ASSMANN Sustainability Report ranked no. 1 in Germany

The ASSMANN Sustainability Report ‘#weiter_gehen 2020’ is the best sustainability report in the SME category in Germany. This was the verdict of the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the business association Future at the Next Generation CSR Reporting conference. The independent ranking, carried out and supported by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, began with a pre-screening process in which 40 sustainability reports were selected from the nationwide entries and then scrutinised thoroughly with a focus on how well each company informs about the impact of their economic activity and actions on people, society and the environment. ASSMANN, headquartered in Melle, scored 77.4 points out of 100 and thus made it to the top of the list. At the awards ceremony, State Secretary Lilian Tschan emphasised the importance of sustainability for the German economy and called for greater transparency in reporting in order to enable the general public to gain more insight into the objectives and measures aimed at maintaining social, environmental and employment standards.

‘This ranking is the most important distinction for sustainability reports in Germany’, emphasises ASSMANN’s Sustainability Manager Martin Könneker, who accepted the award together with Karla Assmann in a virtual ceremony at the online conference. It is one of the world’s first systematic assessments of corporate communications for societal matters and also among the most comprehensive. This study has shaped German companies’ reporting on their social and ecological challenges and activities since 1994. Using an increasingly demanding catalogue of requirements based on performance indicators, it assesses the transparency of companies in providing information on their systematic procedures to develop strategies and measures and on their current status quo in terms of figures. These include, for example, matters such as effects on the climate, diversity and absence of discrimination, social and ecological effects in the supply chain or commitment to regional social issues. ‘The prize shows that we are on the right track with our consistent sustainability strategy’, says Karla Assmann. ‘And we aim to continue along this path.’

The independent jury emphasises that the ASSMANN Sustainability Report includes a digital factbook containing videos and key figures, in addition to text, images and diagrams. Their verdict also notes how it describes the value chain, classifies sustainable services and itemises direct and indirect effects on the environment in production, logistics and with regard to products. ‘The ASSMANN report provides a nuanced description of the demands that stakeholders place in the company and the way in which it incorporates these into its materiality analysis, and then offers a detailed account of the main topics’, says Dr Udo Westermann from the business association Future. ‘The company clearly gears its sustainability programme towards continuous improvement of its services. And ASSMANN gives explanations if it occasionally does not manage to reach its targets.’

Marketing Manager Marc Schumann is particularly pleased with the assessment of the structure of the Sustainability Report and the statement on its design concept: ‘The structure and design of the Sustainability Report are very user friendly. Multimedia content such as audio and video add to the textual sections. Readers will therefore enjoy exploring the details of the furniture manufacturer’s sustainability management system.’

The ASSMANN Sustainability Report is available at www.assmann.de/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeitsbericht-2020. A complete assessment of the Eleventh Ranking of Sustainability Reports is contained in the digital press kit at www.ranking-nachhaltigkeitsberichte.de/pressemappe