Nielsen-Bewertung der nichtfinanziellen Wesentlichkeit 2019-2020
Updated responsibility & sustainability non-financial materiality assessment highlights Nielsen’s commitment to proactive engagement with its stakeholders
Kurzfassung
Im Rahmen unseres Engagements fรผr sinnvolle kontinuierliche Verbesserungen in unserem gesamten Unternehmen haben wir unsere Stakeholder innerhalb und auรerhalb von Nielsen einbezogen, um unsere dritte nichtfinanzielle Wesentlichkeitsbewertung zu erstellen. Diese Gelegenheiten, unseren Stakeholdern proaktiv zuzuhรถren, sind der Schlรผssel zu unserem strategischen und sich entwickelnden Verstรคndnis der Fรคhigkeit von Nielsen, durch unser Geschรคft und in unseren Gemeinschaften direkt und indirekt Werte zu schaffen, heute und in der Zukunft; wir verpflichten uns, ihr Feedback in unsere Gesamtprozesse, unsere Geschรคftsstrategie und unsere globalen Verantwortungs- und Nachhaltigkeitsprogramme zu integrieren. Wir versuchen nicht nur besser zu verstehen, wie die Stakeholder Nielsen heute sehen, sondern nutzen dieses Feedback auch, um kรผnftige potenzielle Risiken und Chancen zu ermitteln, einschlieรlich aller aufkommenden Probleme, die den Geschรคftserfolg von Nielsen und die Beziehungen zu den Stakeholdern beeinflussen kรถnnten. Um diese Bewertung durchzufรผhren, haben wir die Stakeholder direkt oder รผber Bevollmรคchtigte zu allen Aspekten unserer Wertschรถpfungskette befragt.
The results of this assessment inform our strategic approach in a variety of ways: our ongoing communications about Nielsen’s overall commitments; how we proactively respond to environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related inquiries from investors, clients, and other stakeholders; and how we allocate resources to areas of greatest impact and importance to Nielsen. These issues cut across all aspects of our business, operations, and value creation through our client and industry relationships, our employee base, and our communities.
The issue areas highlighted through this materiality assessment are naturally interconnected with the ESG issues that matter most to our business, such as our commitment to employee engagement and development; diversity across our workforce and approach to measurement; Nielsen Cares projects that leverage our data and associatesโ talents to make a social impact; our work to ensure our suppliers operate sustainably; and our commitment to helping our clients embed sustainability into their product and consumer engagement strategies. Through responsible, sustainable business practices, weโre committed to connecting key ESG best practices with our core purpose as a company to deliver greater value for all of our stakeholders. The responsibility to deliver on our key ESG commitments, aligned with the material priority areas identified in this assessment, is shared by all of our functional teams and leaders across our global business.
Im Laufe dieser Bewertung sammelten wir das Feedback der Stakeholder durch ausfรผhrliche Interviews und Fokusgruppen sowie durch die Durchsicht bestehender Unterlagen, Webkommentare, Umfragen, Feedback von ESG-Standardsetzern, Bewertern und Bewerterinnen, soziale und traditionelle Medieninhalte und Webinare. Zu unseren wichtigsten Stakeholder-Gruppen gehรถren unter anderem: Mitarbeiter, Kunden, Branchenverbรคnde und Multiplikatoren, Regulierungsbehรถrden und politische Entscheidungstrรคger, gemeinnรผtzige Organisationen und Non-Profit-Organisationen, Investoren, Lieferanten und strategische Geschรคftspartner. Wir bemรผhten uns um ein Gleichgewicht zwischen internen und externen Beitrรคgen aus verschiedenen Regionen. Das Feedback wurde dokumentiert, und unser internes Team und externe Experten identifizierten Hunderte von relevanten Themenbereichen. Diese Themen wurden dann in eine Rangfolge gebracht, wobei Faktoren wie Intensitรคt, Hรคufigkeit der Erwรคhnung durch verschiedene Stakeholder-Gruppen und relative Auswirkungen auf die Stakeholder, die Gesellschaft und unser Geschรคft berรผcksichtigt wurden. Die Prioritรคten wurden auf die Bereiche gelegt, in denen Nielsen am eindeutigsten und direktesten handeln kann, um die fรผr die Stakeholder interessanten und fรผr unser Geschรคft wichtigen Bereiche anzugehen.
Weโve linked our ESG strategy and external reporting efforts as part of a cohesive cycle focused on continuous improvement, enabling us to transparently share our ongoing journey through our Nielsen Global Responsibility Report und regular updates. Our next Nielsen Global Responsibility Report, planned for publication in 2020, will cover each of these material topic areas in greater depth. We will continue to publish regular updates on these and other priorities via Nielsen News Center and other outlets.
Unser strategischer Ansatz
As with our previous two assessments, we intend to use this information to guide both how we prioritize and resource continuous improvement efforts, and how we publicly report on these ongoing initiatives. This is our third non-financial materiality assessment; the most recent previous assessment was published in 2017. Going forward, we are committed to continuing this practice of conducting these assessments on a periodic basis.
Weโve decided to use a new visual format to distill our priority issue areas for this assessment, as we feel this more appropriately conveys the overlapping and dynamic interactions among our most material issue areas. Rather than the traditional horizontal/vertical axes weโve used in previous years, we chose instead to use a Venn diagram format to show how these key strategic areas are inherently interconnected and interdependent. Much has changed in our business and operating environment since we published our last assessment in 2017. Shifting market and industry dynamics, increased pressure on our clientsโ business models, new and emerging data privacy regulations, and the rapid pace of technological innovation are some of the key factors that weโve highlighted with our stakeholders as forces of change for our business. While change creates opportunities for evolution, we also recognize the enduring importance of foundational elements of our brandโintegrity, trust, transparency, and quality data representative of all consumer populationsโaligned with the key areas that came out of this most recent assessment.
Although this graphic does not include the traditional axes of โimportance to stakeholdersโ and โimportance to society,โ we have applied these fundamental considerations to our analysis and issue prioritization per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards. Each issue area contains a myriad of nuanced topics that were specifically cited by our stakeholders, which we recognize as critical for Nielsen to monitor and lead on as we seek to create economic, social and environmental value within and beyond our business, both today and over the long term. We have included definitions for each issue area below to reflect our stakeholdersโ feedback and to clarify their unique meaning in the context of our business.
While the most material topic areas highlighted in this narrative are those that ranked highest among the hundreds of inputs we received from our stakeholders, all should be considered important. Topics at the center of the diagramโโData,โ โTrust,โ โTransparency,โ and โDiversity & Inclusionโโwere recognized across stakeholder groups as the foundation on which all of the other issues are based.
At the center, โDataโ was most prominently and frequently cited by all stakeholder groups. Data is at the core of our business, and it is fundamental to how we create value across all the other issue areas. Given the nature of our business across more than 90 years, the central importance of data is no surprise. The data we collect, analyze and share with the clients and industries we support each day is the lifeblood of our business. Our clients expect our data to be unbiased, accurate, trustworthy, and collected according to the highest standards of privacy, security, and integrity so they can rely on our insights for their important business decisions. Our shareholders expect us to continue to adapt our use of innovative new technology to the rapidly-changing end-markets in which we work. Our data must also represent all consumers, and we are similarly focused on ensuring that our own workforce represents the communities we seek to measure in order to harness the power of diversity to drive better business outcomes. We also recognize the unique opportunity for data to help communities and nonprofits more effectively deliver on their missions; we seek to contribute to these efforts through our Data for Good initiatives.
Fรผr viele unserer Stakeholder gehรถren bestimmte Themen zu den grundlegenden Voraussetzungen fรผr ein erfolgreiches und nachhaltiges Unternehmen, um verantwortungsvoll zu handeln. Fรผr Nielsen sind dies unter anderem:
- Langfristige Sicherung unserer Wirtschaftsleistung und unseres Wachstums;
- Addressing climate change-related issues that impact our global footprint;
- Mitigating any negative ethical, social or environmental impacts that flow through our end-to-end business and supply chain; and
- Wir engagieren uns in unseren Gemeinden, insbesondere durch ehrenamtliches Engagement unserer Mitarbeiter und die Weitergabe unserer einzigartigen Erkenntnisse im Rahmen von "Data for Good"-Projekten, die einen positiven Einfluss auf die Gesellschaft haben.
Zentrale Problembereiche definiert
Unser Venn-Diagramm zeigt, wie alle unsere wesentlichen Themen einander ergรคnzen und voneinander abhรคngig sind. So schaffen und erhalten wir beispielsweise Vertrauen in unsere Daten, indem wir integer handeln, die Vorschriften einhalten und transparent mit unseren Stakeholdern kommunizieren. Vielfalt und Inklusion unterstรผtzen unser Bestreben, Talente zu halten, zu gewinnen und zu binden, was letztlich dazu beitrรคgt, dass sich unser Geschรคftsmodell kontinuierlich weiterentwickelt, um alle Verbraucher รผber Lรคnder und Kulturen hinweg zu berรผcksichtigen. Transparenz gibt unseren Kunden und Aktionรคren die Gewissheit, dass unser Geschรคftsmodell (und die von uns gelieferten Daten) solide sind und dass wir die geltenden und neuen Vorschriften, die unsere Datenerfassung und -nutzung betreffen, einhalten. In Anbetracht der inhรคrenten Zusammenhรคnge zwischen diesen Prioritรคtsbereichen sind sie alle gleich wichtig und fรผr unser kรผnftiges Wachstum unerlรคsslich.
Wie unsere Grafik zeigt, haben uns unsere Stakeholder geholfen, die folgenden vorrangigen nichtfinanziellen Themenbereiche zu identifizieren:
Daten
For close to a century, Nielsen has provided data and analytics based on scientific rigor and cutting-edge innovation, continually developing new ways to answer the most important questions facing the media, advertising, retail and fast-moving consumer goods industries. Since data powers Nielsenโs business, it must be of the highest quality: consistent, reliable, and representative of all consumers and channels. The business of data creates responsibilitiesโa responsibility to protect the consumer, a responsibility to protect the marketing ecosystem, and a responsibility to manage it all with integrity and transparency.
Clients, in particular, expressed interest in how Nielsen ensures that the consumers who provide information to us are representative of a broad range of perspectives, with a special focus on multicultural consumers. On the analytics side, they expect transparency on how we confirm that our insights are unbiased, and that consumersโ privacy is protected through our approach to privacy by design. All stakeholder groups emphasized the importance of protecting the confidentiality of the data and information we collect, and utilizing the latest technology and practices to secure it. We will continue to invest in wide-ranging data privacy, security and integrity safeguards to ensure quality and security are never compromised.
Additionally, stakeholders across the board see continued opportunities for Nielsenโs data to be used for societal and environmental good. To deliver on this, we plan to continue to focus on Data for Good projects where we can make a unique impact through our data, insights, and capabilities, as part of our $10 million annual commitment to pro bono work and our overarching Nielsen Cares volunteer platform.
We believe that our commitment to high-quality, science-backed data is an essential service to the marketplace. The ability to provide useful data, independent of bias towards buyer or seller, will only become more crucial. We also anticipate our ability to make a positive social impact will grow as we continue to work with key nonprofits across our priority cause areas.
Vertrauen
Unser Ziel ist es, den vollstรคndigsten und zuverlรคssigsten รberblick รผber Verbraucher und Mรคrkte weltweit zu bieten. Damit die Verbraucher bereitwillig Informationen mit uns teilen, mรผssen sie uns vertrauen. Wir nehmen unsere Verpflichtung ernst, alle persรถnlichen und vertraulichen Daten geheim zu halten.
Vertrauen ist die Grundlage fรผr alles, was wir bei Nielsen tun, und bleibt ein entscheidender Faktor fรผr unsere gesellschaftliche Legitimation, insbesondere da sich die Erwartungen der Verbraucher und das regulatorische Umfeld auf die Mรถglichkeiten aller Unternehmen auswirken, Verbraucherdaten zu sammeln, zu nutzen und zu verkaufen. Die Vertrauensbasis, die wir in unseren Geschรคftsablรคufen, Produkten und Mitarbeitern aufgebaut haben und aufrechterhalten mรผssen, bleibt ein wichtiges Unterscheidungsmerkmal im Wettbewerb. Wir sind uns der entscheidenden Rolle bewusst, die wir fรผr unsere Kunden spielen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Daten, die wir ihnen liefern, reprรคsentativ, genau und nรผtzlich fรผr ihre eigenen prรคdiktiven Analysen sind, da sie unsere Erkenntnisse nutzen, um ihre Ressourcen zu steuern und die Mรคrkte fรผr Werbung, Konsumgรผter, Medien und mehr zu gestalten.
As it is critical to providing independent measurement services for the industries we support, trust is also a key aspect of our talent engagement and retention strategy. Our employees are especially interested in the future evolution of our business as it aligns with their own unique opportunities for career growth. Weโre committed to openly sharing new opportunities for learning and development as we seek new ways for our associates to be engaged and grow in their careers alongside our companyโs continued evolution.
Transparenz
Transparenz is key to our ability to showcase the differentiating value of our data, and to share our progress on how we innovate to better meet the imperatives of our world today by connecting with existing and new clients, entering new measurement channels and evolving into a new phase of Nielsenโs overall growth. Specifically, stakeholders expect continued transparency around data collection methodologies and analysis, strategy and future plans, financial reporting, leadership changes and ambitions, and diversity representation. Employees, too, want to continue to be engaged in our long-term growth plans and the resulting opportunities for career development.
Media buyers and advertisers need transparency in order to effectively negotiate and trade in an open marketplace. In using rigorous, independent measurement that provides a source of truth, they want to understand just how effective their efforts are and how they can improve upon them. More clarity ultimately means more trust that they are getting exactly what they paid for. The consumers who provide this dataโwith every click, every like, and every transactionโalso want to know that they are protected. Consumers are more aware and concerned about how data about them is being captured and used today than ever before.
Our success is dependent on stakeholdersโ confidence that our data, business practices, forecasting, and financial reporting are unimpeachable. Our business practices, professional behavior, approach to corporate governance, codes of conduct, Global Responsibility Report, public filings, Einblicke und Nachrichtenzentrum, are all a part of our focus on transparency toward our commitment to build and maintain trust across all of our stakeholder groups.
Diversity & inclusion
Diversity & Inclusion remains critical to our business, in terms of our ability to include all consumers across our measurement solutions, to ensure that our workforce represents the changing demographics around the world, and to enable all associates to perform to their full potential. As artificial intelligence and machine learning evolve and present new use cases for measurement, we recognize the importance of ensuring that these tools are used in a responsible way that is representative of all consumers.
The importance of nurturing a diverse and inclusive workplace touches every aspect of Nielsenโs business. A diverse talent pool creates a more productive environment with a broad range of thoughts and experiences that spurs innovation. Clients expect Nielsen to consistently evolve and deliver to provide new insights about multicultural consumers, audiences and media. We canโt effectively measure these audiences without ensuring that our own workforce also reflects a diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds, and life experiences. Outreach to diverse communities also gives us access to new talent pools and a deeper understanding of multicultural communities as we expand our consumer panels.
Wir erwarten auch von allen unseren Lieferanten und Geschรคftspartnern, dass sie einen multikulturellen Ansatz verfolgen und die Welt widerspiegeln, die wir messen wollen.
Beyond our own value chain, our recent public position opposing the proposed citizenship question in the 2020 U.S. Census was cited by various stakeholder groups as a welcome example of leadership in support of upholding strong data science principles and representing diverse populations.
Business model evolution & innovation
Business Model Evolution & Innovation reflects the importance of continuing to evolve our approach to measurement and the ways that we deliver our data and services across the industries and clients we support. Our data helps clients around the world understand what’s happening now and what’s happening next; to that end, our measurement capabilities and technology must innovate to stay ahead of the rapid pace of change all companies and industries are experiencing today.
Wir mรผssen auch einen รberblick รผber den Gesamtmarkt bieten und alle Kanรคle messen, รผber die Verbraucher Waren kaufen und Medien konsumieren. Da sich dieses รkosystem weiterhin schnell entwickelt und wรคchst, wird die Position von Nielsen als unabhรคngiger Anbieter von konsistenten und vergleichbaren Daten immer wichtiger. Wir sind bestrebt, unsere Technologie kontinuierlich zu verbessern und unsere Messkapazitรคten durch stรคndige Innovation zu erweitern. Dabei setzen wir auf eine offene, flexible Zusammenarbeit und konzentrieren uns auf die Geschwindigkeit, mit der wir unseren Kunden und Branchen helfen, gemeinsame Ziele zu erreichen.
Clients and investors are focused on opportunities for Nielsen to stay ahead of the curve through innovation on the cost-side of our business by growing more efficient and developing streamlined ways to collect and synthesize data in an increasingly complex world. Innovation is key to our ability to succeed, and we recognize the importance of protecting our innovations and intellectual property across our entire footprint. Protecting innovation by promptly seeking patent protection on both the revenue-generating side of the business through new products and services and the cost-side of our business through efficiency-generating processes will remain a hallmark of Nielsenโs innovation strategy.
Nielsenโs innovation imperative encompasses the need to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to grow our measurement capabilities in new ways, how we engage with our clients, and how we ensure that all channels, categories and consumers are reflected in our coverage. To more seamlessly deliver for our clients and the industries we support, weโve simplified our organization into two core platforms: Nielsen Global Media and Nielsen Global Connect.
Our focus on innovation also includes opening up to new clients and new end-users of Nielsen data and services as we become more product- and technology-focused as a company. One of these new opportunities is a focus on the sustainability related intelligence we can provide our clients, particularly in the consumer packaged goods and retail spaces.
Engagement der Talente
Nielsenโs future relies on a skilled and stable talent pool. Ensuring that all Nielsen associates feel engaged and supported throughout their career journeysโregardless of race, gender, background or any of the other factors covered by our global non-discrimination statementโremains critical to our ability to attract, maintain, and grow top talent at our company in order to create and deliver better solutions to the marketplace.
As it is especially critical that our employees remain engaged throughout their time at Nielsen, in recent years weโve invested in growing employee engagement in new ways across a variety of different dimensions, such as regular employee engagement โpulse checks,โ encouraging associates and their managers to connect through regular check-ins, and expanding the capacity of our internal mentoring and leadership development programs. Employee engagement is the emotional and psychological connection our associates feel about their workplace and the work that we do. Itโs about belonging, commitment, growth, and teamwork. And ultimately, it helps lead to both individual and business success.
Die derzeitigen Mitarbeiter gaben an, dass sie Arbeitsplatzsicherheit, eine Kultur, die Vielfalt unterstรผtzt, und Transparenz in Bezug auf kรผnftige Karriereentwicklung und Aufstiegsmรถglichkeiten schรคtzen. Die Mitarbeiter nannten fortlaufende, kontinuierliche Schulungen und Entwicklungsmรถglichkeiten fรผr die unternehmensfรผhrung als wichtige Maรnahmen, um Mitarbeiter zu halten und zu binden.
Bei Nielsen steht unsere Talentstrategie in direktem Zusammenhang mit unserer langfristigen Geschรคftsstrategie. Das heiรt, unser Fokus auf Innovation, Technologie und Effizienz - und die damit verbundene Umgestaltung unserer Organisation, damit wir weiterhin unsere Kunden und die Mรคrkte, die wir bedienen, dabei unterstรผtzen kรถnnen, effizienter zu arbeiten - treibt unsere Talententwicklung und strategische Personalplanung voran.
Compliance & integrity
Compliance & Integrity complements our cross-cutting focus on trust and transparency. This includes our internal engagement with employees on the need to protect Nielsenโs brand and reputation; the way we engage with our panelists and the consumers we measure; the protections we maintain in our relationships with third-party partners and suppliers; and the end-deliverables we share with our clients. Integrity encompasses good governance, regulatory compliance, and responsible business practices.
As an independent data and measurement company, our clientsโand the industries we supportโdepend on us to be an unbiased arbiter. To serve as a source of truth, integrity must be part of the foundation of all that we do at Nielsen. Maintaining such a culture helps protect the integrity of our data across the clients and markets we serve around the globe, builds a better workplace where employees feel respected and engaged, and increases our stakeholdersโ trust in our business and brand. This connection between a strong culture of integrity and increased trust has been critical to our ability to foster a supportive work environment, effectively engage with consumers, provide cutting-edge measurement services, and ultimately to help our clients and markets grow.
Die Compliance-Landschaft wird mit der Entwicklung des Datenschutzes, der Offenlegungspflichten im Bereich der Cybersicherheit und der weltweiten Vorschriften immer komplexer. Wir werden weiterhin in diese wichtigen Bereiche investieren, um sicherzustellen, dass wir diese Anforderungen erfรผllen und รผbertreffen.
