What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2018-2019 Sustainability Report Landmark Group identified a range of material issues, such as packaging, circularity, carbon footprint, product quality, health and safety, chemical and waste management. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Landmark Group.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Landmark Group engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics Landmark Group engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Partners	·      Supplier selection and onboarding ·      Progress meetings ·      Emails, phone calls and meetings ·      Appreciation events
Environment	·      Monitoring Landmark Group’s environmental footprint ·      Addressing circularity of fashion ·      Environmentally-friendly sourcing of materials ·      Preserving natural resources ·      Sustainability team
Customers	·      Specialised customer service teams ·      Stores, outlets, malls and online ·      Social networks ·      Customers satisfaction surveys ·      Call centres, emails and phone calls ·      Advertisements, promotions and press releases ·      Loyalty programmes
Community	·      Community programmes and initiatives ·      Cooperation with NGOs ·      Social networks and events ·      Philanthropy and sponsorships
People	·      Employee engagement surveys ·      Training and development programmes ·      Internal communications ·      Volunteer programmes ·      Face-to-face meetings ·      Emails, calls and instant messaging software ·      Performance management programmes

What actions were taken by Landmark Group to promote employee development?

In its 2018-2019 Sustainability Report Landmark Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Promoting frontline development
• Landmark Group’s frontline programmes include:
  • Learn and grow: Career training for sales associates, supervisors and store managers that includes 70% on-the-job training, 20% coaching with managers and 10% workshops and e-learning. In Saudi Arabia, succession role assessments were piloted for 1,000 store managers.
  • Store leadership programme: Redefines capabilities of store managers as customer- and business-focused whilst improving their work environment. In financial year 2018-19, 986 Store Leaders participated with 101 High Potentials identified to progress to the next level in their career.
  • Career passport: Tracks career progression of store employees offering a structured plan for skill development. It ensures managers have a comprehensive overview of employee performance over a long period of time, and not just on their recent achievements.
  • Race: Retail Academy for Career Enhancement are certified courses to create a talent pool for critical roles, while upskilling and retaining existing talent coaches.

• Fostering functional development
• Landmark Group’s functional programmes include:
  • Analytics teams: Capacity-building online and classroom courses for 95 data analytics employees and customer experience optimisation sessions for 25 senior leaders.
  • Finance teams: Landmark Group worked with PwC to standardise finance processes across the Group and deliver workshops for 100 finance managers.
  • Planning teams: Learn and Grow for planning and digitalising planning fundamentals for scalability, linked to career path. Knowledge assessment scores went from 39% to 85% and individual development plans were created for all 126 planners.
  • Buying teams: Landmark Group worked with Trendstop and WGSN on workshops for 35 buyers from its fashion and shoe divisions on trends, product direction, commercial range building and setting strategic buying plans.
  • Warehouse teams: Emerging Supervisor Development Programme trains supervisors, managers and senior managers on supervisory skills.

• Promoting leadership development
• In 2018-19, 199 Landmark Group mid-senior leaders were enrolled in a Group Leadership Development in Landmark Middle East. Landmark Group also partnered with SP Jain Institute of Management & Research and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to support growth and career development of High Potential employees, co-delivered with an internal faculty of leaders. 86 High Potentials took part in a nine-month blended programme of workshops, mentoring, action learning projects and coursework. 24 of the 51 midlevel High Potentials and 12 of the 35 senior-level High Potentials were promoted or moved roles during or within six months of completing the programme. Other programmes included Emerging Leaders for mid-level managers and Leaders Coaching Leaders, to equip employees with the ability to play a proactive role in the development of Landmark talent. Landmark India’s Executive Coaching Creating Leaders programme identifies senior leaders through one-on-one coaching. A detailed skill assessment exercise is conducted to identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses, with bespoke development plans created with assigned coaches.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

 

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Landmark Group, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Landmark Group: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report HSH identified a range of material issues, such as guest engagement and communications, diversity and inclusion, physical and data security, climate change adaptation, human rights. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for HSH.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 HSH engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Employees

Guests

Community and NGOs

Financial analysts and investors

Government and regulators

Media

Lenders

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics HSH engaged with its stakeholders through webinars and calls with executive and sustainability committees in its global operations, as well as discussions with several non-governmental organisations, think tanks, sustainability experts and regulators.

What actions were taken by HSH to promote employee development?

In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report HSH reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Implementing a Corporate Management Training (CMT) programme
• A bespoke initiative that develops HSH’s emerging talent, HSH’s CMTs come from eight countries and have worked an average of 4.4 years in seven operations across eight functions during their programme. In addition, HSH’s traineeship (interns and management trainees) programmes saw 904 positions being filled globally in 2019.

• Promoting cross-exposure
• HSH’s cross-exposure programme allows employees to understand different operations and cultures. It also provides the host operations with the opportunity to work with people of different nationalities. In 2019, HSH organised more than 84 global cross-exposure opportunities, and was pleased to have received feedback that these were extremely beneficial and rewarding for the participants. In particular, HSH’s Beijing team hosted 10 colleagues from Paris for three weeks to share their knowledge of a different operation and culture.

• Enabling staff to explore new career opportunities
• HSH is in the process of preparing for Peninsula hotel openings in London, Yangon and Istanbul. As part of its employee development strategy, HSH created an internal website specifically for its staff to explore possible career opportunities at its new hotels. HSH is offering hotel opening opportunities for trainees, where recently graduated students will have the chance to work before becoming part of the pre-opening team.

• Providing training
• In 2019, there was a strong focus by HSH on training programmes, with 23,000 registrations of different online training modules – the equivalent of three online modules per employee. Of these modules, around 320 were bespoke training programmes created uniquely for HSH.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by HSH, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to HSH: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report Attica Group identified a range of material issues, such as passenger safety, CO2 emissions, responsible communication and sales, sea pollution, products and services quality. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Attica Group.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Attica Group engages with: 

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Events / Meetings ·      Training ·      Negotiations with Employee Unions (through Greek Shipowners Association for Passenger Ships – SEEN) ·      Corporate Intranet
Shareholders	·      Shareholders General Assembly (annually/extraordinary) ·      Websites ·      Meetings
Customers	·      Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) ·      Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) ·      Customer Services Division ·      Websites ·      Satisfaction / Complaints Questionnaires ·      Social media ·      Information leaflets
Sales Network	·      Events / Meetings ·      Information systems ·      Travel agents’ online portal ·      Websites
Suppliers	·      Supplier evaluation ·      Meetings ·      Contracts
State	·      Discussion with representatives at local and national level ·      Meetings / Presentations ·      Participation in organisations and associations ·      Vessel inspections ·      Formal communication
Associations and Unions	·      Participation in associations ·      Meetings / Presentations ·      Discussion with representatives at local and national ·      level ·      Formal communication
Local Communities	·      Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) ·      Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) ·      Meetings / Presentations ·      Local events and programmes
Citizens	·      Qualitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years) ·      Quantitative Greek Domestic Lines Survey (every 2-3 years ·      Websites ·      Social media
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)	·      Collaborations ·      Meetings / Presentations
Media	·      Press releases ·      Press conferences ·      Websites

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Attica Group engaged with its stakeholders through relevant surveys.

What actions were taken by Attica Group to promote employee development?

In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report Attica Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Implementing an annual Training Plan
• To design its annual Training Plan, Attica Group considers identified training needs, responsibilities and requirements for every job position and changes in the shipping industry (e.g. legal framework). Attica Group delivers a wide range of training programmes and seminars for its marine and office employees each year, which indicatively include:
  • Marine employees:
    • Corporate Responsibility (e.g. responsible procurement)
    • Foreign languages
    • Safety and security issues.
    • Response to pollution incidents
    • Fire fighting
    • Cleaning processes
  • Office employees:
    • Shipping
    • Finance / Taxation (e.g. International Financial Reporting Standards)
    • Management issues (e.g. Strategy, Corporate Governance, Protection of Personal Information, Human Resources, Internal Audit, Legal)
    • Information Technology
    • Marketing
    • Foreign languages
    • Safety
    • Corporate Responsibility (e.g. environmental protection)
    • First Aid
    • Digitisation
    • Cybersecurity
  • Within 2019, Attica Group:
    • Conducted trainings on its human rights policies and processes to 2 office employees, with a total duration of 80 training hours
    • Conducted training programmes on Corporate Responsibility issues to its office employees, with the participation of 13% of employees, 92% of Managers and 96% of Directors and Top Management members, as well as to marine employees, with the participation of 1% of vessel Officers and 6% of Master and Senior Officers
    • Included Corporate Responsibility issues in 3 in-house training programmes related to environmental management, responsible procurement and responsible communication issues
    • Trained 10 marine employees on safety and Corporate Responsibility issues
    • Conducted training programmes on digitisation with a total duration of 230 training hours

• Applying a Performance Appraisal System
• Attica Group implements a Performance Appraisal System for its office and marine employees, with a three-phase Performance Appraisal System for office employees to identify their strengths and areas for improvement and improve their overall performance. The Performance Appraisal System for office employees consists of 5 main areas:
  • Performance Criteria
    • Personal Objectives
    • Performance Standards (one of which is Compliance with Procedures)
    • Attributes (Common Attributes and Team Leading Position Attributes)
  • Appraisal Summary
  • Employee Professional Requirements
  • Training and Development Activities
  • Comments
• At the same time, Attica Group appraises all vessel Officers and marine employees (including employees whose employment tenure onboard its vessels has expired) four times per year, in order to ensure efficient crew selection and proper vessel manning. The appraisal results are included in a relevant Report which is forwarded to the Marine Personnel Department and assesses marine employees’ performance, skills and diligence throughout their service onboard Attica Group’s

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

3) Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

 

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Attica Group, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Attica Group: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2018-19 Sustainable Development Report HZL identified a range of material issues, such as water management, health and safety, local employment, energy and climate change. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for HZL.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 HZL engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Intranet, in-house newsletters ·      Training programme ·      Town hall meetings between senior management and employees ·      Employee surveys (annual) ·      Suggestion scheme ·      Appraisal meetings ·      Suraksha Chaupals
Customers	·      Customer servicing and feedback collation ·      Marketing activities ·      Online engagement through Website ·      Biannual customer satisfaction survey ·      Customer query resolution ·      Tailor-made value propositions on customer demand
Suppliers	·      Contract negotiations, Supplier Code of Conduct, policies and standards ·      Supplier meetings ·      Supplier Sustainability assessment ·      Vendor due diligence ·      Pre-qualification meetings
Communities	·      Social contribution/CSR activities ·      Public hearings ·      Community impact assessment surveys ·      Complaints and grievances mechanisms
Government	·      Advocacy through trade and industry bodies ·      Close engagement with regulators, local administration, inspection bodies on a regular basis ·      Regulatory and legal compliance
Shareholders/Investors	·      Financial results declaration (quarterly) ·      Annual General Shareholders Meetings (annual) ·      Investor Relations events, one-on-one meetings ·      Disclosure tools, including Annual Reports, Sustainability Reports, website ·      Complaints and grievances

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics HZL engaged with its stakeholders through various means, including one-to-one discussion, focus group discussion and an online survey. Approximately 851 stakeholders were consulted.

What actions were taken by HZL to promote employee development?

In its 2018-19 Sustainable Development Report HZL reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Promoting on-the-job training
• In order to seamlessly integrate with the culture of the organisation, HZL’s young engineers and trainees undergo a robust and extensive 45-day induction programme. The purpose of the induction programme is to engage the millennials through paperless onboarding, online weekly assessments, merit-based posting allocations and live projects. To facilitate sharing of knowledge and learnings, an online knowledge portal has been developed. HZL’s people use the portal to post their success stories, the solutions they adopted for solving problems during critical situations and their overall learning and development at work.

• Implementing the Leadership Development Programme
• HZL’s ‘Leadership Development Programme’ (LDP) for Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Heads aims at developing potential business leaders. The programme offers a series of management and operational modules for the senior management. Spread over six to eight months, it covers aspects such as coaching, leadership, team building and problem-solving. HZL has identified over 400 candidates, who are being developed on a fast track growth path through various initiatives such as Internal Growth Workshops and the Accelerated Competency Tracking & Up Gradation Programme (ACT UP). In addition to this, 17 top level executives were identified as future leaders and went through customised coaching programmes in FY 2019.

• Providing life-skills training
• HZL believes that empowering employees with technical training alone, is insufficient if they have to truly grow and remain competitive. Hence, HZL lays emphasis on enhancing business acumen and other life-skills through various in-house programmes such as external residential training and onsite visits, among others. HZL collaborates with renowned training providers and chooses partners after detailed evaluation of the training content and delivery method.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by HZL, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to HZL: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Progress Report UPS identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, data privacy, workforce diversity, digital and physical asset security. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for UPS.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 UPS engages with:  

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Customers	·      Customer Satisfaction Survey ·      Quarterly Business Reviews and regular meetings ·      Market research ·      UPS.com ·      Social media ·      UPS-sponsored events ·      UPS drivers
Active and Retired Employees	·      UPS Culture Survey ·      Business Resource Groups ·      Daily prework communications meetings ·      Health & Safety Committees ·      UPSers.com and UPSers Connect ·      Social media ·      Union representatives ·      Joint labour-management committees ·      Town Hall meetings
Policymakers and Government Officials	·      Global advocacy and relationship building ·      Multifaceted thought leadership strategy ·      Facility visits and targeted outreach ·      Collaborative partnerships
Investors	·      Investor conferences ·      Quarterly earnings communications ·      Shareholder meeting ·      Annual report ·      Proxy statement ·      Ratings and rankings ·      Investor website
Communities	·      The UPS Foundation ·      Employee Volunteer Programme ·      Community involvement committees ·      Humanitarian relief and resilience activities
NGOs	·      Regular dialogue ·      Topic-specific conferences and events
Suppliers	·      Top Supplier meetings ·      Supplier Diversity Strategy, including conferences, events, training, and other programming ·      Research and development of alternative vehicle technologies ·      One-on-one meetings with suppliers, including assessments and reviews

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics UPS engaged with its stakeholders through structured interviews.

What actions were taken by UPS to promote employee development?

In its 2019 Sustainability Progress Report UPS reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Implementing an Education Assistance programme
• Through the Education Assistance programme UPS helps its people finance their education through one of the more generous tuition reimbursement programmes in the marketplace. Students can use up to $25,000 for their education and attend school while working part-time or full-time at UPS. This is an important recruiting and retention tool. Since the programme began in 1997, UPS has invested in the college tuition of more than 300,000 employees, including more than 13,000 in 2019. When it comes to ongoing development, UPS focuses on a more self-directed development model in which UPSers and their managers collaborate to determine the most beneficial training programmes and development opportunities on an individual basis. Training and development opportunities include constructive feedback, coaching, and counselling from managers and co-workers. Employees receive formal and informal development delivered through live and virtual classrooms, on-the-job training, committee participation, and special assignments. Additionally, self-development opportunities are available around the clock through an extensive eLearning library in UPS University, an enterprise-wide learning management system and component of UPS’s global talent management system, My Talent Centre. In 2019, UPS invested more than $1 billion in training programmes, and UPSers dedicated more than 17 million hours in training at an average investment-per-learner of approximately $1,190.

• Evaluating employee performance
• UPS’s management teams prepare and identify meaningful career development plans throughout the year, utilising performance discussions, assessments on leadership skills and UPS values, and constant feedback. To develop plans for future growth, management employees identify areas of interest, aspirations, and opportunities for career progression. Through regular discussions, assessments, and feedback, employees determine their strengths and opportunities, and are encouraged to focus on career goals. In 2017, UPS embarked on an enterprise-wide initiative involving the redesign of many talent management processes and the implementation of a newly integrated technology platform. This initiative included comprehensive behaviour training on managing performance and career development to help effectively execute the new processes. In 2019, 99 percent of women and men in senior and middle management roles in the U.S. received regular performance reviews.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

2) Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

 

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by UPS, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to UPS: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?            

In its 2018-2019 Sustainability Report Bapco identified a range of material issues, such as health, safety and wellbeing, value generation and distribution, emergency preparedness, human rights, asset integrity. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Bapco.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Bapco engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Government and Regulatory Authorities	·      Formal review of company strategy and plan with third parties, including reporting on the outputs of internal governance activities where appropriate ·      Regular coordination meetings ·      Direct meetings and consultation with regards to compliance and planning of new projects ·      Bapco website, emails and letters ·      Conferences, forums and workshops ·      Events and other outreach campaigns regularly coordinated with relevant government authorities
Financiers and insurers	·      Face-to-face meetings and conference calls ·      Written communication through letters and emails ·      Site visits and inspections
Suppliers and contractors	·      Formal joint venture arrangements for projects ·      Meetings with suppliers, as mandated in relevant procurement management procedures ·      Audits and other formal feedback mechanisms on contractor performance ·      Established supplier agreements ·      Formal feedback from vendors and suppliers
Customers	·      Meetings, including direct face-to face meetings and regional sector meetings ·      Daily communications, including emails and telephone calls ·      Customer feedback
Non-Governmental Organisations and academia	·      Joint research projects and Memoranda of Understanding, including collaboration with Ph.D. students to develop innovative solutions ·      Direct meetings, company events and campaigns
Local communities	·      Focus group meetings with local community representatives, specifically for BMP, including special interest groups such as the elderly and the disabled ·      Emails, telephone calls and social media (including WhatsApp and Instagram) ·      Visual material presentation, e.g. billboards ·      Media outreach through TV and Radio ·      Company publications in the Arabic language weekly Star magazine and English language Islander ·      Targeted campaigns
Local industries	·      Direct face-to-face and regional meetings, including regular established networking committee meetings ·      Conferences, forums and workshops
Employees	·      Forums and events which run throughout the year ·      Regular meetings at all levels of the organisation ·      Communication using a variety of media, including the Bapco intranet portal, the large electronic screen placed at the Refinery main entrance, desktop screensavers, departmental posters, and various Company information boards

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Bapco engaged with its stakeholders through internal stakeholder workshops.

What actions were taken by Bapco to promote employee development?

In its 2018-2019 Sustainability Report Bapco reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Offering internal and external training programmes
• Bapco’s Learning and Development Department offers a wide range of internal and external training programmes to Bapco’s employees. Bapco reports on a yearly basis the total number of employees trained, the total number of training programmes and the total learning hours, and continues to add new training programmes that will help the personnel and support the professional development of its employees. Bapco has also created the ‘Seed’ programme, under which employees who propose an idea receive a recognition award if their idea is adopted. During 2018-2019 the average hours of training per year per employee increased from 31 to 39 hours.

• Implementing a Performance Management Process
• Bapco implements a Performance Management Process (PMP), which is a tool that helps management and the individual employee to plan, manage, document, and evaluate their performance. One of the key elements of the PMP is the performance agreement, which is a ‘smart’ goal statement aligned with the department and company objectives. The PMP is used as an input to other human resources processes, such as promotions, transfers, leader development, talent identification, succession planning and rewards for good performance. Bapco has also developed Individual Development Plans (IDP) for all fresh graduates joining Bapco, to support them in their career progression.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

 

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Bapco, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Bapco: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report D&G identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, quality assurance, occupational health and safety, air emissions control, compliance, hazardous waste management. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for D&G.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 D&G engages with: 

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Quality / environmental / occupational health and safety management system training ·      Quality / environmental / occupational health and safety management system three-aspect audit ·      Employee meeting / satisfaction questionnaire ·      On-the-job training and physical examination
Customers	·      Satisfaction questionnaire ·      Factory inspection ·      Site visit
Suppliers	·      Study visit ·      Product technical standards exchange forum ·      Supplier capability survey ·      Supplier assessment
Education and research partners	·      The 10th China Asphalt Mixing Plant Industry Summit ·      Teaching and technical sharing and exchange forum
Government and other public bodies	·      Inspection ·      Factory exchange interview
Business partners	·      Seminar ·      Training session ·      Meeting and discussion
Social media	·      Collaboration and cooperation ·      Advertising and promotion

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics D&G engaged with a total of 251 stakeholders through questionnaires, asking participants to rate anonymously various economic, environmental and social issues.

What actions were taken by D&G to promote employee development?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report D&G reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Providing training programmes
• Based on the training needs of employees and their positions, D&G provides suitable, extensive and diverse training programmes:
  • Value training: Convey the company’s strategy, behavioural norms, occupational ethics and values, and increase employees’ working motivation
  • Professional knowledge training: Enhance professional knowledge and skills training related to employees’ positions
  • Job skills training: Provide standardised training corresponding to job duties and improve employees’ skills in process and operation
  • Management training: Provide management knowledge and idea training for the management and employees with management potential, enabling them to understand the company’s development goals and business strategies

• Formulating the “Employee Training Management Guidebook”
• D&G has formulated the “Employee Training Management Guidebook”, which designates the HR Department to carry out an annual survey on employees’ training needs, and evaluates the training plans provided by all departments to construct a training strategy for the upcoming year. The HR Department is also responsible for monitoring, organising and implementing the training plans, in an effort to consistently improve the overall professional level of the employees. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the training, the HR Department distributes questionnaires to participating employees after each training to collect their feedbacks, and takes it as a reference for improvement of future training plans. The HR Department also assesses the employees’ training outcomes and effectiveness through written test or live demonstration. D&G’s training plan is mainly classified into four categories, namely occupational health and safety, management and operation, professional knowledge and environmental protection. By providing diversified and high-quality training opportunities, D&G pledges to continuously assist employees to develop their strengths and achieve their work ambitions, which drives steady business development and delivers a corporate culture of sustainability.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by D&G, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to D&G: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 ESG Report Atlantica identified a range of material issues, such as occupational health and safety, economic and financial performance, asset management, climate change. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Atlantica.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Atlantica engages with:

To identify and prioritise material topics Atlantica engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media ·      Internal Intranet Communications ·      Internal Training with Q&A
Suppliers	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media
Customers	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media
Business Partners	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media
Local Communities	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media
Investors	·      Face-to-face meetings video or phone calls ·      ESG Report ·      Website Content ·      Whistleblower Channel ·      Social Media ·      Earning Presentations with Q&A

What actions were taken by Atlantica to promote employee development?

In its 2019 ESG Report Atlantica reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Evaluating employee performance
• Atlantica has built a strong standardised process to evaluate employee performance in its Human Resources platform, Meta4. Part of every supervisor’s mission is to collaborate with each of his or her team members to evaluate performance through the Annual Performance Appraisal (the “APA”), a talent and development management module of Meta4. As part of the individual appraisal process, the supervisor evaluates the performance during the period in nine standardised areas. The manager also identifies individual targets for the coming period and sets training actions in the Annual Training Plan (the “ATP”). Supervisors set individual meetings with their teams once the assessment is completed to share results and explain in depth the action plan defined. Employees can provide their feedback about their own performance, improvement opportunities, proposals, etc. which can contribute to a better performance. This is an ongoing process, normally spread over a year to ensure its effectiveness and practical application success. Once the APA is completed by supervisors Atlantica conducts a calibration process that seeks to ensure that evaluations are consistent and as fair as possible across the entire organisation. In addition, every three years Atlantica performs a 360º feedback process for certain management profiles, including senior and middle management, where managers receive feedback from their supervisor, peers and direct reports. Full confidentiality is guaranteed, as the data is processed and summarised by external consultants. In 2019, Atlantica also launched a “High Potential Programme” for key members of its workforce. The goal of this initiative is to consider the employees’ capabilities towards internal transfers to other positions, functions or geographies. In 2019, Atlantica announced it had agreed with several employees to undertake new roles within the organisation, including changing functions and international mobility. Atlantica also has an internal job site in its intranet where it informs employees of job vacancies in order to promote internal mobility between different departments.

• Implementing training programmes
• Atlantica’s training programmes include the following:
  • Atlantica: all new employees must attend Atlantica’s “Introduction to Atlantica” course during their induction period. “More about Atlantica” is a second level of corporate training offered either to employees that hit their two-year anniversary in the company or those who were promoted. In addition, all employees receive training about Atlantica’s compliance policies and management policies on an annual basis.
  • Management skills: soft-skill training to improve negotiation, team-work, teambuilding, decision-making, leadership and communication, among other skills.
  • Technical knowledge courses, specific to each technical field. For example, Atlantica provides technical, health and safety and environmental and risks training. The effectiveness of this training is evaluated periodically. Atlantica provides an annual training programme on safety awareness to managers and employees, designed in accordance with the risks in the different job positions and work centres as well as with the local regulations.
  • Languages: to allow Atlantica’s employees to effectively operate in an international setting, Atlantica offers a number of language courses.
  • Health & Safety is a key part of Atlantica’s culture and philosophy and Atlantica offers a number of training programmes to reinforce it. Health and safety training is fulfilled with other specific initiatives to help employees increase their health and safety knowledge. Atlantica periodically issues Safety Bulletins and shares “Lessons Learnt” through videos, specific bulletins, its Safety App and through safety boards held in its assets.
  • In addition, Atlantica offers Executive Programmes to certain employees with a certain level of experience, excellent performance and good potential.

• As of December 31, 2019, Atlantica offers over 100 different training programmes to its employees. The final training programme is agreed between the employee and his or her Manager and the Human Resources department.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

3) Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

 

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Atlantica, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Atlantica: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Hess identified a range of material issues, such as regulatory assurance, water management, emergency preparedness and response, community engagement, climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Among these, promoting talent development stands out as a key material issue for Hess.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Hess engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Land Users/Landowners: Residents, landowners, commercial land interests, farmers, ranchers

Resources Users/Rights Holders: Mineral rights owners, water rights owners and users, hunters, fishers, gatherers

Governments: Local, regional and national authorities, national militaries, international governing authorities

Parties with Direct Economic Interests: Investment partners, vendors and suppliers, contractors, unions, shareholders

Parties with External Business Interests: Chambers of commerce, industry organisations, local businesses, sustainability initiatives

Special Interest Groups: Nongovernmental organisations, religious groups, cause-oriented nonprofits, community groups

Community Services: Police, fire and emergency medical services, health care services, education, human service agencies

Indigenous Groups: Formally recognised groups, tribal coalitions, government supporting agencies, indigenous advocacy groups

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Hess conducted a survey of a subset of priority external stakeholder groups, along with interviews with a sampling of key external stakeholders.

What actions were taken by Hess to promote talent development?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Hess reports that it took the following actions for promoting talent development:

• Implementing CareerManager
• CareerManager, Hess’s human resources system, provides a common platform and offers a range of tools to manage talent development. In 2019, Hess launched a new tool, CareerManager Talent, that provides senior managers with a standard approach to assess and track the development of future leaders while facilitating real-time conversations with their teams. Additionally, Hess continued its work to establish a distinctive Lean culture across the enterprise. Embedded Lean leaders – employees who are highly trained in Lean – help to make sure Hess puts Lean principles into practice effectively. Hess also encourages employees to participate in training and engage in coaching and mentoring to support their Lean skills development.

• Fostering a culture of continuous learning
• Hess is committed to fostering a culture of continuous learning. Its enterprisewide learning management system – CareerManager Learning – houses computer-based training modules and supporting materials for instructor-led courses. It also tracks and records employee training and measures training effectiveness through surveys and evaluations. In 2019, approximately 900 employees participated in various CareerManager trainings, for a total of roughly 9,100 hours.

• Implementing early career programmes
• Passport to Hess is an onboarding and orientation programme for new Hess employees designed to facilitate a smooth transition through close interaction with supervisors. The experience begins with access to a pre-hire portal that enables new employees to learn about their work location prior to their first day on the job. After starting at Hess, employees can access a structured, on-demand learning programme that explains its culture and values. In addition, supervisors receive tools and coaching to guide them in helping new hires successfully integrate into their work teams. Early career engineers and geoscientists can take part in Hess’s Foundation Programme, which helps prepare them for their careers through focused training, mentoring and on-the-job assignments. The Foundation Programme, with 63% of its membership comprising women and minorities, reflects Hess’s commitment to diversity. Through the programme, Hess maintains relationships with universities that align with its values, standards and business operations. Hess leaders serve as members of the academic advisory committees of some of these universities. Hess has also continued to support the Job Experience Training (JET) apprenticeship programme in North Dakota. Over the past two years the programme has graduated local, qualified reliability operators who also earn a U.S. Department of Labor credential. Through JET, Hess partners with local high schools and the Transitional Assistance Programme at Minot Air Force Base to source new candidates who are looking for employment opportunities. Since 2017, 26 apprentices have entered the JET program, 14 have completed the apprenticeship and 11 been brought onto Hess as new hires.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs

2) Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

 

Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5

Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Hess, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

Note to Hess: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Greenalia identified a range of material issues, such as good governance and ethics, climate change, financial excellence, impact in local communities, biodiversity. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for Greenalia.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Greenalia engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Environmental organisations

Universities

Investors/ Funders

Local Communities

Employees

Public Administration

Suppliers

Social NGOs

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Greenalia gathered stakeholders’ feedback through 30 surveys and personal interviews with representatives of each group.

What actions were taken by Greenalia to promote employee development?

In its 2019 Sustainability Report Greenalia reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:

• Implementing a development programme
• Within its Talent Strategy framework, Greenalia designed a professional development programme that allows it to accompany new talent throughout the different development stages, from the onboarding phase. This programme allows Greenalia’s specialists, middle managers and executives to actively participate in the development of the most junior talent (through Coaching and Mentoring programmes and training initiatives) and foster a collaborative, agile culture focused on self-leadership, excellence and high performance.

• Applying a general training programme
• This programme, as implemented by Greenalia, focuses on training for basic professional skills and general competences, in line with the objectives of Greenalia’s new Training Plan and with priorities that are reviewed annually. Some of the training areas Greenalia identified are: languages, productivity and work systems/methodologies, cybersecurity, risk prevention, gender equality, sustainability and culture of the organisation, among others. For its execution, Greenalia uses a combination of in-house training and specialised consultants. In 2019, 1,060 hours of internal training were completed (490 hours for women and 570 hours for men), corresponding to 19 hours of training per employee.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee

Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education
• Targets: 4.3, 4.4, 4.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.1
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.2, 8.5
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Targets: 10.3

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Greenalia, 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 original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

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