As businesses are becoming increasingly digital and automated there is also a need to become more sustainable. The impacts of our actions on our planet are becoming more visible, and as a result, counteractions become more pressing. There is a rising demand for sustainable offerings and sourcing from reliable sustainable partners.

Moreover, governmental institutions have evolving requirements to establish and report sustainability improvements. And lastly, there is the societal expectation that sustainable business practices are prioritized. Therefore, businesses need to take responsibility and help shape a more sustainable future. Siemens has clear priorities when it comes to sustainability. Through the DEGREE framework, it has put into action its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) commitment.

Where does GBS come into play?

Due to their large scale and global reach, as well as their business process optimization capabilities, global business services organizations have the potential to make a significant impact on sustainability goals. So how can they support their customers in this regard? This article will explore some of the opportunities we have taken at Siemens Global Business Services to enable sustainable change for our customers. It will also show how we leverage our capabilities to accelerate sustainability based on our broad domain expertise in terms of processes, data management and people.

What’s important for our customers is important for us. That’s why we want to enable them to reach their sustainability goals on all three levels: environmental, social and governance.

On the level of environment, Siemens GBS has already proven that collaborating with other businesses can create more sustainable supply chains – one way to contribute to decarbonization. Take the Carbon Web Assessment 2.0 platform as an example: Siemens Supply Chain Management as project sponsor has teamed up with Siemens GBS as a solution partner and with external experts for CO2 reduction and calculations. The outcome? A web platform based on Pulse. Cloud, which enables Siemens and other companies to identify, analyze and reduce CO2 emissions in their direct and indirect supply chain. A clever solution that helps make decreased emissions more feasible.

When it comes to supply chains, European legislation like the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) and RoHS (Restriction of Certain Hazardous Substances) requires manufacturers and suppliers to provide information about restricted substances. This needs to be passed on through the supply chain. Siemens GBS is contributing to material declaration support to gather high-quality and complete material information from suppliers. We believe that digitalization is a powerful lever when it comes to both decarbonization and resource efficiency. With the Go Green Explorer project, our team in China has managed to save 30 tons of paper per year, which is equivalent to reducing 185 tons of carbon emissions every year.

Other Go Green projects are currently being developed with E-certificates, digital invoice seals and more. We are looking for ways of implementing these projects wherever the legal framework allows it – saving as many resources as possible and reducing our footprints. Ultimately, the key to sustainability in shared services and global business services organizations is to make it a priority at every level of the organization. This means not only implementing specific sustainability initiatives but also creating a new culture.

One that encourages people to reflect on the impacts of their actions. And one that enables everyone to make choices that do good for our environment. This was the reasoning behind the Meeting Point Optimizer, a Siemens GBS initiative, which finds the optimal location for your meetings in terms of CO2, travel costs and productivity. It proves that an average of 20% savings can be achieved. You can directly access the tool as an Add-in in your Outlook and as a web client. It is available to all Siemens entities and affiliates.

Beyond carbon emissions, Siemens GBS contributes to social aspects. With the Responsible Minerals initiative, we offer supply chain due diligence solutions to enhance the transparency of the origin of minerals. Especially when mined in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, this protects human rights and ensures economic standards are fulfilled.

At Siemens GBS, we know that the service business is people’s business. Good service – and thus our success – depends on people’s abilities, talents, shared ambitions and goals; it depends on them feeling safe and empowered in their careers. And we know how important these very aspects are to our customers too. To that end, we technically implemented the Psychological Risk Assessment survey platform for team leads to identify work conditions and their impact on employees’ health. This enables psychosocial risk management and mental health prevention.

Similarly, we support the Siemens People & Organization unit by conducting the Siemens Global Engagement Survey and analyzing its outcomes. This customizable digital global survey for 250k employees is a flexible feedback program with a lean setup, full transparency and instant delivery to all employees. Zooming out from people to the overlying business conduct, we drive forward governance as a part of sustainable change. In this regard, we also support our customers. For example, we offer user support for the ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) Radar to ensure data quality and consistency. Further, we offer support to supply chain management (SCM) units to qualify relevant suppliers as per global governance requirements.

That includes making sure that suppliers have accepted the code of conduct and have filled out a corporate responsibility self-assessment. Suppliers are evaluated based on Supplier Qualification modules, which are activated according to defined thresholds and triggers (Purchase volume order or supplier country). We are looking forward to further supporting our customers in both becoming more sustainable in their operations and in developing sustainability offerings. So let us continue building a more sustainable business. Together. Because the future is in our hands.

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