NH Hotel Group carries out its hotel activity with the ambition of spearheading responsible behaviour, creating shared value at an economic, social and environmental level wherever it is present. With this philosophy, in 2020 the Company has continued with its strategy, in which one of the pillars is NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business, a key part of the Company’s global strategy.
The strategic vision of NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business is in turn based on three main management levers: NH ROOM4 People, NH ROOM4 Planet and NH ROOM4 Responsible Shared Success, all framed under the same premise of sustainable and ethical principles, responsible culture and a citizenship mindset.
Convinced that it is going in the right direction to achieve its next goals regarding sustainability, the Company is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to which it can contribute and is therefore committed to continuing to create long-term value globally, in the context of Agenda 2030.
NH ROOM4 SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL
For NH Hotel Group, the strategy is based on “NH ROOM4 a better world”. In line with this, management of the Company’s corporate responsibility, NH ROOM4 Sustainable Business, is articulated around three lines of action: NH ROOM4 People, NH ROOM4 Planet and NH ROOM4 Responsible Shared Success:
GOVERNANCE
Management of the Sustainable Strategy
Organization structure focused on Sustainable Business, to ensure implementation of the strategy.
Accountability
Reporting on sustainability and sustainable business as an opportunity for continuous improvement and monitoring and demand for transparency.
Corporate Governance & Compliance
With the aim of conveying the ethical and responsible business principles and the commitment to Human Rights that guide the way NH Hotel Group works.
CITIZENSHIP MINDSET
In their everyday activity, each employee can do things in the most sustainable way and under a citizenship mindset.
Activation of a fluid communication style and the recognition of the responsible and sustainable commitment by employees.
Volunteering is the key to the rollout of the sustainable business commitment with employees. Without their participation, no initiative would have the desired impact. NH Hotel Group is made up of people who are passionate about service, and that is its strength.
Employees
Promoting equal opportunities to be recognized as a leading company in diversity.
Community
Youth employment – Investing in training and career support for young people, especially those who are in an underprivileged situation.
Hotels with a heart – Continuing to use the potential of NH Hotel Group as a hotel chain to provide accommodation for hospitalized children and their families.
Climate Change
The fight against climate change at the core of strategic planning at business level and for NH Hotel Group’s risk management.
Energy and Water
Increasing and improving production with green energy with onsite facilities, renewable energy sources and water optimisation.
Waste and Circular Economy
Working with suppliers to create opportunities and synergies in circular economy.
Customers
Providing a unique experience and innovative range of services and involving customers in NH Hotel Group’s sustainable and responsible projects.
Suppliers
Establishing effective dialogue with suppliers to develop innovative and sustainable solutions.
Continuing to increase social and environmental criteria in selecting partners.
Alliances
Promoting long-term alliances with all kind of organizations: other companies, public administrations, non-profit organizations, multilateral bodies …
NH Hotel Group, recognized as one of the most sustainable companies in the sector in the world
In 2020, NH Hotel Group participated voluntarily for the second time in the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2020 carried out by the sustainable investment agency SAM, the assessment generates a world ranking in sustainable performance of companies from different sectors.
The Company has earned third place in the ranking, standing out as one of the most sustainable leaders in the sector compared to the companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. This result consolidates NH Hotel Group as one of the benchmark companies for sustainability in the industry worldwide and confirms the Company’s strong position in its social, environmental and economic performance. In this exhaustive assessment, NH Hotel Group has been rated “best in its class” in the industry in nine of the 23 criteria assessed: customer relationship management, supply chain management, tax strategy; environmental reporting; climate strategy; social reporting; labour practice indicators; human capital development and occupational health and safety. It even received the highest possible score in six of these criteria: customer relationship management; tax strategy; environmental reporting; climate strategy; social reporting and human capital development.
NH Hotel Group, which has had an excellent performance in terms of sustainability in recent years, will continue to build a Responsible Business, one of the pillars of the Company’s strategy.
PRESENCE OF NH HOTEL GROUP IN SUSTAINABILITY NH INDEXES AND RANKINGS
NH Hotel Group has been ranked third among the most sustainable hotel chains in the world, thus consolidating its position as one of the benchmark companies in sustainability in the industry worldwide, after being assessed for a second year by SAM, the sustainable investment agency that assesses the companies that make up the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
The commitments in this field and the improvement that NH Hotel Group has shown during this year have earned it a Bronze Class award in in S&P Global’s Sustainability Yearbook 2021. In addition, NH Hotel Group has been recognised as an “Industry Mover” due to the great progress achieved in one year.
Since 2013, NH Hotel Group has been included in the FTSE4GOOD index and renews its presence year after year, thanks to the responsible management of the business and the improvements made. The index was created by the London Stock Exchange to help investors integrate environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in decision making.
NH Hotel Group has been included for the second time in the Bloomberg gender-equality index 2021 and is the only Spanish hotel company among the 380 companies included in the index.
The Company has obtained its best results in salary equality and parity, thanks to its compensation policies based on gender equality and on the fight against the pay gap. This has confirmed aspects that were already known, such as the positive presence of women at all levels of responsibility in the Company.
Carbon Disclosure Project recognizes the efforts made by leading global companies in the battle against climate change. In the last report dated December 2020, NH Hotel Group obtained a rating of B in the annual ranking. With this rating, NH Hotel Group once again sees recognition of its pioneering vision to place sustainability as a strategic value that has acted as lever for value across the Group for more than a decade.
MATERIALITY ANALYSIS
The materiality analysis is key in NH Hotel Group’s Corporate Responsibility management process, both for reporting purposes and in defining the strategy, initiatives and the establishment of dialogue with stakeholders.
The objectives of the update of the materiality analysis are as follows:
- Comply with the requisites of the non-financial reporting directive.
- Determine the relevant aspects to guide the Company’s Corporate Responsibility strategy.
- Respond to the requisites of the Global Reporting Initiative for sustainability reporting.
- Identify the expectations of stakeholders as the basis for reputation management.
In 2020, NH Hotel Group has updated this analysis in order to define the contents of this Report and prioritize the relevant matters, based on the Materiality Study for 2019. This process involves the following phases:
IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT MATTERS
Material matters have been identified based on an analysis of internal and external sources that have made it possible to determine a preliminary list of relevant matters for NH Hotel Group and for its stakeholders.
For this year’s update, 26 material matters have been identified based on an analysis of the current context, ESG criteria, analysis of global trends, the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations 2030 Agenda. As a new feature, and in line with the current circumstances in which the Company finds itself, an analysis of trends that shows the impact of COVID-19 on the business has been included.
Subsequently, a semantic review of the matters is carried out with the aim of linking similar concepts or areas and integrating them in the terms of NH Hotel Group and the hotel sector’s business approach. The matters have been grouped according to the different pillars of the Sustainable Business Strategy.
PRIORITISATION
The material matters are prioritised on the basis of two variables:
Impact on the business. Importance of each matter in NH Hotel Group’s business activity, taking into account the strategy, trends in the sector, sectorial and sustainability prescribers, and the evaluation of the different areas of the Company that have relations with stakeholders, such as Communication and CSR, Human Resources, Environment or Procurement. As indicated above, this year an additional variable has been added showing how the current health crisis is impacting the Company.
Impact on stakeholders. Importance of each matter among the different stakeholders based on the available information of NH Hotel Group, trends and social concerns, the UN Sustainable Development Goals –SDG–, and the discussions in the media on these matters.
VALIDATION AND MATERIALITY MATRIX
The prioritisation is validated internally by the Sustainable Business area of NH Hotel Group, with the aim of comparing the relevance of the material matters and their importance in relation to the business goals.
The analysis of the results has taken into account both internal and external weighting. This prioritisation is used to draw up the Materiality Matrix for the Non-Financial Information Statement – Sustainable Business Report 2020, in line with the two axes of relevance:
– Impact on the business.
– Impact for external stakeholders.
NH HOTEL GROUP AND THE 2030 AGENDA
For the purpose of focusing the business model on a hotel model committed to sustainable development, through the Sustainable Business Strategy, NH Hotel Group generates value for the different stakeholders in the places where it is present. In this context, the Company has impact and a capacity for influence in a total of 12 Sustainable Development Goals.
*Leases paid, commissions and rappels, and utilities among others are not included
**Reduction compared to 2019 in absolute terms. The odd daily operations of the hotels during most of the year, implies that the reductions do not reflect the real performance of the environmental data.