Sustainability

Large multinational companies have already had to comply, and soon we at NetRom will too: mandatory reporting on our impact on society and the environment. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is coming into effect for medium-sized companies starting this year.

The goal of CSRD? To force companies to take responsibility for their impact on society. Not just with some words on a website, but with solid, hard evidence.

Many entrepreneurs might see this as proof of ever-increasing regulatory pressure and government influence, but that’s not really the point. It’s legally mandated, and if it’s obligatory, you might as well embrace it and perhaps even try to become a leader. I recently encountered an example of its usefulness when we participated in a public tender for software development from DHL. One of the requirements for participation was a certificate from an independent ‘business sustainability rating’ organization. So, there is indeed (also commercially) value in having demonstrable sustainability in your organization.

At NetRom, we already do a lot in the field of sustainability, but it hasn’t been well documented yet. We are currently in the process of translating our activities into a professional CSRD report. CSRD encompasses a total of 17 different focus areas, and organizations are free to concentrate on the topics with the highest relevance.

An important element for NetRom is the so-called supply chain responsibility. This means that companies are not only responsible for their own direct activities but also for the activities of the suppliers and subcontractors they work with. This is quite smart because the economic relationship with suppliers allows you to get things done. As the saying goes, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” This fact makes it interesting to also think carefully about what CSRD – besides a lot of bureaucracy – could yield. Not only suppliers like the aforementioned DHL but also (potential) clients are rightly placing more and more value on sustainability. They too must prove that suppliers in their supply chain operate sustainably with minimal negative impact on people and the environment.

Another important focus area, which fits seamlessly with NetRom’s ’employee first’ philosophy, is gender equality. For an organization in the IT sector, NetRom employs a relatively high number of women. This is related to the culture in Romania, where STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects are greatly encouraged. From a young age, kids are motivated to participate in math Olympiads, and both boys and girls more often choose a STEM study at the university.

A small digression: when my own children were 13 and 14, we moved from Romania back to the Netherlands. They did not have to take any math classes for two years there. I am not necessarily an advocate for the Romanian education system, but in terms of mathematics, there is indeed a significant advantage. This STEM focus turns out to be beneficial: in daily practice, I see many advantages of mixed teams. These are more balanced, have a pleasant atmosphere, perform better, and collaborate better. A perfect example of how striving for balance within our organization coincides with the implementation of new (CSRD) regulations.

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