Sustainable development has been gaining significance of lately and is gradually becoming an integral part of business experience. There are a number of independent authorities that evaluate the companies in regards to their CSR measures. One of the most trusted auditors in this respect is a rating platform known as EcoVadis – it has evaluated more than 25 thousand entities to date and its solutions are used by the largest global corporations.
The platform rates corporate CSR practices and implements measures to reduce the risk and support innovation in sustainable purchasing. The organisation has a global range and its objectives include implementing significant changes in supply chains all over the world – to achieve it, the company combines considerable experience with advanced technology and comprehensive service solutions.
– EcoVadis is like a signpost: the companies that undergo the evaluation work towards sustainable growth. The very EcoVadis evaluation process shows the results of their efforts – this is to tell each company where it is and how far it has to go before it reaches the top grade, which happens to be platinum. Nowy Styl has gone a long way. In 2019 we were awarded the silver medal and more than a dozen months later we went straight for the gold! – says Barbara Kokoszka-Bugla, Sustainability Manager at Nowy Styl.
Silver medal meant Nowy Styl ranked as one of the 19% companies with top scores. As the winner of the gold medal, the company joins the leaders as one of the top 2%.
What does the EcoVadis evaluation look like?
During the audit, EcoVadis employs 21 criteria broken down into 4 categories:
human and employee rights
environment
ethics
sustainable purchasing.
The criteria are based on international sustainability standards, such as: UN Global Compact, GRI and ISO 26000.
As the silver medal winner, Nowy Styl received 57 points in the evaluation. To reach for the gold, we had to comply with strict requirements and considerably raise our standards. As a result, we obtained 71 points! The greatest progress was made in the category of human and employee rights. We have also improved our score in ethics and environment, whereas the score in the sustainable purchasing category remained unchanged.
In the contemporary world the importance of the EcoVadis evaluation cannot be exaggerated – the ranking is popular and recognised among our clients and stakeholders.
– Many companies declare their activity in the CSR area, but only a few can boast the EcoVadis medal, which is awarded by an objective panel of experts. That’s why our Clients keep asking us about the EcoVadis distinction and for some of them it’s even one of the requirements for the participation in a tender. EcoVadis is a confirmation of our determination and actual CSR measures we take on a daily basis. The EcoVadis gold medal can open many doors – says Bartosz Karasiński, Export Director at Nowy Styl.
In the ever-changing world a gold medal is never awarded once and for all – the EcoVadis platform performs a re-evaluation every year and as the awareness increases, the auditor’s requirements are becoming stricter. How many points and what medal can we receive in 2022?
– In 2021 we obtained 71 points, which got us the gold medal. We do realise we have to engage in further activities to maintain the status quo. Of course, we are working towards the highest distinction, which is the platinum medal. This is why we are planning to increase the scope of our CSR efforts – says Barbara Kokoszka-Bugla.
This year Nowy Styl is going to:
organise trainings in ethics and anti-corruption measures for the employees
start a dialogue aimed at exchanging good practices with the company suppliers
set specific and measurable goals in the four categories evaluated by EcoVadis, and report the performance in these categories on an annual basis.
These are measurable activities which will contribute to increasing the value of Nowy Styl – in the eyes of our clients and contractors, but also with regard to the environment.