Sustainability is particularly important to HAKRO and is a fundamental part of the company's philosophy. As early as 2015, HAKRO signed the charter of the Economic Initiative for Sustainability (WIN) of the state of Baden-Württemberg. With this voluntary commitment, HAKRO acknowledges its economic, ecological and social responsibility as well as its home region, the business location of Baden-Württemberg. The sustainability report now follows the structure laid down by WIN and describes the processes and goals that have been pursued and achieved since the signing of the charter. The WIN Charter comprises 12 guiding principles and thus covers all areas of employees and company management. HAKRO's sustainability report focuses on three guiding principles in particular: employee well-being (Guiding Principle 2), corporate success and jobs (Guiding Principle 7) and regional added value (Guiding Principle 11).
Employee well-being
HAKRO's vision is a world in which all workers have a decent job and can lead a decent life on their wages. The company is convinced that its own economic success is only possible with satisfied employees. In accordance with its employee guidelines, HAKRO offers its employees secure jobs in an attractive working environment characterised by fairness, openness and equal opportunities.
Measures implemented in the reporting period to promote employee well-being include the employee magazine ‘Lesestoff’, participation in the German Diversity Day and, as part of this, the appointment of a representative for severely disabled employees and staff diversity. In addition, the training programmes at the HAKRO Academy have been bundled and the range of courses has been significantly expanded. For HAKRO, employee well-being is reflected in particular in the annual staff turnover rate (2017: 1%) and the health rate (2017: 93.6%). However, employee surveys are also conducted every two years to determine employee satisfaction (2017: 1.5 in school grades).
Plans for the future include expanding further training courses and increasing the number of training hours per employee. The commissioning of a company canteen at the HAKRO Logistik site in 2019 and the continuation of the annual health day for employees are further goals that have been set. By 2020 at the latest, the criteria for the ‘Sicher mit System’ (Systematic Safety) seal of approval from the Berufsgenossenschaft Handel und Warenlogistik (BGHW) are also to be met.
Corporate success and jobs
The HAKRO brand stands for quality and reliability in corporate fashion and clothing for work, leisure and sport. This is also expressed in the new brand image created in 2017, "HAKRO HÄLT. SINCE 1969", and at the same time conveys the company's credibility and sincerity towards employees, customers and partners. This identity will continue to be cultivated and preserved. HAKRO is aiming for organic, sustainable growth for its planned expansion in the coming years.
With an increase of 10 per cent to net sales of 80 million euros, the 2017 financial year was the most successful in HAKRO's history to date. 8.9 million items of clothing were sent to HAKRO retailers in 271,000 parcels with a complaint rate of less than 0.1 per cent. 164 employees contributed to the company's success.
HAKRO has set itself the goal of becoming one of the most sustainable suppliers in its sector by 2022. Steps and measures to achieve this goal can be found in the ‘Active ingredient’ sustainability strategy published in 2017.
Regional added value
HAKRO promotes the common good not only by creating jobs and as a taxpayer, but also through a wide range of charitable activities under the motto ‘HAKRO Cares’. In its activities, the company focuses on the Schwäbisch Hall district as its home region.
HAKRO supports numerous sports clubs in the region, but also creates several jobs for people with special support needs in cooperation with the Sozialtherapeutische Gemeinschaften Weckelweiler e.V. In addition, the Harry Kroll Foundation helped the Tübingen Children's Hospital financially with the purchase of important medical equipment. The volunteer service ‘HAKRO TeamShare’ also takes centre stage. Established as a corporate volunteering project in 2017, HARKO supports its employees' voluntary commitment to their fellow human beings or the environment with a day of special leave. HAKRO's commitment to the citizens of the region is to be maintained and will be practised even more purposefully in future in order to increase the positive impact for the common good. The company's commitment guidelines, which were drawn up for the first time and have been in force since August 2017, provide the framework for this.
‘For us, sustainability is more than just an image-promoting buzzword,’ emphasises Carmen Kroll, Managing Director and shareholder of HAKRO GmbH. "The shared core values and responsible treatment of people and the environment, to which we have once again committed ourselves with the WIN Charter, are more than a matter close to our hearts, as is our strong regional commitment. We see sustainability as an integral part of our success."
You can download the report here
