Case study: How Sicredi creates economic value for its stakeholders
Sicredi (Cooperative Credit System) is Brazil’s first cooperative financial institution, working, since 1902, to support its members’ growth and bring sustainable development to the communities where it is present. Through its financial and non-financial services Sicredi seeks to create sustainable value for members, employees and the communities where it operates Tweet This!, supporting the sustainable development of society.
This case study is based on the 2021 Sustainability Report by Sicredi, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
For Sicredi, sustainability is business management focused on enhancing positive economic, social and environmental impacts, reducing adverse impacts and generating long-term value for members, employees, the community and other stakeholders. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Sicredi took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for capital providers
- create economic value for the government
- create economic value for local suppliers
- create economic value for communities
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Sicredi has identified;
- How Sicredi up proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Sicredi to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report Sicredi identified a range of material issues, such as diversity and inclusion, eco-efficient management, financial inclusion, integrated risk management. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Sicredi.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Sicredi engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics Sicredi engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Members, nucleus coordinators, board members and credit unions and entities that make up the System | · Assemblies · Sustainability report · Net Promoter Score (NPS) Survey · Corporate citizenship actions · Institutional visits organised by credit unions for CAS |
| Regulatory bodies, government, suppliers, and unions | · Face-to-face Assemblies · Sustainability report · Official notices |
| Employees, community, press and influencers
| · Climate survey · Internal notices · Satisfaction surveys · Assemblies · Sustainability report · Corporate citizenship actions · National Journalists Meeting · Meetings and relationship actions with the press and opinion leaders |
| Woccu, Confebras, ACI, ACI Américas, ICBA, OCB System Frencoop, Sister Society Brasil and Global Women’s Leadership Network, Banco Central do Brasil, Febraban and ANBIMA | · Sustainability report · Monthly meetings · Official announcements · Entities that promote sustainability corporate structure such as the Global Compact
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What actions were taken by Sicredi to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report Sicredi reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Sicredi paid BRL 3,806,847 thousand for salaries and employee benefits.
- Creating economic value for capital providers
- In 2021, Sicredi paid BRL 338,031 thousand to capital providers.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2021, Sicredi paid BRL 893,353 thousand to the government.
- Creating economic value for local suppliers
- In 2021, Sicredi’s total spending with local suppliers was R$850.7 million.
- Creating economic value for communities
- In 2021, Sicredi spent BRL 7,218 thousand in community investments.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Sicredi, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
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