ESG

“ESG is increasingly top of mind among clients, employees, candidates, investors, media and other stakeholders. For SD Worx, ESG has always been an inherent part of who we are as a company and what we offer, but now we’re taking it up a few notches. For example, we’re redefining our strategy to make ESG in all its facets a top strategic priority. Since all employees can also be ESG ambassadors, HR has a crucial role to play on this front. It also means that, as a company, we sometimes must make compromises to keep all business, people and ESG goals in balance and we need to be aware that it takes time to get everyone on board for such a change. So again, the role of HR is critical in making this transition happen.”

Light your spark

To maximise talent development and talent visibility, we need to offer the right culture, mindset and tools. So, how do we go about achieving this? In 2023, we translated our sharpened talent vision into numerous initiatives, and 2024 will be the year of implementation in all countries where we operate.

Our view on talent

We want all employees to find their sparks, which they can grow and develop as they please. That’s why, in 2023, we launched our MyMove platform, where career ambitions, goals and (wanted) skills become visible, feedback is encouraged, appreciation is given… In short, where our entire talent vision becomes concrete.

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“We worked on many fronts in 2023, both in terms of content and geography. Take internal mobility, for example: through our Switch programme, we are building talent pools with employees who are ready for new jobs within the company. Meanwhile, we are increasingly recruiting with a focus on inclusivity. Our offering with internal trainers has also grown significantly – and we are developing more and more leadership and mentoring programmes. What’s more, people are eager to participate in these and other programmes, which we highly appreciate.

“For example, all our employees can apply to join the SPARK JOYner programme, a strategic project group. For an entire year, they get support in their leadership journeys through discussion groups, training sessions, mentorship and team days.”

The extra mile

Ellen: “What I will take away from 2023 is the growing sense of ownership and engagement. People are increasingly asking to take on initiatives or contribute to projects, often outside of their job descriptions. This is taking control of your career in practice!”

Team SD Worx progresses on the road to success

2023 will go down in history as a banner year for Team SD Worx. But even off the track, the team was extremely visible. Let’s cycle through some of the highlights.

With 64 victories and 116 podium finishes, the Dutch world team is winning steadily and is considered the undisputed number one in women’s cycling. We added to this success by donating a large number of shirts to charity, raising a significant amount of money for ‘Kom op tegen Kanker’ and other good causes.

Trump card in the war for talent

SD Worx extended the sponsorship deal until 2026 to allow the women’s cycling team sufficient time to further professionalise. The strong performance of the past year is also certainly a testament to SD Worx’s investment in the cycling team paying off as a business reward - but that’s not the only asset of this partnership.

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“Potential candidates are drawn to our organisation via cycling, with half of our workforce comprising women, underscoring the significance of diversity. Finding the right people is one of the biggest obstacles to the growth of our industry”.

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In addition, the goals of SD Worx and Team SD Worx are particularly complementary, from developing and growing talents to putting the employee, or the cyclist, at the centre of the team.

Follow Team SD Worx-Protime via teamsdworxprotime.com.

Your trusted partner

“2023 was a defining year in which the focus on ESG within the organisation gained momentum. This was not only because clients are increasingly asking for ratings, policies, and so on, but also to prepare SD Worx to answer the question: ‘What do we want to stand for as a company?’

“We focused on our decision-making processes, resulting in governance charters for the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, among others. But we’re also involving the departments where the impact occurs. After all, ESG ownership must be held by our entire organisation. We’ve made clear agreements on how we make the right, sustainable decisions, and what is required to make and communicate about these decisions.

“In 2023, we also developed a new code of conduct, covering a wide range of policies for topics such as human rights, diversity, anti-bribery and corruption, and conflicts of interest. We provide mandatory training on these policies because everyone needs to know them and act accordingly. In this way, we can assure our customers, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders that we’re on top of things and that they can rely on us.

“As our organisation continues to grow, we keep adapting, setting goals, realising them, and tracking them. In doing so, we also take the ESG compliance of our customers into account with our ESG-inspired offering, where we can certainly make a difference with and contribute to monitoring and achieving their targets, for example, through reporting via our systems.”