are based, ranging from pro-bono consulting for micro-entrepreneurship to support for third sector organizations, through corporate volunteering, to training on sustainability topics in local schools.
  • New generations are particularly close to our hearts. In addition to having chosen to be guided in our impact by a Council of under-36s (by statute), we actively work to facilitate young people’s entry into the workforce through projects where we put our skills at service.
  • However small our environmental impact may be, we keep it under control, always seeking new ways to limit it and be responsible: moving as much as possible in a clean way and avoiding unnecessary travel, digitalizing documents as much as possible, sorting waste and reducing the amount of our waste.
  • We consistently give voice, through our channels, to important social issues – from life in prisons to that of homeless people, from peoples suffering war to those fighting dictatorship – that cannot go unnoticed and fade after a brief moment of visibility.
All people working at Amapola are required to respect this code of ethics. It is the responsibility of Amapola’s board of directors and team leaders to constantly monitor its observance. All our people can report any violation episode to the ethics code manager at any time. The report must be made in writing. Should situations of this type occur and the violation be verified, the procedure provides for an initial verbal or written warning (based on the severity of the episode), which may be followed by a formal warning in case of repetition. The ethics code manager for Amapola is partner Gabriella Soldadino, email gabriella.soldadino@dotwords.it, a person without operational duties at Amapola, in compliance with the autonomy criterion required by current regulations.
This third edition of Amapola’s code of ethics is in force starting from January 2024. The document will be updated whenever deemed appropriate and in any case reviewed on a biennial basis. Any variation or integration must be approved first by the board of directors in joint session with the impact council and then, in final formal terms, by the board of administration.
Code of Ethics

Ask Us

for more

Do you have a sustainability project? Don't have one yet? Let's discuss it.

We're ready to support you on your ESG journey. Tell us about your challenge.

Scarica la Brochure Amapola