Our sustainability report 2020/21

We have identified the following four fields of action for our sustainability strategy:

Our four fields of action at a glance:

• Integrity and trust addresses areas such as compliance and data security as well as integrity, and defines them as prerequisites for long-term client relationships based on trust.
• People and transformation covers aspects such as how we enable our employees to realise their potential and actively shape the company.
• Climate and environment shows how our responsible approach to energy and resources contributes to reducing harmful emissions, for example.
• Society and engagement illustrates how we promote the common good through various initiatives in the areas of culture, sport and education.

Putting people first, focusing on diversity

The people who work together at Mazars in Germany reflect the diversity of our society. All of them share the Mazars Group’s understanding of tradition and values. Appreciation and equal opportunities as well as work/life balance are integral parts of our corporate culture.

With our new strategic focus, we are taking an even stronger look at diversity than before. As a result, the partnership decided in the reporting year to appoint Christin Drüke as Diversity & Inclusion Partner at Mazars from the 2021/2022 financial year. We took the opportunity to ask Christin about her vision and what the company has already done to achieve its targets:

“We strive for a diverse and inclusive corporate culture”

You are the partner responsible for Diversity & Inclusion. What do you see as your main task?

Christin Drüke: To me, diversity means valuing people regardless of their age, nationality, vocational training, sexual orientation, educational background, physical and mental ability or social background. My goal is to embrace and continue promoting the diversity in our company. To be successful in the long term, we need teams that are as diverse as possible. This is something that our clients are also placing more and more emphasis on. The different perspectives of a diverse team could be the crucial factor when it comes to winning over future clients. Diversity also plays an important role today in convincing our employees to stay with us in the long term and in acquiring new talent.

What specific programmes and projects did you initiate in the 2020/21 reporting year?

Christin Drüke: A whole range of initiatives were launched in the 2020/21 reporting year. For example, our Management Board and selected partners took part in unconscious bias training held by the ESCP Business School Berlin, which taught us to become aware of the prejudices that we all potentially have and how to make better decisions. The partners also discussed this topic. Another focus was the promotion of female executives, which has already led to the launch of various initiatives such as “(S)heros”, a programme for selected female executives from manager level onwards. Our well-known Let’s talk, Ladies! network also held its first remote event. In addition, we established German courses for our staff who are non-native speakers.

What projects will you be focusing on in the future in order to continue advancing diversity at Mazars?

Christin Drüke: We strive for a diverse and inclusive corporate culture. With this in mind, it is important to integrate the projects we have already started into a strategic overall concept for a sustainable corporate culture. We implemented such a concept in the 2020/2021 financial year – partly based on our global sustainability strategy. One of our long-term projects is to significantly increase the proportion of women at management level within the next three years. This also requires us to adapt our existing structures. Our aim is to build up a diverse talent pool for the long term that will help us identify and promote outstanding female employees very early in their career. We will work closely with this target group by providing mentoring and coaching programmes to ensure that they receive the necessary support from an early stage. Equally, we have recognised that families in particular need our support with regard to childcare and/or when looking after older relatives. All employees who come to work for us from other countries also receive our help with integration into the German labour market.

The foundations of the report

Our sustainability report is an honest snapshot of our approach to the topic of sustainability. It forms the basis for our annual reporting. Its methodology is aligned with the criteria of the German Sustainability Code (GSC), the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards) and the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. 

Download our sustainability report for the 2021/22 financial year here: