What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2018/2019 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Roma Group identified a range of material issues, such as compliance with laws and regulations, service quality, talent attraction, customer satisfaction and company reputation, privacy protection. Among these, promoting responsible business practices across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for Roma 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 Roma Group engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Channels for employees’ feedback (form, suggestion box, intranet, etc.) ·      Regular performance evaluations ·      Trainings ·      Departmental meeting
Customers	·      Account-in-charge ·      Customer meetings and company visits ·      Social media platform
Communities, NGOs and the media	·      Donations and charity work ·      Participation in charity events ·      Press conferences and interviews
Government and regulatory bodies	·      Announcements and circulars ·      ESG report
Investors and shareholders	·      Annual general meeting ·      Financial reports ·      Announcements and circulars
Suppliers and consultants	·      Communication channels with consultants (emails, meetings, etc.) ·      Announcements and circulars ·      Conferences for suppliers and consultants

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Roma Group invited stakeholders – including employees, management, investors, suppliers, consultants and customers – to participate in a materiality survey and rate potential material topics.

What actions were taken by Roma Group to promote responsible business practices across its supply chain?

In its 2018/2019 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Roma Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting responsible business practices across its supply chain:

• Carrying out supplier assessments
• To make sure its suppliers have met its requirements regarding quality as well as environmental and social standards, Roma Group has formulated standards and stringent procedures in selecting suppliers and consultants. Prior to making any procurement decisions, Roma Group will conduct due diligence and assessments on suppliers and consultants to avoid environmental and social risks. Roma Group has maintained a list of approved suppliers and consultants, and they may subject to suspension or removal from the approved list if they fail to fulfill Roma Group’s During the reporting period, there were no material changes on the locations of the Group’s primary suppliers, the supply chain structure and relationship with suppliers (including selection and termination).

• Implementing Socially Responsible Procurement
• Roma Group implements the policy of Socially Responsible Procurement. Accordingly, Roma Group assesses suppliers’ environmental and social performances in its procurement process and only purchases products that meet relevant standards. Roma Group also assesses suppliers’ compliance in environmental and social aspects, to protect the environment and prevent social risks in its supply chain. Additionally, Roma Group has adopted the policy of Local Procurement and seeks to select local suppliers for its business operations, so as to support local companies, create job opportunities for local communities, promote local economic development and fulfill its social responsibilities. In addition, Roma Group has formulated rules and procedures to make sure suppliers and consultants participate and compete in an open and fair way. To promote fair and open procurement, Roma Group stresses the integrity of its suppliers and consultants with good business track records and with no material violation of laws or business ethics in the past, and strictly monitors and prohibits any kind of business bribery and discrimination against any supplier or consultant.

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

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 204-1 Proportion of spending on local suppliers

2) Disclosure 419-1 Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area

 

Disclosure 204-1 Proportion of spending on local suppliers corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Business theme: Procurement practices 

Disclosure 419-1 Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Business theme: Compliance with laws and regulations

 

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 Roma 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 Roma 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 2017/2018 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Roma Group identified a range of material issues, such as customer satisfaction and responsibility, intellectual property protection, customer privacy, employee remuneration and benefit. Among these, promoting operational integrity stands out as a key material issue for Roma 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 Roma Group engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Employees	·      Channels for employees feedback (form, suggestion box, etc.) ·      Regular performance evaluations ·      Intranet ·      Departmental meeting
Customers	·      Customer service function ·      Customer manager ·      Customer meetings and company visits ·      Social media platform
Communities, NGOs and the media	·      ESG report ·      Donation and work with charities ·      Participation in charity events ·      Press conferences and interviews
Government and regulatory bodies	·      Announcements and circulars ·      Regular seminars and trainings
Investors	·      Annual general meeting ·      Annual report, interim and quarterly reports ·      Announcements and circulars
Suppliers and consultants	·      Conferences for suppliers and consultants ·      Communication channels with consultants (email, meetings, etc.)

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Roma Group carried out a stakeholder survey among employees, management, investors, suppliers, consultants and customers.

What actions were taken by Roma Group to promote operational integrity?

In its 2017/2018 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Roma Group reports that it took the following actions for promoting operational integrity:

• Implementing an internal control mechanism
• Roma Group has in place a strict internal control mechanism and has also established an Audit Committee and an internal audit function. The Audit Committee is directly authorised by the Board to make sure the Group’s financial statements and accounts comply with the requirements of accounting standards, GEM (Growth Enterprise Market) Listing Rules and relevant laws and regulations. In addition, Roma Group implements various policies on conflict of interests which are included in the staff handbook for employees, for them to perform their duties with the highest level of integrity and professional attitude. Employees must report any activities and situations that may lead to conflict of interest to the human resource department and management. Management determines whether such activities constitute a conflict of interest or are appropriate from the Group’s perspective, and provides action guidelines to the employees. Employees failing to report potential conflicts of interests may have to face disciplinary actions.

• Adopting a whistle-blowing policy
• Roma Group implements a whistle-blowing policy, to handle and prevent any corruption, conflict of interest, suspected or actual fraud and other misconducts. Whistle-blowers may directly send an email to the chairman of the Audit Committee and use an anonymous email address at their discretion to report incidents. The whistle- blowing channel is also published on the Group’s website. The chairman of the Audit Committee may request to convene Board meetings, to investigate reported incidents. Subsequently, the Board may decide whether to engage external consultants (including but not limited to lawyers and certified public accountants), to handle an incident. The whistle-blowing policy also protects whistle-blowers from unfair treatment, ensuring they will not face unjustified dismissal or disciplinary actions.

• Raising employee awareness of ethics and compliance
• Roma Group frequently invites representatives from regulators or professionals to hold lectures on corporate governance for both employees and management, so that they may prevent any potential corruption by learning about the latest cases of corruption pitfall and cases of moral practices in corporate governance. During the reporting period, Roma Group did not identify any material non-compliance with laws and regulations on the prevention of bribery, extortion, fraud and money laundering, nor any concluded legal cases concerning corrupt practices brought against the Group or its employees.

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

The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken

 

 Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Business theme: Anti-corruption

 

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 Roma 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 Roma 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.