Stakeholders

In addition to internal suggestions from fischer employees, external ideas and feedback are also extremely helpful. Key groups of stakeholders have specific expectations for the company, and are generally interested in discussing these with the general management based on a materiality analysis. In light of this, several years ago we began identifying relevant, influential stakeholders who could offer valuable feedback on fischer’s sustainability mission. The fischer group of companies has held the Stakeholder Workshop with these stakeholders every two years.

fischer holds the Workshop as a way to maintain open, fair dialogue and partnership with everyone involved. As focal points change, the composition of the group changes over time as well. Our stakeholders include customers, retailers, sales partners, suppliers, representatives of regional associations and the district, associations and organisations, as well as non-governmental organisations, national groups, environmental groups, scientists,and members of the scientific sustainability community. This wide range of participants is able to deliver new perspectives and approaches. 

To ensure we can work effectively and efficiently in the two-day Stakeholder Workshop, we conduct a quantitative survey in advance called the materiality analysis. It is completed by members of the general management and Works Council from fischer, as well as the surveyed stakeholders. The goal of the materiality analysis is to define the priorities of current key sustainability topics, in order to identify new action areas for fischer. The results from the different groups are then compared and discussed at the Workshop, not without controversy in some cases. 

To continue ongoing, open dialogue with all stakeholder groups, fischer invited them to the third Stakeholder Workshop held in March 2020, this time at the plants in Waldachtal and Denzlingen. The company used this opportunity to once again outline practical examples of the Blue Path. Then, company representatives discussed areas of potential, deficits, opportunities and challenges faced by fischer’s Sustainability Management with stakeholders, under the leadership of a neutral moderator. 

The combination of internal materiality assessment and Stakeholder Workshop with representatives of every dimension of sustainability serve as the basis for collaborative sustainable development throughout the company. Based on this conviction, we continue to implement this format consistently at fischer. The results are integrated into the WIN-Charter objective concept and the other sustainability process of the group of companies. The materiality analysis will be adjusted for the next Stakeholder Workshop, planned for the first quarter of 2022, in order to identify relevant topics with even more precision. With this approach fischer is establishing a best-practice example within the framework of the WIN-Charter guiding principle dossier.