Month: September 2024

Originally published on Tork Newsroom

Tork, an Essity brand and the global leader in professional hygiene, launched the findings of new global research on the public restroom experience. The Tork 2024 Insights Survey¹ is a step in the brand’s ambition to raise awareness around inclusive hygiene in the public restroom and its work to help educate businesses around why they should provide more inclusive hygiene solutions. The research surveyed more than 6,000 end-users and 900 businesses in five countries. Additionally, Tork brought together senior leaders across public and private organizations in the United States to review the findings and discuss how to progress toward comfortable access to public restrooms for as many people as possible.

The research explores the perceptions, concerns and needs of both restroom visitors and businesses and their ability to eliminate visible and invisible barriers to pursuing hygiene in the public restroom. Barriers to restroom hygiene can impact users with cognitive and physical limitations and those experiencing changes with age, circumstances or temporary/permanent life-changing events that alter their needs. For example, users can be challenged by a range of factors including inability to access soap and hand towel dispensers, loud noises, lack of privacy or cleanliness.

The data shows that many individuals are not comfortable using a public restroom, which negatively impacts their well-being. This keeps them from participating in social activities – including enjoying food and drink in public – staying at a job and from feeling safe, generally.

Highlights of the research include:

–People feel anxious when they have to use a public restroom

44% feel anxious when having to use the restroom outside of their home

-When people are unable to wash their hands, they don’t feel safe

73% of respondents feel unsafe if they can’t wash their hands

-Poor restrooms are a reason people quit their jobs 

1 in 6 respondents (17%) said they left a job because of a poor restroom

-People avoid eating or drinking to limit their use of public restrooms (38% of all respondents) and those with children or walking aids are more likely to do so

Nearly 50% of parents who need to bring a baby carrier or child in arms to use the public restroom have avoided eating or drinking to avoid visiting public restroom251% of respondents with walking aids3 are likely to avoid eating or drinking to avoid having to visit public restrooms

-Respondents consider access to public restrooms when planning social events or travel

26% of respondents avoided a social event because of concerns about access to public restrooms; that number rises to 39%4 for those who report a phobia or fear of viruses or bacteria44% of all respondents plan their travel routes to ensure they have access to restrooms

“This research reaffirms that access to public restrooms isn’t just about convenience, it’s a pervasive public health challenge,” said Amie Kromis, DEI Director at Essity. “Restrooms are the busiest room in a facility and they often aren’t equipped to accommodate the constantly changing needs and capabilities of the population at large. This influences an individual’s ability to participate effectively at work, at social gatherings, their inclination to buy food or drink or dine at a restaurant and even what routes they choose to travel. Ultimately, providing better hygiene in public restrooms is good for a business and their visitors, customers and employees.”

In late June, at an inclusive hygiene-focused roundtable in Washington, D.C., Tork, in partnership with the Global Handwashing Partnership, convened experts and leading voices representing public and private organizations to review the data, share expertise and work toward a greater understanding of the issues. Participants from government, healthcare, academia, policy and advocacy shared perspectives on barriers to inclusive hygiene in public restrooms, showcased their work and started to build a roadmap toward solutions.

“The shared passion around improving comfortable and hygienic access to public restrooms was inspiring,” said Amy Bellcourt, VP of Communications at Essity and moderator of the day-long discussion. “Everyone brought a unique perspective and through that diversity, we better understood that it’s the built environment – not the individual – that creates the barriers to being able to use the restroom with comfort and ease. With the event learnings, we’re now equipped with even more powerful understanding, data, experiences and a growing network of experts to join us on the journey for change.”

The Tork brand first announced its commitment to advancing inclusive hygiene in the public restroom earlier this year. To join Tork on the journey and learn more, please visit https://www.torkusa.com/about-us/paper-towel-plea.

¹Tork Insight Survey 2024, conducted in US, UK, Germany, France and Mexico among 6000 end-users and 900 businesses.

2 Of 300 respondents who noted they are parents who need to carry their child in their arms when using a public restroom.

3 Of the 153 respondents who noted they use a walking stick or a walker.

4 Of the 415 respondents who report they have a fear or phobia of bacteria or viruses.

For additional information please contact: FHTork@fleishman.com

About Tork

The Tork brand offers professional hygiene products and services to customers worldwide ranging from restaurants and healthcare facilities to offices, schools and industries. Our products include dispensers, paper towels, toilet tissues, soap, napkins and wipers, but also software solutions for data-driven cleaning. Through expertise in hygiene, functional design and sustainability, Tork has become a market leader that supports customers to think ahead so they’re always ready for business. Tork is a global brand of Essity and a committed partner to customers in more than 110 countries. To keep up with the latest Tork news and innovations, please visit Torkusa.com.

About Essity

Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company. We are dedicated to improving well-being through our products and services. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands, such as Actimove, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic, Vinda and Zewa. Essity has about 48,000 employees. Net sales in 2022 amounted to approximately SEK 156bn (EUR 15bn). The company’s headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and Essity is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. Essity breaks barriers to well-being and contributes to a healthy, sustainable and circular society. More information at www.essity.com.

Over the course of their lifetime, people will likely need many types of medicine, spanning infectious and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Accessing all these medicines at the right time, in the right place, can be life changing. Public policies are central factors in determining access to medicines as most often there are systemic issues that need to be addressed for meaningful and lasting improvements. Moreover, policymakers often encounter increasingly complex environments where finding perfect solutions is challenging.

Viatris is a member of ~160 trade associations.

We leverage our global experiences, scientific expertise and operations knowledge to support policymakers in identifying policies that advance access to quality medicines and build systems that sustain availability while minimizing unintended consequences. Because we have operations in countries around the world and a broad portfolio across most therapeutic areas spanning generics, trusted brands, improved versions of existing medicines and novel therapeutics, we have insights into the trade-offs policymakers face when considering how best to develop policies that meet people’s diverse health needs.

Given the breadth of our portfolio and geographic footprint, Viatris is well positioned to support policymakers in identifying opportunities for policy change aligned with advancing access to medicines – not just for one medicine, or one disease, but for all medicines. Taking a systems-level approach to consider policy enablers of access allows us to identify the changes that could facilitate access, not only for one company, but for all seeking to serve the world’s health needs.

Our global policy priorities are to advance access to quality medicines, strengthen resilient global supply and build future access. In 2023, we did this in many ways including:

Advancing Access to Quality Medicines

Engaged alongside industry partners including the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA) in pursuit of regulatory harmonization, including actively contributing expertise to technical working groups of the International Council on Harmonization (ICH). Through IGBA, Viatris has a strong presence on ICH Expert Working Groups (EWGs). Viatris currently represents IGBA on four ICH EWGs, providing our technical expertise to help increase harmonization worldwide for the development and approval of safe, effective, and high-quality medicines.Supported the UK’s Windsor Framework, an agreement that helps protect access to medicine post-Brexit.In the U.S., Viatris partnered closely with the Center for Research on Complex Generics (CRCG), which facilitates research and collaborations across industry, academia and the FDA to increase access to safe and effective generic drugs, sharing our expertise on topics ranging from complex excipients to drug device combination products.Sponsored EURACTIV’s European Special Report to help regulators and other stakeholders understand the causes of medicine shortages and help to build solutions that are targeted and effective, including harmonizing regulatory requirements and replacing paper patient information leaflets with e-leaflets to allow for label changes without the need to repackage products.

Strengthening Resilient Global Supply

Joined with industry stakeholders and Charles River Associates to assess the interplay of localization policies and access to medicines.Working closely with our trade association in Australia, Viatris is helping to drive changes with e-labeling. The Australian regulator has updated its guidance on requiring pack inserts for injectable products administered by a HCP, so Viatris is working to remove paper leaflets where possible and replace them with QR codes on packs.Provided feedback to relevant agencies and institutions as they consider solutions to drug shortages.Made recommendations to the Australia House of Representatives Inquiry into developing local manufacturing capabilities, including revisions that would better enable generic medicines to be manufactured for export. These changes could improve Australia’s ability to supply critical medicines to countries in need, leveraging its manufacturing capabilities to contribute to global access.

Building Sustainable Healthcare Systems and Future Access

Actively engaged in the European Pharmaceutical Legislation revision, which proposes to include a focus on creating relevant pathways for repurposed medicines in Europe and continue to engage in dialogue to consider broadening this proposal to include additional types of medicine improvementsContributed to the paper “Unlocking barriers to scale Innovative Financing for Universal Health Coverage,” which was launched in 2023 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to explore new ways to grow and sustain healthcare financing and highlight the important role the private sector can play in innovative finance mechanismsSupported a study by the University of Athens (IPOKE Research Institute) which found that chronic underinvestment in healthcare in Eastern and Southern European countries over the past two decades has resulted in significantly lower healthy life years for the citizens of these countries compared to the rest of the Europe. The impact of Underinvestment on Medicines and Health Services study identifies the urgent need for policy action to tackle health inequalities through increased healthcare investments, fostering a healthier future for all citizens across Europe, and avoiding disruptions in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector.Hosted STRIVE (Striving for Innovation, Value & Excellence in Pharmaceutical Procurement) in partnership with Galen Centre of Health and Social Policy, which brought together participants from government agencies, medical associations, the private sector and other stakeholders to discuss value-based healthcare and value-based procurement in MalaysiaWorked closely with industry associations in the Philippines including the US-ASEAN Business Council on the expansion of the Primary Care Benefit Package, known as the Konsulta Package. In November 2023, PHILHEALTH approved the inclusion of atorvastatin, celecoxib, and gabapentin (joining amlopidine) in the list of pre-approved medicines under the Outpatient Benefit Package under Konsulta. Now, primary care facilities can prescribe these medications and can be reimbursed under the PHILHEALTH package.

View the full 2023 Sustainability Report.

Read the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here

Employee Engagement

We believe employee engagement goes beyond satisfaction on the job to include our employees’ willingness and ability to invest their personal efforts into the success of our company. To achieve that, we must create an environment where employees are enthusiastic about their work each day and know that their contributions are valued.

In 2023, we added an advanced survey analytics tool and launched a more formal annual employee engagement survey. Key highlights from the survey include:

Ethical Conduct: 86% of respondents indicated we have a strong commitment to ethical business decisions and conduct; 7% above the global average. This is critically important to our reputation as a trusted partner to our suppliers and advisor to our customers.
 Health and Safety: 83% of respondents rated safety and our physical working conditions as favorable; 7% above the global average. Our scores for work- life balance were also strong with 80% rating it as favorable: 2% above the global benchmark.
 Manager Effectiveness: Scored 81%; four points above the global average. This means that 81% of our employees have a positive relationship with
their manager and feel that they are supportive, respectful, fair and competent. Manager effectiveness is a key indicator of talent management and is considered essential to delivering superior results and developing and retaining talent.

At Wesco, we also use total turnover rate as a key performance indicator for engagement, which was 22.7% for Wesco in 2023.

Year Turnover Rate (%)

2021: 21.2%2022: 21%2023: 22.7%

Wesco Outstanding Work
(WOW)

In 2022, Wesco introduced the WOW recognition program, which spotlights an employee’s outstanding performance and everyday excellence. This platform allows colleagues to acknowledge their peers’ behaviors, efforts, celebrations, awards and results. Our Living Our Values award allows employees to nominate an employee for a monetary award when exemplifying our core values that have a direct impact on the business or the culture.

We reward employee achievements in implementing Lean principles within our company. The Excellence Award for Lean Leadership recognizes the Wesco leader who best embraces and leads the implementation of Lean within their organization. The Lean Execution Excellence Award is given to the top teams that deliver quantifiable results using Lean.

Culture of Coaching
(Mentoring)

Coaching is an integral part of our culture and has been intentionally embedded within our employee lifecycle, incorporated into our sales operating and conversation models, performance management activities, leadership development programs and Wesco’s Enterprise Leader Profile.

We upskill our leaders by way of coach-specific training accredited by the International Coaching Federation and see this investment in coaching as a regenerative one. When we develop managers and leaders as coaches, those leaders support and mentor employees in growing their capabilities, enhancing their capabilities and reaching their professional goals. In 2023, we increased the number of internally certified facilitators to increase capacity and allow for monthly facilitated workshops.

Performance Management

At Wesco, we take pride in fostering a high-performance culture and our myPerformance program is designed to support managers and their teams in ongoing feedback conversations to drive better results and alignment. The myPerformance program includes annual milestones of goal setting at the beginning of the year and a year-end performance appraisal to highlight accomplishments, share feedback and tie performance to rewards.

We also encourage managers to have ongoing check- ins with their teams to provide real-time feedback and coaching throughout the year. Our annual year-end performance appraisal process is synchronized with
the workforce compensation system for merit planning and rewards allocation, where the performance rating is linked to our merit guidance, which is in support of our pay-for-performance culture.

Leadership and Organization Review/Succession Planning

We strengthened our Leadership and Organization Review (LOR) process this year both in scope and frequency. The cycle is as follows:

March: We capture and discuss our organizational priorities and identify talent-related actions.July: Each of our executives present their talent review and succession plans to our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer.September: CEO and CHRO review of talent and organization priorities with the Board of Directors.October: Our executives come together to calibrate talent development plans and identify opportunities for mobility.

These recent changes have generated additional value across our company by creating an ongoing conversation about our talent, providing tools to better identify, engage and develop our talent, activating conversations related to our critical needs and supporting intra-and inter-strategic business unit function mobility for our talent.

To learn more, download the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here.

About This Report

Unless otherwise stated, this report covers activities, data and initiatives from our fiscal year 2023.

ESG Disclosure and Framework Alignment

The topics covered in this report include those that we have determined to be material for our business and stakeholders as noted on page 12. Wesco aligns with several ESG frameworks and disclosures in support of our commitment to transparency and our fulfillment of stakeholder needs and expectations. We leverage the following frameworks and standards to provide robust ESG information disclosure:

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI offers a list of global standards and guidelines around sustainability reporting.Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): SASB provides a comprehensive set of industry-specific disclosure topics and guidelines.Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): TCFD provides disclosure recommendations on thematic ESG topics such as governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets to provide stakeholders with fuller information surrounding climate risks.CDP: Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP is an international organization that helps companies and cities measure and disclose important environmental impact information through an annual questionnaire and rating system.United Nations Global Compact (UNGC): UNGC is an initiative that aims to help businesses align their strategies and work toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs): U.N. SDGs provide a shared set of 17 toward peace and prosperity for people and planet goals and create a call to action by all countries in a global partnership.

We also regularly engage with our investors, employees, customers, regulators, ratings agencies and others on ESG and business issues. Additional information about Wesco can be found in our public financial filings—including our annual report and proxy filings—as well as on the Security and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or on the Investors page of our website at Wesco.com.

Wesco plans to continue to report annually as we monitor, measure, and deepen our ESG initiatives and disclosures.

Wesco endorses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

More information about our SDG aligned initiatives is included throughout this report.

Assurance 
We did not seek third-party assurance for this report; however, we will consider doing so for future reporting. The information and data contained in this report was vetted by internal subject matter experts on the various ESG topics included in this report.

Contact Us 
We appreciate and welcome feedback on our ESG initiatives and reporting and invite you to contact us directly via email at Sustainability@Wesco.com.