Often people achieve only incremental progress, because their view of tomorrow is determined by what they see today.
At AkzoNobel, we believe the future belongs to those smart enough to challenge it. We believe that real progress belongs to those who not only think with courage, but also have the courage to deliver on the thought. Tomorrow’s answers, delivered today.
What drives us is knowing that what is good for our customers today is not necessarily good enough for them tomorrow. What excites us is asking the unasked question. What inspires us is seeing the opportunity others cannot. What unites us is the intelligence to deliver where others have not.
This benefits our customers because we sustain their future competitiveness and meet the consumers’ unspoken needs. This ambition defines us. This is the way we work. This is why we come to work. This is AkzoNobel.
We believe in:
- Focusing on our customers’ future first
- Embracing entrepreneurial thinking
- Developing the talents of our people
- The courage and curiosity to question
- Integrity and responsibility in our actions.
Sustainability
We’re committed to reducing our impact on the planet and delivering more sustainable products and solutions to our customers. But we can only do this if sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we’ve integrated sustainability into every area of our business - for the benefit of our clients, shareholders, employees and the world around us.
During 2010, our sustainability ambitions were updated and we reviewed our sustainability programs to bring greater focus to our efforts:
- Top quartile safety performance
- Top three position in sustainability
- Top quartile performance in diversity, employee engagement and talent development
- Top quartile eco-efficiency improvement rate.
AkzoNobel is committed to sustainability at all levels. This is also incorporated in our sustainability framework, which has three levels: Invent, Manage and Improve. Each includes environmental, economic and social aspects, which together map out the journey towards sustainability.
Invent: integrate sustainable value propositions
As we move forward, we are identifying and managing those issues which provide long-term opportunities for our businesses.
Manage: include sustainability in all aspects of the value chain
Based on the foundations of compliance and license tooperate, we are now integrating sustainability into all areas of the value chain, from market research through to sales and marketing.
Improve: continue to comply and ensure our license to operate
Our management processes include directives and standards, management systems, improvement objectives, training and auditing. They are underpinned by AkzoNobel’s risk management process, which integrates environmental, social and governance issues.
Measure
In order to measure our performance as a leader in sustainability we use the SAM (Sustainability Asset Management) benchmark. This offers us an objective view on the areas in which we perform well or where there is room for improvement, as well as a comparison with the performance of our peers.
You can download the full fact file here.