We encourage employees, factory workers and farmers to share their perspectives.
How can we bring about change when there are long-held beliefs or prejudices standing in the way?
For profound changes to be implemented successfully, there must be a clear goal and the courage to question and abandon established thinking. To take sustainable products out of the niche market and make them the norm in the mass market is one such profound change. A company can only succeed in this endeavour when every employee believes in and is dedicated to this shared goal – both on a personal level and in his or her own area of professional responsibility.
'How does one become a butterfly?', asked the little caterpillar. 'You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar', came the answer.
From Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus
We want our employees to be like free-thinking (sustainability) entrepreneurs, take responsibility and drive change. This kind of individual commitment is not something that can be forced. It emerges and flourishes when everyone is able to identify with their shared goal and recognise that they can help shape their own area of responsibility and make a substantial difference.
Transparency is vital to establish and maintain this motivation. That’s why we are developing a company-wide OKR (Objectives & Key Results) system that will enable us to track targets and achievements in a way that everyone can understand.
We empower employees to adopt fair and sustainable practices across our sites and supply chains.
Trust and mutual appreciation are also fundamental to our employees’ personal commitment. We have therefore introduced employee participation schemes and involve every department so that sustainability can be built up from within. Sustainability training courses are a key element of this, allowing all our colleagues to learn more about the background, values and goals of the company’s commitment to sustainability.
In 2020, all our Tchibo employees were given the opportunity to take part in various events (such as lectures and knowledge-sharing workshops) to learn about our activities and the challenges surrounding the issue of sustainability. In addition, two departments were given intensive training to firmly establish responsibility for the implementation of sustainability measures in these departments.
As a company, we are committed to empowerment: We encourage employees, factory workers and farmers to share their perspectives. This allows them to play an active role in shaping change.
This is why we launched the WE programme back in 2008 in the non-food sector.
In 2009, we established Tchibo Joint Forces!® in the coffee segment.
