6. Stakeholder Engagement

Significant stakeholder groups for Geberit are customers, shareholders and analysts, the media, employees and trade unions, neighbours, municipalities and authorities, research institutes, suppliers, transport companies, associations, non-government organisations and the general public. For details on stakeholder engagement, see GRI 102-42.

There are currently 8,646 employees (corresponding to 74% of the workforce) who are covered by collective agreements (e.g. collective labour agreements, wage agreements). In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Poland and Ukraine, over 90% of employees are subject to a collective labour or wage agreement. There are no collective agreements with employees in place in the USA and in China.

A systematic guided dialogue with stakeholders helps Geberit to identify possible conflict issues and opportunities for further development and to respond to these in good time. On national and international levels, the Geberit Group and its local companies maintain relations with organisations and institutions in the respective countries that direct requests and suggestions to the company. The stakeholders listed under GRI 102-40 have been identified as important for systematic stakeholder dialogue as they fulfil at least one of two criteria: either the stakeholder group exerts a strong influence on the economic, environmental or social performance of Geberit and/or the stakeholder group is strongly affected by the economic, environmental or social performance of Geberit. An external Stakeholder Panel helps Geberit to review its assessment of important stakeholder groups and their concerns.

Geberit consulted an external Stakeholder Panel for the fourth time in 2018. Its mandate consisted of providing feedback on the sustainability strategy and sustainability communication and also discussing the materiality analysis. The results are presented in the Panel Statement. The external review and the recommendations contained therein are dealt with in detail in the Response from Geberit to the Panel Statement. The next stakeholder panel is planned for 2020.

Based on the stakeholder analysis, Geberit identifies both potential for conflict and opportunities, and pursues a cooperative approach when it comes to discussing and further developing possible measures with the stakeholders concerned.

Engagement of stakeholders according to stakeholder group:

Customers:

• Technical advisors working in the field who are in daily contact with plumbers, sanitary engineers and architects.
• During the reporting year, around 35,000 professionals were provided with training in products, tools, software tools and installation skills at the 29 Geberit Information Centres in Europe and overseas.
• Invitation of architects, interior designers and other market partners to visit an exhibition on the design pioneer Victor Papanek and the presentation of innovative Geberit bathroom solutions at the prestigious Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein (DE).
• Around 85,000 customers became more familiar with Geberit know-how and products at external training events, many of which were organised in cooperation with local trading partners.
• Advertising campaign for AquaClean shower toilets in 15 campaign markets with the opportunity to try out a shower toilet. Support of numerous local events with a fleet of ten AquaClean trailers – each equipped with two toilets.
• “Test at home” campaign for potential customers in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria as the opportunity to try out a shower toilet at home free of charge.
• Launch of an end user campaign in Germany, Austria and Switzerland under the title ”Better bathrooms, better lives”, see Business Report > Business and financial review > Financial Year 2019 > Customers.

Shareholders and analysts:

• For the participatory rights of the shareholders, see Business Report > Corporate Governance > Participatory rights of shareholders.
• Regular telephone conferences, bilateral meetings, conferences and roadshows by the CEO, CFO and Head Corporate Communications and Investor Relations.

Media:

• Regular conference calls, bilateral meetings and interviews with the relevant media for Geberit.
• Sustainability topics and in particular Geberit’s performance in this area play an important role in the media activities of Geberit.

Employees and trade unions:

• Geberit Europe Forum with employee representatives from most European countries, during which a member of the Group Executive Board and the Head Corporate HR meet with the delegates.
• Training and feedback opportunities on topics regarding the Code of Conduct.
• Group-wide Geberit Integrity Line to enable all employees across the world to report irregularities anonymously.
• Regular employee survey of all employees of the Geberit Group.

Neighbours, municipalities and authorities:

• Consultation with and inclusion of the neighbours of production plants in larger construction projects.
• Open days at various production sites.

Research institutes:

Partner of the research platform NEST (Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies) at Empa in Dübendorf (CH). In the Water Hub, systems are tested that use water and waste water as efficiently and diversely as possible.

• Cooperation on technological trends and developments directly related to sanitary technology with EAWAG and Empa Dübendorf, HSR Rapperswil (CH), Technical University (TU) Dresden, the Fraunhofer Institute (ILT) Aachen (DE) and others.

Suppliers:

• Initial contact within the scope of the assessment procedure and implementation of the Code of Conduct for Suppliers, see Chapter 10.2 Operations > Procurement.
• Regular discussions between buyers and suppliers on site.
• On-site audits (quality, environment, occupational health and safety) carried out by Geberit and external partners.
• Since 2017, Integrity Line for suppliers for anonymously reporting irregularities in the procurement process.

Transport companies:

• Discussions with transport service providers based on the results of environmental monitoring.

Associations:

• Significant participation in the founding of a new platform for the European sanitary industry – the European Bathroom Forum (EBF) – and launch of a new European water label for sanitary products.
• Collaboration with FECS (European Sanitaryware Producers Federation) on a new voluntary European standard for assessing the sustainability of ceramic sanitary appliances (EN 16578).
• Involvement in various associations and organisations with participation in corresponding management bodies and programmes, see GRI 102-13.

Non-government organisations and the general public:

• Partnership with the Swiss development organisation Helvetas.
• Membership of the charitable organisation Swiss Water Partnership.

Feedback from stakeholder dialogues is incorporated into the Materiality analysis and into the Sustainability strategy.

The topics introduced by the external Stakeholder Panel have been integrated into the updated Sustainability strategy and reporting by Geberit, see Panel Statement and the Response from Geberit to the Panel Statement.

Some examples of important current topics that were introduced by stakeholders and have been implemented by Geberit include:

• Education and further training of employees as an important success factor, see Business Report > Business and financial review > Financial Year 2019 > Employees.
• Best-in-class approach to occupational health and safety, see GRI 403.
• Implementation of social projects, see Business Report > Business and financial review > Financial Year 2019 > Social Responsibility.
• Expansion of the portfolio of water-saving products, see also Water footprint.
• Circular economy, see GRI 301.
• CO₂ target compatible with the two-degree target set out in the Paris Agreement and the Science Based Targets Initiative, see Management approach CO₂ and other emissions.
• Holistic solutions for products and systems in front of and behind the wall, see Business Report > Business and financial review > Financial Year 2019 > Innovation.
• Customer training, see Business Report > Business and financial review > Financial Year 2019 > Customers.
• Transparency in the remuneration system, see Business Report > Remuneration Report.