Corporate Responsibility
At Bertelsmann, responsible action has always been an integral part of our corporate culture of creativity and entrepreneurship. We take responsibility for our employees, for the quality of our media, services, and educational offerings. We are mindful of the impact we have on society and environment, and we seek to make a positive difference.
Our Approach
The committee responsible for the strategic development of corporate responsibility at Bertelsmann is the CR Council. The CR Council is composed of the Group’s Chief Human Resources Officer and high-ranking representatives of the divisions . It deals with the strategic development of CR at Bertelsmann, the cross-divisional coordination of CR activities within the Group and proposes further measures to the Bertelsmann Executive Board.
At Group level, the Corporate Responsibility department coordinates and supports the work of the CR Council in close cooperation with other Group functions. Accountability for putting corporate responsibility into practice through specific CR measures and projects lies with the local management teams. The divisions and companies have implemented their own structures and processes.
Our Engagement
Day after day and around the world, employees at Bertelsmann companies dedicate themselves to CR efforts close to the media, services, and education business. We document their engagement in our project database . In our magazine “Faces of Responsibility ,” some of them discuss the topics they care about and that motivate them to take on responsibility.
Our Topics
Bertelsmann regularly conducts CR relevance analyses to identify Group-wide responsibility topics. These range from creative independence and learning to diversity, equity & inclusion and health & well-being. Among the strategic focus topics of our work are the climate protection (2020) and gender diversity (2019) targets adopted by the Executive Board. The other topics can be found here .
Our Reporting
Each year, Bertelsmann publishes a non-financial statement on relevant CR topics in the Combined Management Report . We have applied the international standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in our voluntaryCR reporting since 2011. In this way, Bertelsmann also fulfills its obligation, as a member of the UN Global Compact , to submit an annual Communication on Progress . Further information on CR can be found here .
