Organisation sets transition to renewable energy target of more than 75% of its total electricity consumption in the next two years, on its journey to minimising its carbon emissions.
VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, said that the performances of senior management for 2022 will be linked to sustainability targets set for that period. This comes as a defining move as part of the organisation’s long-term sustainability strategy with a focus on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) key performance indicators (KPIs) rolled out in 2021.
According to the strategy, the company has identified five pillars – Contributing to Sustainable Economic Growth, Delivering Good Governance, Nurturing our Colleagues, Protecting our Environment and Supporting our Communities. Each of these pillars are carefully selected and aligned to the organisation’s business strategy, the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, as well as national priorities. They also include a considerable focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Employee Empowerment and Reduction of GHG Emissions, which are a part of the Management by Objective (MBOs) for the company’s senior executives.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – signifies our commitment to creating a culture of belonging and equal opportunity by embracing diversity across the organisation at all levels, recognising diverse talents and encouraging a mindset to adopt this culture. The company which already enjoys a very healthy women to men ratio of 58:42 across its employee base is working exceeding 28% representation of women in leadership in the next years.
• Employee Engagement – The organisation believes that strong employee engagement and satisfaction are crucial for corporate success. Striving for an overall employee engagement score of at least 67% – against an industry average of 58%* – will be a key driver of its people management strategy.
• Reduction of GHG Emissions – Through measures for energy conservation, purchase of renewable energy, and offsetting initiatives, VFS Global takes reasonable steps to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the global efforts of tackling climate change. One of the key metrics identified is to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions per employee through the transition of 52% of the electricity consumption to renewable energy.
“We want to ensure that our ESG commitments are supported by measurable actions which are consistently reviewed and improved upon. By including sustainability targets in Executive MBOs, we want our leaders to lead the change in mindsets. It aligns with our overarching goal of being a responsible global leader contributing to sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders,” said Zubin Karkaria, Founder and Chief Executive Officer VFS Global.
(* Industry (IT/ITES) average of from 2019)
About VFS Global
VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions. VFS Global is the trusted partner of 64 client governments, operating a global network with more than 3,500 Application Centres in 141 countries. The company has processed over 241 million applications since its inception in 2001. The company manages non-judgmental and administrative tasks related to applications for visa, passport, and consular services for its client governments, enabling them to focus entirely on the critical assessment task. VFS Global has its headquarters in Zurich/Switzerland and Dubai/United Arab Emirates.
VFS Global is majority-owned by funds managed by Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone seeks to create positive economic impact and long-term value for their investors, the companies in which they invest, and the communities in which they work. Blackstone’s USD 915 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets, and secondary funds, all on a global basis.
The Swiss-based Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation and EQT, a global investment organisation, headquartered in Stockholm/Sweden, hold minority stakes in VFS Global.