Sustainability Report 2020

The Esprinet Group reaffirms its will to pursue a sustainable path, capable of generating and distributing value in a long-lasting manner, by focusing on the needs of its stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees, investors, associations or institutions), and by establishing “ESG-Environmental Social Governance” goals in line with its business.

The health, economic and social crisis that started in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with an increasingly serious environmental crisis resulting from an economic policy that thinks that our planet’s resources are endless, and does not take into account the impact that pollution has on human life and nature in general, are the elements behind the formulation of our Group’s corporate strategies and their implementation.

Corporate social responsibility and sustainability are ethical imperatives; moreover, it is clear that a long-term oriented management - capable of combining the maximization of the value created for our shareholders with the right balance and respect of the expectations of all the other stakeholders, is an optimal management model to ensure the best results, compared to short-term profit-driven only motives.

Ensuring respect for the environment, for human resources and for the territories the company works in, reduces, for example, reputational risks and cost-increase risks related to the development of environmental regulations; furthermore, it promotes innovation and draws the best resources from within the areas the company works in, which it is assumed will be more willing to support the company’s development, with manifest final benefits for its shareholders.

In light of these considerations, the Esprinet Group has identified and undertaken its own sustainability policy for a few years now, thanks to which - by listening to its stakeholders - it has identified and prioritized some social and environmental sustainability projects, aimed at guiding the company on a stable and long-lasting path of creation of value.

The first pillar of this policy was the acceleration of the human resources inclusion and valorisation policies, managed under the TIB (Together Is Better) program.

The program begins each year with the indications obtained  through an anonymous certified survey carried out on the entire corporate population by a consulting firm specialized in human resources - Willis Towers Watson. This provides an “Employee Engagement” index, whose annual improvement is part of the Group’s top management incentive system.

The survey results are the foundation for developing a series of human resources valorization initiatives, which were expressed in 2019 in the launch of the corporate welfare program, the implementation of training plans and corporate trends sharing programs with quarterly video conferences, managed by the Group’s CEO directly, and with the possibility for all employees to ask questions on any topic, even anonymously.

The way the health emergency has been managed is another element included in the human resources ESG policy, during 2020, by introducing strict health protocols, the option of working from home for all office staff, and the introduction of training protocols adapted to the new requirements.

Another important line of development of the sustainable growth programs was the measurement and improvement of the “customer satisfaction” level.

In this case too, specific surveys managed by an external body were carried out, based on which another percentage of the short-term  variable remuneration based on sustainbility targets was calculated.

Downstream of the indications obtained by our customers, staff training programs, and procedural and incentive system modifications were implemented, so as to increase the level of customer satisfaction perceived, with the aim of creating sustainable value over time.

In 2020, the relationship with our territories was mainly expressed through  strong support for health initiatives to combat the pandemic, by deploying personnel paid by the Group to the Red Cross, and by donating hospital equipment and an ambulance, also with the help of our employees.

The “For-Te” project - the first delivery service in Italy carried out entirely by people with learning disabilities - continued in reduced mode, and it will be probably be increased in 2021, once the health crisis is finally over.

During 2020, we laid the foundations for the development of environmental-related activities, by pursuing the commercial program for the promotion of product categories with a higher energy efficiency as launched in 2019, and also by commissioning an important analysis on CO2 emissions, aimed at launching a multi-year program to reduce emissions in 2021, which will amount for 20% of the three-year targets for long-term variable remuneration for the Group's executive directors and higher management.

With our commitment that a culture of sustainability may translate into concrete actions every day and expand to every single aspect, we invite you to read our Sustainability Report 2020, which is also the third consolidated non-financial report, pursuant to Legislative Decree 254/2016.