Dialog with Stakeholders

Companies cannot act in their own interests. They must have the consent and support of society. Regular and open dialog with all stakeholders is one of our business principles. We believe that dialog offers us a major opportunity to prepare for new challenges promptly, avoid risks and realize our full potential.

WACKER constantly communicates with a number of stakeholder groups throughout the world: employees, customers, suppliers, analysts, investors, journalists, scientists, neighbors and politicians, as well as representatives from NGOs, authorities and associations. We use a monitoring and analysis tool to identify our principal stakeholders and their expectations. Stakeholder dialog is conducted in many ways – through the outreach activities of WACKER’s top executives, managers, sites and departments. The focus is always on face-to-face discussions, i.e. on direct contact. What’s more, we communicate with stakeholders through publications (annual report, press releases, employee newspaper, etc.), special events (open-house days, supplier days, investor roadshows, etc.), tradeshows, committee work and presentations. We sound out our workforce by conducting regular employee surveys. One such survey in 2010 asked our employees in Germany about occupational health & safety. In the same year, Siltronic sought out the views of its workforce on the culture of quality and environmental protection at its German sites.

In 2010, we quizzed our stakeholders about WACKER’s sustainability efforts and, for the first time, its reputation. A total of 203 individuals with links to our company took part in telephone interviews or filled out online questionnaires. The survey was held in Germany, China and the USA. Its outcome showed that WACKER enjoys an outstanding reputation among the various stakeholder groups. We scored a very high figure of 88 points in the reputation stakes – this compares with the average score for industrial companies and service providers of just 51 points. WACKER’s high reputation stems primarily from the high level of trust which is placed in the company.

Some 75 percent of stakeholder representatives are genuine ambassadors for WACKER. They have been totally won over by the company’s level of expertise and ability to deliver. Those surveyed include employees, customers, suppliers, analysts, administrative and civil service staff, as well as NGOs and politicians.

The aim of the sustainability survey was to find out how these interest groups viewed our commitment to sustainability and where they saw room for improvement. The evaluation of the discussions and questionnaires revealed that our sustainability efforts are viewed slightly more favorably than in 2008.  Sustainability Report 2007/2008

Stakeholders ranked WACKER highly to very highly in the following areas: safety of production facilities, safety of products and their transportation, promotion of employee health, sustainable products and reduction of waste volumes and emissions. For the future, they challenged us to set climate protection goals, engage in frank and continuous dialog with society, and engage in sponsorships (science, culture, society).

The greatest challenge raised in the 2008 stakeholder survey was the harmonization of social and ecological standards across all sites. WACKER responded in the period under review with its “Global EHS & PS Excellence” project. Management Structures