2020 Sustainability Report: starting over from people
For the second year in a row, Growens publishes its Sustainability Report. Find out what’s new in the 2020 edition, from the reporting scope to the focus on the response to Covid-19.
In the year of the pandemic, we started over from people
As anticipated in the letter to Stakeholders signed by the Chairman Matteo Monfredini and by the Chief Executive Officer Nazzareno Gorni:
It is difficult, if not impossible, to go over our 2020 ignoring the element that indelibly defined it – the Covid-19 pandemic. All of a sudden, the world woke up to a dystopian scenario, with shaken certainties and unreliable future outlooks.
Like everyone else, we found ourselves disoriented in front of this new scenario and, in looking for a pivot to guide us in making unprecedented decisions, we found it in what has always been the engine of our Group: people.
It was people who provided the North Star to guide unprecedented strategic, organisational and business decisions. Among our four corporate values, that of caring has supported this approach, with absolute priority given to the care of employees, their families and the community, as the basis for supporting business growth in the most sustainable way.
Growens’ response to the spread of the pandemic was focused on three main directions:
- Absolute priority to the health and safety of employees and collaborators
- Preservation of planned strategic investments
- Remodeling of collaborative and organisational mechanics to ensure full operation
As a consequence, an important section of the Sustainability Report (entire chapter 5) is dedicated to reporting the Group’s response to the pandemic, detailed in the following sections:
- Contingency Plan
- Initiatives in favour of employees and collaborators
- Initiatives in support of customers
- Initiatives in support of communities
2020 ESG Report
The Sustainability ESG Report is issued on a voluntary basis by Growens, which pursuant to Legislative Decree 254/2016 does not fall within the category of large public interest entities required to report their non-financial performance.
Reporting process
Growens has set up an internal working group, representative of the main company functions, in order to collect the information required for the Sustainability Report.
Reporting scope
The Report covers the period 1 January – 31 December 2020. The main innovations of this edition include a scope extension, covering for the first time all the companies of the Group headed by Growens S.p.A.
Standards & framework
The ESG Report was prepared in accordance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards, according to the “Core” application level.
Furthermore, the Report reconciles the material aspects with the UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which represent “common goals” to be achieved in areas relevant to sustainable development.
Materiality analysis & report structure
As required by the GRI Standards, the data collection phase was preceded by the so-called Materiality Analysis, an activity aimed at identifying significant issues related to the economic, social and environmental area, which may influence the strategic decisions of the organisation and Stakeholders.
The analysis identified 12 material aspects for the industry where Growens operates. Each of them, through the use of qualitative-quantitative scales, was assigned a score from 1 to 4, in terms of “Relevance for the Group” and “Relevance for Stakeholders”. The most significant aspects for the Group totalled a score above the so-called “materiality threshold” (>2.5).
The following Materiality Matrix resulted from the analysis.
Growens’ sustainability path
In 2020, the Group began a structured path towards increasing transparency towards its Stakeholders on the topics of sustainability, at the same time structuring itself to envisage sustainability as a strategic element of business decisions. The journey has only just begun, but it has already achieved some important milestones that will evolve further in the years to come.
2020
The Group’s first Sustainability Report is published: issued on a voluntary basis, both in both Italian and English, for the first time it brings to the surface an active, yet partly submerged, wealth of initiatives, activities, choices and behaviours based on sustainable ethics.
Being in its first edition, the Report only covers the Parent Company MailUp S.p.A. (today Growens S.p.A.).
2021
Within the broader framework of the Group’s rebranding, we defined Growens’ purpose statement. A purpose statement provides the reason(s) an organisation exists in relation to society and focuses on the company’s impact on communities.
The purpose provides a clear, common driver for our future efforts where sustainability is concerned.
“We nurture healthy, sustainable marketing through innovative technologies that foster well-being, awareness and digital advancement for society, businesses and users”.
2021
Sustainable accountability takes a further step forward with the publication of the second Sustainability Report, extended to all companies belonging to the Group.
2021-2023
Within the four-yearCorporate Communications plan, the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) component assumes increasing importance. In the coming years, a dedicated CSR strategy will be designed.
Article by Maria Giulia Ganassini
Corporate Communications Lead, Growens
