Materiality and stakeholder analysis

Materiality analysis

As a manufacturing company, the materiality analysis is our foundation for identifying the most important issues both for the company itself and its stakeholders. This includes the implications and assessment of Zehnder Group’s business practices on the environment, the economy and society, as well as the consideration of stakeholder expectations. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and stakeholder surveys served as the foundation for this process.

We conducted the first online survey in 2021 among the relevant stakeholder groups for Zehnder Group. The survey was also made available on Zehnder Group's website at that time. The topics of the survey were prioritised by the members of Zehnder Group’s sustainability project team. The evaluation was carried out by an external consulting agency.

The materiality assessment is based on GRI 1 and considers the impact materiality/inside-out perspective of Zehnder Group.

Based on the results of our surveys, we have categorised the relevant areas for action for Zehnder Group into three main topics: environment, employees and society. These categories are also represented in this Sustainability Report as three separate chapters each containing the respective prioritised sustainability topics. Our customers are always included as the central stakeholder group within these areas.

Stakeholder analysis

For Zehnder Group, the stakeholder analysis represents an essential component of our sustainability report. It enables us to better understand the interests and needs of our relevant stakeholder groups. We define stakeholders as individuals and organisations that have financial, legal, ethical or environmental expectations of Zehnder Group. Zehnder Group aims to create transparency regarding the Group’s commitment to sustainable development and to maintaining an open and respectful dialogue with its stakeholders. Through regular, transparent communication, we seek to further strengthen trust in our company and to maintain or establish long-term relationships with our stakeholders.

Our stakeholder analysis covered the careful identification and assessment of the stakeholder groups relevant to Zehnder. The following stakeholder groups are of relevance to Zehnder Group:

Communication with stakeholder groups

To date, Zehnder has used a variety of tools and channels to communicate with the afore-mentioned stakeholder groups:

Through our publications such as the Annual Report, the Sustainability Report as well as ad hoc and media releases, we keep shareholders and other stakeholders informed about key economic figures, the status of our sustainability activities and current topics at Zehnder Group.
With regard to investors, we conduct an annual analyst and media presentation. We also participate in various investor and analyst roadshows and conferences, and host investor days.
In the area of corporate governance, exchanges take place with investors and proxy advisors attended by the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
We regularly exchange information with our customers during trade fairs, customer visits and training courses.
We are in regular contact with sustainability rating agencies.