Stakeholder Management
Stakeholder – What does the word mean to us?
The way we see it, the whole of our society is responsible for ensuring sustainability. We can only push forward and achieve sustainable development if businesses, politicians and associations all work together and every single person pitches in to help. Our stakeholders – the people and groups who have an interest in us – come from many different walks of life. Our Quality Management team uses our stakeholder analysis to keep a continuously evolving record of our interest groups and their concerns and expectations. To this end, we utilise feedback from customers and business partners, from all divisions and their departments and from our those around us, paying particular attention to reports in our Complaints Management department. Knowing exactly what our stakeholders want and catering to this need is crucial too the success of our business. Together with our stakeholders, we are part of something much bigger. We see our relationship not just as an exchange of ideas and opinions, but as a valuable partnership.
Stakeholder analysis
Interest Group I
Interest Group I contains our most important stakeholders. These are the ones that have a direct impact on our business activities.
The foremost of these stakeholders is our workforce, as it is our employees who influence our company the most. Their expectations and requirements include: secure jobs, support in their development/further training, and a pleasant working environment. DENIOS caters to these concerns by providing constant communication on the company's operating figures, the in-house DENIOS Academy further training programme and employee satisfaction surveys. In addition to this, employees can use the internal suggestion boxes or a counsel of confidence at any time to address the Managing Directors anonymously without the need for a face-to-face meeting with Management. More details on this and other measures are provided in the chapter on DENIOS as an employer.
Another of our most important stakeholders are our Group companies. Their requirements are a professional product range, and professional development of new products and features so that they can cater as thoroughly as possible to their customers' needs. Harmonisation is also a major point of interest for this group. In order for us to grow as a Group, every one of our Group companies needs to benefit from the knowledge of the others and make use of synergy. In order to cater to these requirements, we regularly develop and list new products and present them to the Group companies in our newsletters. During our Group conferences, we also hold workshops where Group companies can work on and discuss relevant issues together. Last but not least, our Company Culture Initiative is also of importance here. In keeping with our culture of open communication, our Group companies also discuss their ideas with one another outside of our conferences in digital meetings, and pay each other visits in order to learn from one another.
Another of our most important interest groups is the DENIOS SE shareholders. These people have a legitimate interest in the long-term commercial success of our company. In-person discussions and shareholders getting in touch to ask for information are frequent events, as are regular meetings. Equal focus is given to both existing and potential new shareholdings and the company's commercial and financial stability. In addition to this, these meetings are also used to discuss investments in future projects, technological developments and sustainable action in the service of our company's positive image as a leading innovator.
Interest Group II
Our second interest group comprises lawmakers, customers and suppliers.
All DENIOS services and products have a close relationship with the legislation in the countries where they are used. Legal conformity is one of our company's defining characteristics – as a certified supplier, we are always up to date with the latest legislation. With every product they buy, DENIOS customers are also purchasing the assurance of knowing that it complies with the applicable standards and regulations. As such, the applicable legislation has a significant impact on our business activities, and thus defines the conditions within which we operate. In addition to ensuring they comply with legislation, our customers also want to know they are buying high-quality products that have been manufactured in accordance with the latest standards regarding production processes, supply chains, environmental protection and sustainability. As such, we make sure our products are independently tested and certified on a regular basis.
DENIOS products help our customers to ensure higher levels of environmental protection and occupational health and safety in their day-to-day work. At the same time, we see our customers as important partners who help us to develop our products and services further. Our solutions are always designed specifically to cater to the needs of our customers. This is something we can only achieve through a regular dialogue and exchange of ideas and opinions with customers. This dialogue is led by the local representatives we have stationed in every country where we have a subsidiary. In addition to this, our customers also have an interest in ensuring that their data is protected. We are catering to this concern by completely redrafting our order processing agreements.
DENIOS holds its suppliers to high standards with regard to quality and performance. In order to ensure these standards are maintained, we establish long-term business relationships with our suppliers that are defined by a fair, trusting approach to collaboration that results in a true partnership. This is why we assign the same level of interest to our suppliers as we do to our customers and lawmakers. In the supply chain, as in all other areas of our business, DENIOS considers environmental and climate protection and ethically and legally impeccable business conduct to be of the utmost importance. Any violations would have a significant impact on our company's image.
Interest Group III
This level comprises many different groups, all of whom indirectly affect business operations at DENIOS. First and foremost, this includes job applicants from outside the company. In light of the current labour shortage, this group is becoming increasingly important. As potential new employees, they contact us – or we them – using a wide range of technologies and channels. Qualified workers are fundamental to ensuring that our business continues to be successful in the future. If we want to be seen as an attractive employer, it is essential to ensure that our employer branding strategy projects a positive impact of our company. As a company with high academic standards, we also look to contact potential employees in university environments. Universities and colleges are important to DENIOS not just as drivers of innovation, but also as cooperative partners. As such, we also seek to maintain a lively discourse with this sector. In addition to this, social media and the way employers market themselves are also becoming increasingly important.
As a certified product manufacturer, we comply with all the applicable legal provisions. We work proactively with certifiers and test institutes to procure the certificates and seals of approval required to sell our products (such as the certification issued by the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt)). Ensuring regular discussion with these institutions is important to the success of our company, not to mention for the positive image of the DENIOS Group.
Those who live close to our sites are of particular importance to DENIOS, as are the general public as a whole. The concerns of this group include issues such as the potential impact of emissions, immissions and delivery traffic. We maintain good relationships with our neighbours, and often seek to include them in big events on our company premises, such as the family party. Our roots are very important to us. As such, we sponsor a number of sports clubs and schools in our local area.
Trade associations, chambers of industry and trade, social security, authorities and the public sector make up their own interest group and are closely linked to our employees and their health and safety.
Banks, insurance companies and auditors have a particular interest in the company's financial situation and stable growth. In return, DENIOS also makes use of the services these institutions offer.