For the first time this year, Falabella’s annual report contains
information on social and environmental considerations that were
discussed in the Corporate Sustainability Report through 2012.
These ambits of action have been assigned the importance that
they truly have to the company and to all parties related to it
since there is an awareness in Falabella that creating value today,
and especially in the future, must include, beyond economic
considerations, the contribution that it can make socially and
environmentally through its customers, employees, partners,
communities and suppliers.
Incorporating these variables is part of a process. The efforts have
concentrated on aligning all companies in the group to these
principles and looking for the clearest and most transparent way
to disclose this strategy. We have made progress in complying
with the recommendations and guidelines of the International
Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), but there are still some
aspects pending on which we will continue to work.
The 2013 Annual Sustainability Report meets the standards of
the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Unlike the 2012 version
(published in June 2013), prepared according to GRI G3.3, this
report was written on the basis of the new G4 guidelines that aim
to focus more on material matters (reflecting significant social,
environmental and economic impacts of the organization), in
particular on management and the chain of value. Falabella has
adapted quickly to the new directives that are in line with the
company’s view of sustainability.
For this year, the decision was made to “essentially” follow the
G4 Guidelines and report at least 34 indicators, plus 1 indicator
for each aspect that was defined as material.
The process of identifying and defining material aspects was done
with the participation of all of the business units in the Falabella
Group after each made this analysis for themselves. Given the
size of Falabella and its variety of businesses, it was not an easy
task to identify which aspects are the most relevant since nearly
all of them have some sort of impact. However, the following
aspects were identified by category:
Economic:
- Economic performance
- Presence on the market
Environment:
- Energy
- Materials
- Waste
Social Performance: Labor Practices and Dignified Work
- Employment
- Health and Safety
- Training and Education
- Supplier Evaluation
Human Rights
- Non-discrimination
- Child Labor
- Forced Labor
- Safety Measures
- Supplier Evaluation
Society
- The Fight Against Corruption
- The Social Impact of Suppliers
Product Liability
- Customer Health and Safety
- Marketing Communications
- Customer Privacy
Once the material aspects were defined, the decision was made
to arrange them around the pillars delimited by the Group in its
strategy. Customers, Collaborators, Suppliers, Corporate Governance
and Community. Each aspect was assigned a priority and certain
metrics were defined to help manage them in the business. The
priorities, as defined in the chapter on sustainability in this report,
ranks Customers and Collaborators first, Suppliers and Community
second, and Corporate Governance and the Environment third, all
with their respective management indicators.
All businesses of the Falabella Group participated in, and then
validated, this definition. Each company was considered a
stakeholder in the Group as a whole and collaborative work
resulted in deciding which material matters were most common
among the businesses (which does not preclude that each may
have different hues in the particular analysis). The outcome of this
work were the indicators that will be measured by all businesses
starting in 2014, while others from past annual reports will no
longer be reported because they are considered immaterial. That
decision was validated by the stakeholders.
During this period, the new indicators may not be compared.
This is part of the process and since these aspects will be tracked
over the years, they will be comparable in future annual reports.
