Stakeholder Engagement and Materiality

Maintaining continuous dialogue with stakeholders is critical to long-term success.

We engage stakeholders to inform the development of our sustainability strategy and determine which topics are covered in our Sustainability Report. We see it as essential to have a good understanding of the issues that matter to our stakeholders and why they are relevant. Through this continuous dialogue we gain insights that enable us to align our sustainability initiatives to stakeholder requirements and ensure they deliver value to society.

Stakeholder	Why We Engage	How We Engage
EMPLOYEES AND SUPPLIERS	We want to make sure we are adding value to our employees through the training we offer them, the way we nurture their potentials and the opportunities and encouragement we give them to work across multiple functions and geographies during their careers. For our suppliers, we aim to understand how working with SGS affects their businesses and confirm that it adds stability while indirectly benefiting society.	Global employee engagement program, CATALYST SGS Sharepoint intranet portal SGS Inside newsletter Training programs, videos and e-learning modules SHINE Onboarding Annual integrity training Annual Safety Month Spot the Orange Dot environmental behavior campaign Sustainability learning Employee Representation Councils (e.g. European Works Council “Euroforum”) Supplier Code of Conduct Supplier audits Supplier Innovation Program
CUSTOMERS (Existing and potential customers)	For us it is important to know that we provide our customers with leading services which help make their businesses more efficient, profitable and sustainable. This supports our belief that value is passed on to society in the form of job security for employees, higher quality products and better environmental management.	One-to-one meetings SGS-hosted conferences, seminars and webinars Customer surveys, e.g. Voice of the Customer White papers Customer portal
GOVERNMENTS AND INDUSTRIES	Given our scale and leadership in the industry, we shape the markets in which we operate. We help to drive innovation and promote sustainable development.	SGS-hosted conferences, seminars and webinars Membership meetings and events White papers Our Governments and Institutions business line
INVESTORS	We add value to our investors by being a robust, sustainable business with a 140 year long track record. We are recognized for our transparency, leadership and commitment to long-term sustainability.	Annual General Meeting SGS Investor Days Meetings with investors and analysts Responses to analyst questionnaires
COMMUNITIES AND THE PLANET	We help nurture the communities we operate in and strongly support disaster relief efforts. Our sustainability endeavors are recognized as being among the very best – both regionally and in the TIC industry.	Annual community survey to measure the impact of community investment One-to-one meetings with NGOs and responses to questionnaires White papers
CONSUMERS	Consumers benefit from the services we provide our customers because they are able to trust the products and services they buy. From a product’s quality and safety to its authenticity, our services help protect consumers.	Certification and product labeling Direct marketing and communication with certain B2C products

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Materiality Process and Results

By integrating our Sustainability Principles with our procurement procedures, we ensure that sustainable practices are adhered to throughout the supply chain.