Enabling sustainable progress
Enabling sustainable progress
We view sustainability in all its aspects as an integral constituent of our entrepreneurial activities.
Since our foundation in 1866, we have committed ourselves to enabling progress by protecting people, the environment, and assets from technology-related risks. We already inspire trust and credibility in the safety and effectiveness of sustainable technologies, processes, products, and systems. We aim to take our role as partner of choice for our customers into the future, addressing future-facing topics such as decarbonization, circular economy, and implementation of responsible business practices in both the physical and digital worlds.
Our specific corporate structure guarantees independence and impartiality. At the helm of the TÜV SÜD Group is TÜV SÜD AG, headquartered in Munich. The management holding company oversees the Group’s global subsidiaries. The economic owners of the TÜV SÜD shares are TÜV SÜD e.V., Munich, and the TÜV SÜD Foundation, Munich. Read more about our corporate structure here.
Our corporate strategy, “The Next Level. Together.” takes us up to 2025 and is designed to open the door to the next level of our company’s development. New trends and developments, driven in particular by digital technologies, offer additional opportunities, both for us and for our customers. We thus pursue four strategic angles in order to exploit this potential:
Guided by this corporate strategy, we continue to drive the systematization of our sustainability activities. Against this backdrop, in 2021 we undertook a materiality analysis to review and, where necessary, expand our fields of action. In the process, we have honed the content of our existing areas of action.
Our materiality analysis is based on an extensive stakeholder survey, conducted in the first six months of 2021 and delivering a broad picture of the opinions of our employees and executives, key accounts, and selected experts from the worlds of academia, auditing, and professional and industry associations. A total of 529 respondents gave their views. A business environment and corporate analysis delivered further results. The topics of “Quality & trust,” “Qualified employees,” and “Compliance & integrity” were the highest priorities for all stakeholders.
As part of a Group-wide project coordinated by the Corporate Sustainability Representative (CSR) of the Board of Management and including the heads of the corporate functions of TÜV SÜD Group, the 2020-established Sustainability Committee is laying the foundations for a targeted approach and Group-wide reporting on the subject of sustainability. This includes analysis and evaluation of the main fields of action, involving key stakeholders, as well as definition of goals, targets, and performance indicators. The Board of Management recently also defined the ambition levels and goals for the individual fields of action and drew up concrete action plans for achieving them. Management of this process is based on specific non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs).
The corporate functions and regions support implementation of the required actions and develop individual activities for achieving the goals and targets. In 2021, numerous policies for these purposes were harmonized or established at Group level, including TÜV SÜD’s new Supplier Code of Conduct as well as many policies in the field of Human Resources.
Systematic and ongoing dialogue with our internal and external stakeholders drives a constant flow of fresh impetus, both in daily routine business and in the long-term course of our business activities. Here are some of the formats we use:
Employee Dialogue
Under the title of “Let’s Talk About TÜV SÜD,” annual information events are held in Germany at central locations. The events give all employees an opportunity to find out about the company’s current situation and plans for the future. They are attended by Members of the Board of Management, who are available for questions from the audience. At international companies, employee dialogue takes the form of individually tailored employee information announcements and information events, generally organized by local management.
Annual General Meeting
TÜV SÜD e.V. is the majority shareholder of TÜV SÜD AG. Once a year the members of TÜV SÜD e.V. attend an Annual General Meeting. The event provides them with the opportunity to find out about the activities of the organization and the TÜV SÜD Group in the last financial year, to pass any resolutions required, and to discuss TÜV SÜD or issues of socio-political relevance.
Customer events
The specialists and experts in our companies are primary points of contact with our customers. Organizing an array of events and activities, they help ensure our customers are always up to date concerning our service offerings as well as the latest technology trends or any upcoming requirements to be imposed by official bodies and standard owners.
TIC Council
As a member of the TIC Council, TÜV SÜD plays a major role in shaping the development across the entire TIC industry. The Council is an association of around 90 global leading companies and organizations providing international testing, inspection, and certification services. The TIC Council calls on governments and other key interest groups to work toward effective solutions that protect the public, facilitate trade, and support innovations.
TÜV Association
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Stepken, CEO of TÜV SÜD AG, represents the company in the TÜV-Verband e.V in his capacity as Chairman of its board. This umbrella organization of leading German testing, inspection, and certification providers and industrial companies oversees technical and scientific dialogue and represents the political and professional interests of its members in the political, governmental, business and public spheres at national level. It has the aim of preserving the high level of technical safety in society and developing safe and reliable framework conditions for technological change.
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