And when Gunnar spoke on the subject of corporate responsibility and the various projects they were involved in as a company, you knew that this company believed in doing far more than just retail.
As I said in the Introduction, I am not going to focus here on their 2018 performance. That will come in a couple of weeks to you in the form of an executive summary. The focus here is more on some of the aspects of the ‘human’ side of the business.
And that starts with the employees and the launch this year of the new ‘Gebr. Heinemann & You’ employer brand. Here the core values of the company are closely aligned to its guiding principles. According to Christina Poultourtzidou, HR Marketing and Project Manager,
”It says that we are a family company, in which employees are valued, trusted and open with one another. We offer opportunities to develop and make a difference. And we are always focused on wowing our customers”. Interestingly, the company has opted to use it own employees in its brand campaign. ”We wanted to show our employees and give them a voice. Anything else would not have fit”.
But I can think of no better example of the example of the strength of moral obligation from Heinemann than how they dealt with staff originally recruited for Berlin Brandenburg airport. We all know about the continuing saga there. What is perhaps little known is the fact that all the employees initially recruited to work there were found alternative opportunities across the Heinemann business. How many other businesses do you know that would have acted in this way? It speaks volumes for the values of the business – putting their people first.
So, too, does their inclusion of 4 pages from their Review Insights Outlook/Business Year 2018 devoted to crediting and naming all the staff who have been with the business from 15 to 40 years!
Heinemann believe in nurturing business partnerships, too. It’s a core value. Heinemann is known to be a tough but fair negotiator, consummate professionals. But once you are in business with them, trust and friendship follow, and you grow together.
For Heinemann, commercial success and sustainability go hand in hand. It’s part of the company’s DNA and straddles all parts of their business – from airports to airlines to cruise ships. The plan is to build on their USP as a sustainable travel retailer by establishing an efficient corporate responsibility (CR) management strategy through continuous, systematic optimisation.
In August last year, Heinemann joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). In joining, the company has signed up to integrating the initiatives ten universal sustainability principles into its business strategy, including human rights, labour, environment and corruption prevention.
It’s all part of the company’s strategy to take a closer look at the economic, social and ecological impact of the business. Since 2017 Heinemann has collaborated with OceanCare, the marine conservation organisation. The principal aim is the reduction of plastic waste in the oceans. Right now Heinemann currently levies a 30% fee on all single-use plastic, paper and zip bags at its 14 Duty Free locations in Germany and Austria. All proceeds go to fund OceanCare projects. Bratislava and Ljubljana joined the scheme in 2018 and other locations around the world are due to follow.
OceanCare uses the donations from Heinemann to fund projects to reduce plastic waste in the oceans and to rescue the marine animals it endangers. In his presentation, Gunnar said the value of Heinemann’s support for OceanCare annually was between 130K and 150K euros, but the aim was to take this total to over 1 million euros annually.
This blog has focused on some of the values and embedded culture within the Heinemann business. At 140 years young, it’s in excellent shape for the coming generations. Our examination of the company’s performance in the blog scheduled for w/c May 6 will help demonstrate why.
