DKSH Vietnam building up sustainability across people and strategic growth initiatives

DKSH has been operating in Vietnam for 30 years with great success across different industries. What are your strategies for sustainable growth in the country?

Head country management of DKSH Vietnam Jorge Martin-Martinez

As a leading market expansion service provider in Asia and beyond, DKSH offers a broad product portfolio and a wide range of value-added services across four specialised industries: healthcare, consumer goods, performance materials, and technology. This allows us to enjoy the benefit of economies of scale, and to minimise risk factors.

DKSH also continuously invests in our people who are at the heart of our business and our success. To attract, develop, and retain the best talents, we focus on creating a modern working environment that promotes creativity and collaboration.

As a service company with a wide geographical reach, we elevated sustainability to one of our core corporate values in 2020 and we bring it to life through our sustainability framework focusing on three pillars: our people, our partners, and our planet. To support our sustainability efforts, DKSH has also formed a dedicated Sustainability Committee, consisting of representatives from all business units and relevant functions.

We are mindful of the environmental impact of our activities along our value chain and are committed to reducing our footprint by reducing our emissions by optimising transport and energy use.

A strong commitment to the local communities we operate in has always been an integral part of our business. We provide access to markets as well as products and generate valuable job opportunities. On an ongoing basis, we engage in many local initiatives: only last year, we supported over 40 social projects across our markets. We conduct our business responsibly and reliably to maintain the highest standards and ethical values in all our engagements with employees, stakeholders, and third parties.

How does DKSH promote sustainability through human resources management?

As a people-focused company, DKSH empowers our employees to grow with passion by offering them access to a wide range of effective learning and development tools, where they can receive leadership and self-development training at various levels.

DKSH fosters a culture of integrity, empowerment, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. These corporate values are the standards we adhere to in our daily business, and they also guide our employees to better steer their individual growth and development, acting with the same purpose of enriching people’s lives.

DKSH not only cares for our employees but also encourages them to care for each other. DKSH employees have the choice to work from home 40 per cent of their time, allowing them the flexibility to maintain a healthy work-life balance and nurturing a feeling of connection and belonging at DKSH. Thousands of intriguing stories about life at DKSH can be found on social media by searching the hashtag #IloveDKSH.

DKSH aims to be one of the best in the world in all dimensions of business excellence. Year after year, we are awarded for our attractiveness as an employer and for achievements in our areas of work. Being, for example, recognised as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Asia for two consecutive years is a testament to our efforts to foster a working environment that encourages employees to act with purpose, care about others, deliver with direction, and grow with passion.

Last but not least, we are proud of how DKSH embraces diversity and inclusion. In Vietnam, more than 50 per cent of our senior leaders are female, and we thrive to maintain this ratio. We know that our female leaders are just as skillful and experienced as our male leaders, and often it is their competence that wins the day.

How does DKSH include environmental responsibility in its strategies?

We realise our obligation to help reduce climate change and to be conscious of the major environmental impacts of our operations. We are dedicated to operate in an environmentally responsible manner.

DKSH reduced emissions by 8 per cent in 2020 and aims to reduce emissions by a further 35 per cent until 2025, compared to a 2020 baseline. We plan to improve transportation and energy efficiency, as well as increase our use of renewable energy. DKSH aspires to be carbon-neutral in our operations by 2030.

The global project team has undertaken approximately 200 initiatives in 2020 to become Faster, Leaner, Greener in our internal operations. With the local initiative Together We Save the Earth in Vietnam, we have managed to optimise and reduce 20 per cent of energy use and fully eliminate the use of plastic cups and bottles in the company, after the first month of implementation. To further support this faster, leaner, greener mindset, we also encourage the shift to digital tools to minimise paper waste in the working environment.