Sonova admitted to Dow Jones Sustainability Index

The global Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World), in which Sonova has been listed since September 2014 for the first time, is internationally regarded as an important reference for sustainable corporate management and honors the best of each industry. The index comprises the leading twelve percent of the world’s 2,500 largest listed companies. It serves as a benchmark to investors who consider sustainability when assembling their investment portfolios. Analysts evaluate companies from 58 industries for Sustainability Asset Management (SAM) on meeting ecological, economical and social criteria for the ranking of the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index. 

As a company in the health care equipment and services sector, Sonova obtained very high scores in the following areas: Human Capital Development, Stakeholder Engagement, Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, Health Outcome Contribution as well as Innovation Management. 

The foundation for this success lies in the great variety of initiatives and programs that Sonova uses to implement its vision and values on a daily basis. With its non-profit organization Hear the World Foundation, Sonova supports projects for people in need that suffer from hearing loss, and is committed to measures of prevention and education on this subject. Next to financial and technological project support, Sonova employees contribute an important part of the foundation work by volunteering their personal time and professional know-how. 

The very high score Sonova received as a responsible employer is manifested in the continuous decrease of an already low employee turn-over and in a very high employee satisfaction rate. As an important element of the sustainable human resource development, the cross-company education platform Sonova Academy supports Sonova’s business development with purposeful continuous training programs.  

The analysts also included the sustainable relationships of the Sonova Group with its clients in the evaluation. These close relationships have been proven by two representative surveys among audiologists, which were conducted in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific in 2013. According to the study, the Sonova Group, with its two brands Phonak and Unitron, is the favorite provider and scores a very high customer satisfaction. 

“For Sonova, sustainable success is of highest importance. Continuous innovation in our daily business is of core importance to us – and therefore also in the area of corporate social responsibility. Our general direction and our ongoing efforts are now also rewarded through the admittance to the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index.  We are very glad about this, and it fills us with pride to be one of the leading companies in the world with it”, says Lukas Braunschweiler, CEO of Sonova.