Dan Hutchinson of Schneider Electric on linking purpose and people
As a multinational company providing energy technologies, software and services to homes and businesses around the world, Schneider Electric has a clearly defined purpose, with a name. ‘Life is on’ – Schneider’s purpose – aims “to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability”.
Our short-term roadmap for 2025 is built on a consultation process involving external and internal stakeholders, in addition to dedicated internal governance mechanisms, involving the strategy and sustainability team, employees, experts in the group, the executive committee and the board of directors, all under the leadership of the chief strategy and sustainability officer.
Our sustainability targets are aligned with our bonus structure – this is a great way to ensure that it is a priority for everyone. We also have an initiative called the Carbon Fund, which allows our employees to present sustainable ideas for a greener future that may be funded by this pot of money.
We are fully transparent with our sustainability efforts. By keeping sustainability at the forefront of our business, we turn action into impact, and impact into a reality. Our overriding corporate objective is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all.
We are currently recruiting 2,500 field service experts worldwide to answer the growing green economy demands for a more sustainable approach to business. All roles will positively influence customers’ energy decisions, by leveraging digital technologies to digitise and decarbonise facilities and operations, and by providing advice on sustainability strategies. Schneider Electric’s service engineers have already saved customers one million tonnes of CO2 in 2021 and aim to reduce our customers’ footprints by more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 by 2025.
