“Three steps” to build a community of sustainable development for people and enterprises

As a pioneer in sustainable development, Schneider Electric has been recognized by global authorities for its many years of deep cultivation and practice, including being listed in the Corporate Jazz “Global Top 100 Sustainable Companies” list for 11 consecutive years and selected in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for 11 consecutive years. Currently, Schneider Electric’s sustainable impact revenue – that is, revenue from products or solutions that have a positive impact on the climate – accounts for more than 70 percent of Schneider Electric’s global revenue, and this share will increase to 80 percent by 2050.

IS200TPROH1C And this is inseparable from the motivation and development of people. For many years, Schneider Electric has been committed to promoting the sustainable development of people and businesses, and this year, it was named by Forbes China “China’s Best Employer 2022″ and “China’s Most Sustainable Employer 2022″. Our experience can be summarized as “three steps” : concept guidance, cultural boost, and institutional empowerment.

First, concept guidance. Clear ideas come from clear strategies. The sustainable development strategy not only guides the direction of enterprise operations, but also guides the sustainable development values of employees.

As early as 2002, Schneider Electric put sustainability as a core strategy, setting clear strategic objectives and quantitative evaluation system (SSI), including six long-term commitments to address climate change, efficient use of resources, integrity, equality of opportunity, unlocking potential across generations and empowering local development. And link the progress of the sustainable Goals directly to the performance of the team and the individual.

IS200TPROH1C In addition, through the establishment of a sustainable development strategy committee, the establishment of compulsory courses for all employees of sustainable development, the strengthening of multi-channel communication for all employees, and the implantation of green environmental protection concepts in the office environment, employees have changed from “passive acceptance of goals” to “spontaneous concept identification”. For example, the printing mode of double-sided or single-sided reuse has become the standard for companies, and coupled with paperless office, more than 10 million paper will be saved in China in 2021 alone.

IS200TPROH1C On the business side, Schneider Electric integrates sustainability into all aspects of the business, from green design, green procurement, green production, green delivery to green operation and maintenance, to create an end-to-end green supply chain, so that every employee’s work is closely related to sustainability. Schneider Electric is committed to achieving carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2025, “zero carbon readiness” in its own operations by 2030, end-to-end value chain carbon neutrality by 2040, and end-to-end value chain net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Second, cultural boost. Excellent corporate culture will become a fertile ground for talent development, and Schneider Electric’s cultural gene of “diversity, equality and inclusiveness” is the stabilizer and booster to promote the long-term development of talents.

Innovation is indispensable to sustainable development, and the “tolerance” that encourages trial and error is the soil that protects and nurtures innovation. “Dare to disrupt” is one of the core values advocated by IS200TPROH1C Schneider Electric, and for this purpose, the “Best Attempt Award” is set up to recognize the team that has made a beneficial attempt for the development of the company, even if the attempt is not successful. In addition, “pluralistic” culture is also a source of innovation, and people of different backgrounds, ages, and genders can often collide with more creative ideas. As a century-old multinational company that has undergone numerous mergers and restructurings, Schneider Electric understands that diversity and inclusion are strategic assets.

At the same time, Schneider Electric advocates “equality” and is committed to ensuring that the value of every employee is valued and given opportunities for development. Taking gender equality as an example, Schneider Electric has incorporated it into its sustainability strategy and proposed that by 2025, the proportion of women in new employees, first-line managers, and senior management teams will reach 50%, 40%, and 30% respectively. And through the elimination of implicit bias training, female leadership training program and other perfect measures to support the growth of female employees, so that the company continues to emerge excellent female managers.

Third, institutional empowerment. The cultivation of sustainable ability is not only overnight, but also through the long-term empowerment of employees through the system, which can gradually accumulate.

Schneider Electric empowers its employees with a “whole career” system that helps them grow into the backbone of achieving sustainable development goals. From fresh graduates to old employees who are waiting to retire, there are corresponding training programs, which form inter-generational synergy while building a leadership team. The company has also built a complete range of digital learning platforms with rich content to help employees learn knowledge at any time and complete self-improvement more efficiently and flexibly.

Considering that the sustainable development of talents also requires sufficient space for growth and display, Schneider Electric on the one hand opens up cross-departmental horizontal flow, through the internal Open Talent Market, the ability of employees, career interests and internal positions intelligent match, encourage employees to fully tap their own potential; On the other hand, the deepening of the group’s “multi-center” strategy has also opened up the channel of vertical rise of talents, the Chinese team can manage transnational projects or lead global product lines locally, and more and more local talents are taking important positions in the world, displaying their talents in the “unlimited” space.

In addition to “nutrients” and “space”, talent development also needs “sunshine”. Schneider Electric attaches great importance to the physical and mental health of employees, and continuously improves the rights and interests of employees by optimizing the internal recognition, care and welfare system, such as family leave and special leave to support employees’ actual needs; The “Step Up” thank you platform that promotes a culture of collaboration and recognition; Flexible working practices and flexible benefit platforms that increase employee autonomy. These measures enable employees to improve their ability and career progress at the same time, they can also feel the encouragement of the team and the warmth of the corporate family, so as to burst out more sustainable growth.