The Phoenix Contact warehouse will be closed from the 24th December through to the 3rd of January 2023. Normal warehouse operations will recommence from the 4th of January 2023. The Phoenix Contact office in New Zealand will be closed on 26-27 December and on 2-3 January.
Corporate responsibility
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Are you interested in how we at Phoenix Contact understand corporate responsibility and what concrete actions we are taking? Do you have questions or comments that you’d like to share with us? Please message us to start the dialog.
Sustainability and climate change are the global challenges of our time. We want to do our part with innovations and technological solutions that help to shape a future worth living.
Since 1923: Active responsibility
At Phoenix Contact, we live and breathe sustainability. The need to preserve resources, protect the environment, and reduce our impact on the climate is taken into consideration when developing new products, when manufacturing, and in relation to economics.
Phoenix Contact has been active on the market for almost 100 years. The family-owned company has now established itself as a global player throughout the world. Corporate independence, stability, and a culture of respectful interaction characterize the Group ethos.
The harmony of economic, ecological, and social issues forms the framework for sustainable management and corporate responsibility at Phoenix Contact. As a family business, it is important to us that we preserve what we have created for future generations and that we also continue to develop products and solutions for our customers.
Responsible business dealings and economic success are not contradictory. Neither are innovation and sustainability.
Our product portfolio supports the climate and energy revolution
Economic issues
Products and solutions for efficiency and sustainability
With a broad range of technical expertise and strong innovative power, Phoenix Contact continually develops new products that help users to use energy efficiently, save time and space, and use new materials.
Digitalization is the key in Germany when it comes to successful production, direct networking with customers, and the simultaneous reduction in CO2 emissions. With its technological solutions, Phoenix Contact is an empowering force for the successful implementation of digital transformation and makes a significant contribution to the climate revolution.
Maximum environmental protection at all locations, including mobility
Ecology
Environmentally responsible production
The careful use of resources has been part of our company ethos for generations, and shapes our day-to-day actions. The use of rainwater, waste heat, geothermal power, and renewable energy at our locations is the norm, as is almost entirely lead-free production, recycling of plastics, and carbon-neutral mobility.
Environmentally friendly production also means ensuring that resources are not wasted, in terms of both management and operating technology. An integrated management system certifies responsible business dealings in line with international standards.
Social issues
Supporting our employees and the regions where we work
At Phoenix Contact, we understand that we have a corporate duty to protect nature and the climate, but also a responsibility toward our employees and their families, our sites and their regions. We fulfil this corporate responsibility through wide-ranging sponsorship of social services such as childcare facilities or youth holiday camps, art and culture (from regional theater to slam festivals), grassroots sport (from the Bundesliga to the lowest league levels), and a charitable budget for social projects and facilities such as the children’s hospice in Bielefeld-Bethel. We value the commitment to volunteering demonstrated by our employees and support their associations and initiatives, because without volunteers our civil society would be so much poorer.
The Executive Board and shareholders also support employee initiatives that are held during leisure time: for example, football or tennis tournaments, dragon boat racing, or a workplace choir – these teams receive financial support in order to foster community spirit regardless of the hierarchy and background of participants.
Within the company itself, employees can expect fair working conditions, a strong focus on occupational safety and data protection, and respect from those around them. The basis for this is our Corporate Principles. A positive and fulfilling work life is ensured through well-equipped workstations, flexible working hours, and mobile working wherever possible. Since 2004, our company health management team has offered every employee the opportunity to improve their health and fitness.
Helmut Conrad (2nd from right) was the first apprentice, starting in 1957 – he stayed with the company until retirement
Lifelong learning through basic and further training
The tradition of company training in more than ten specialist jobs began in the 1950s, at the same time that the company started its own production in metal and plastics as well as in machine building. For a long time, 10% of employees at the Blomberg location were apprentices. Since then, we have helped many generations of skilled workers and dual-study students to enter into the world of work.
Since the end of the 1980s, our in-house personnel development scheme has offered a wide range of internal further training programs focusing on the importance of lifelong learning. All generations of our workforce regularly improve their specialist and management expertise as well as social and methodical skills. Since 2016, the Training Center has been the home of our trainee workshop, seminar and training rooms, and coworking spaces.
Support for initiatives and projects
Promoting enthusiasm for technology and future careers
Financial support for initiatives and projects that support future careers and promote interest in technology and innovation has long been a focus for both shareholders and the management team. The goal of getting young people interested in STEM careers is also reflected in Phoenix Contact’s in-house initiatives, which are or have been implemented consistently without public funding.
Awards for Phoenix Contact projects
Between 2008 and 2012, Phoenix Contact was honored four times as the “Place of Ideas”. The “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative was founded in 2006 by the Federal Government and the Federation of German Industries (BDI). Phoenix Contact has participated in this competition four times and received awards for all the entries that were submitted:
In 2008, the xplore training competition won an award
In 2010, the use of geothermal energy at the Blomberg location won an award
In 2012, “Frauenpowertag” (“Women at work” day) won an award for its work in introducing female students to technical career opportunities
In 2014, the “Aubikom” project won an award for its work in preparing students for education and training
UN commitment to sustainability
We support the global UN commitment to sustainability
By 2030, the world’s population will have grown to 8.5 billion people. With this in mind, the 193 member states of the United Nations jointly formulated 17 Sustainable Development Goals five years ago. These Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved in order to enable a life of dignity and one that conserves resources and protects the planet and the climate.
The path to global sustainability is not just a task for politicians, but also for society, science, and industry. As a family business, Phoenix Contact has always understood that sustainable business practices, the careful use of resources, innovative product development, and social engagement are both the duty of company owners and the basis for successful growth.
Five SDGs are directly supported by the Phoenix Contact product and innovation portfolio. At the heart of this is SDG 7, because energy has been key to the Phoenix Contact product portfolio since 1923. However, the Development, Production, and Sales departments at Phoenix Contact also make significant contributions to Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Goal 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11), and Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal 12).
Helping to shape the climate and energy revolution
Meeting the challenge now: Helping to shape the climate and energy revolution
In the 21st Century, with the topics of electrification, networking, and automation, Phoenix Contact is focusing even more intensely on sustainable development. The vision of the “All Electric Society” is reflected in all facets of the portfolio of products, technologies, and solutions. Phoenix Contact sees its role as one of empowering and partnering our customers and society in the use of digitalization and electrification in order to stop global warming, protect the climate, and respect nature.
The aim of the corporate strategy was to have a carbon-neutral power supply at all major sites worldwide by the end of 2021. We achieved this goal with four strategic fields of action in our energy management program.
In the future, we will focus on continuing to expand our own renewable energies and making our entire value chain carbon-neutral by 2030.
Our goal: to be climate-neutral worldwide by the end of 2022
Our corporate commitment to sustainability
The Corporate Principles are the guidelines for the daily business dealings of all Phoenix Contact employees around the world. Our customers and partners can trust in our commitment to the Global Compact of the United Nations (since 2005), the Code of Conduct of the ZVEI (since 2009), and the “Verband der Klimaschutz-Unternehmen” association of companies that play a pioneering role in climate protection (since 2011).
On joining this association ten years ago, Phoenix Contact became the first electrical engineering company to firmly commit to the goals of climate protection and energy efficiency.
At the start of 2021, Phoenix Contact became one of ten companies who have signed up to the collaborative project Wege zum klimaneutralen Unternehmen (Ways to Become a Climate-Neutral Company), with the aim of successfully achieving carbon-neutral status at the Group’s locations in Germany.
A further step taken by Phoenix Contact also demonstrates our commitment: Since the start of 2021, we are an official supporting business for Stiftung KlimaWirtschaft (Climate Neutrality Foundation), which means taking corporate responsibility in order to reduce global warming. This foundation is a private sector association which engages in political dialog with the aim of combining good conditions for corporate engagement on climate protection with business success.
