15 min

Materiality

At dormakaba, we make access in life smart and secure. We also want to be smart about the choices we make as a company – including how we manage and live sustainability.

That is why, in the 2017/18 financial year, dormakaba invested in a comprehensive materiality reassessment to be aligned to the GRI Standards. The latter have clarified the inside-out nature of the term “impacts” in their latest materiality definition.

Impact assessment

As part of the materiality process, we focused our efforts on a study-based impact assessment of sustainability topics along our value chain. The aim was to focus efforts where dormakaba can have the most impact on sustainable development. The analysis included dormakaba data from procurement, sales, production and human resources. This was overlaid with over 50 risk indicators from social hotspot databases, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The approach provided a structured qualitative analysis of environmental, social and economic indicators for the countries and industries dormakaba is involved in throughout the value chain (Disclosure 102-46).

dormakaba value chain

For ease of modelling, the company’s value chain was simplified into four steps in the sustainability impact assessment: 1.) Raw materials & sourced goods; 2.) Transportation; 3.) Own activities; and 4.) Distribution, use and end-of-life.

The basis for the long-list of 26 topics taken up into the assessment were:

the material aspects as defined in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years,
topics based on the sustainability context of the industries in our value chain, and
ongoing sustainability initiatives in the company.

Overall, the assessment process has not only helped to identify hotspots along the value chain, it has generated internal momentum and sharpened understanding of such impacts. This will serve as a basis for informed decision-making as the company manages its sustainability efforts going forward.

Stakeholder dialogue

The second dimension in the materiality reassessment was focused on the relevance of the sustainability topics for our stakeholders, both internal and external. The stakeholder dialogue which had taken place in the 2015/16 financial year was thorough and validated in a robust, multi-stage process. This included an online survey of around 100 employees including the Executive Committee, the Senior Management and employees who regularly deal with sustainability matters in their day-to-day work. Additionally, bilateral discussions with external representatives such as investors, customers, suppliers, partners, and local government were conducted. The results were therefore taken as a basis for this dimension in the current materiality reassessment. For further details, refer to the 2016/17 Sustainability Report (page 8) (Disclosure 102-42, 102-43).

Threshold-setting and validation

Reporting Frameworks

This report has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards: Core option. It has successfully completed the GRI Materiality Disclosures Service.

dormakaba also reports to the Carbon Disclosure Project annually. Last year, dormakaba achieved a C score for its report.

dormakaba is a member of the UN Global Compact and publishes its annual “Communication on Progress” on the UN Global Compact website.

The results of the impact assessment and stakeholder dialogue were quantified in the dormakaba materiality matrix. The threshold for material topics was defined in a workshop with the international dormakaba Sustainability Working Group, including representatives from a range of global and segmental functions within the Supply Chain, Procurement, Human Resources, Compliance, Operations, Quality Control, Material Compliance and Communications departments. After intensive discussion on a third and final dimension – i.e., importance of the individual topics to the company strategy and values, as well as possible risks and opportunities – the materiality threshold was agreed.

All topics where dormakaba was shown to have a medium to high impact on sustainable development were taken up as material. These were topics where dormakaba either makes a positive contribution to sustainable development - for example through job creation or training – or topics whereby our own operations or those of business partners and suppliers could have a negative impact, for example, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the manufacturing process. Areas of highest interest to stakeholders were also considered. Most topics with a medium to high relevance to our stakeholders were defined as material.

In a final step, the proposed material topics were discussed with the Executive Committee, which then approved them. In addition, the Executive Committee defined the topics of Customer Health and Safety and Customer Privacy as material, highlighting our company value “Customer First”.

Changes in material topics

Many topics which had been previously defined as material were reconfirmed through the reassessment process, which indicated that the company was on track in its sustainability management. In addition, six topics have been newly added as material, as seen in the below table. Some topics which had been previously defined as material were shown to be of less relevance to stakeholders or of less potential impact on sustainable development for the company. While these topics are less material in the sustainability strategy, our commitment to the principles related to forced labor and non-discrimination continues as a member of the UN Global Compact (Disclosure 102-49).

New material topics

• Materials

• Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

• Customer Privacy

• Customer Health and Safety

• Supplier Environmental Assessment

• Supplier Social Assessment

Previously defined as material

• Socioeconomic Compliance

• Forced Labor

• Diversity and Equal Opportunity

• Economic Performance

• Product and Service Labelling

dormakaba interactive Materiality Matrix 2017 - 2021

The dormakaba Materiality Matrix below shows our 17 material topics until 2021. By clicking on a topic of interest, an informational box will appear which shows the topic definition and the degree of potential impact along our value chain. The topic boundaries are set based on the value chain steps outside of own operations with high potential impact per topic. The topic boundaries are extended to include own operations for all material topics, even if potential impact is low to medium. Prioritization is set according to the degree of potential impact (Disclosure 102-46, 102-47).

material topicnon-material topic

Occupational health and safety

Definition: Accidents, injuries and wellbeing of people involved in activities along the value chain; e.g. workers' exposure to risks and hazardous substances, (personal) protective equipment, health and safety training, health checks, case management, ergonomic work areas.