ECONOMIC AND ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

Since 2013, OEM has had a mutual Code of Conduct as a platform for the group’s work with sustainability. The objective is to create effective and responsible work with relevant activities, and that development in environmental, ethical and social issues takes place harmoniously. Clear accountability creates a sharper competitive edge and enhances its position as an attractive employer. Moreover, the company is inspiring a healthy business culture.

OEM’s Code of Conduct is based on the ten principles set forth in the United Nation’s Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anticorruption. These areas encompass the essential components of the responsibility that it is natural to take for all of the Group’s companies.

The Code of Conduct also puts demands on suppliers. They must confirm in writing that they act within the framework of the law in respective countries, oppose corruption and otherwise live up to the intentions of the Code Of Conduct, for example by offering their employees a safe and sound working environment where there is no child labour. The objective is to continuously increase the proportion of suppliers who confirm the Code of Conduct in writing as well as regularly perform supplier assessments.

The group does not accept corruption, bribes or other unfair competitive measures, and all such events are reported. The OEM group supports and respects the protection of human rights and works to ensure that complicity in crime concerning the infringement of human rights does not occur. No cases of corruption were identified in the past year.

Code Of Conduct

Human Rights

1) OEM supports and respects international human rights within the company’s sphere of influence.

2) OEM shall not be complicit in human rights abuses.

Working Rights

3) OEM upholds freedom of association and recognises the right to collective bargaining.

4) OEM has a zero-tolerance policy towards any type of forced or compulsory labour.

5) OEM has a zero-tolerance policy towards any type of child labour.

6) OEM is against all discrimination with regard to recruitment and the performance of work.

The Environment

7) OEM supports the precautionary approach with regard to environmental hazards.

8) OEM undertakes initiatives to promote greater environmental awareness.

9) OEM encourages the development of environmentally-friendly technologies.

ANTI-CORRUPTION

10) OEM is committed to countering corruption in all forms, including extortion and bribery.

The Group has a web-based whistleblowing system in place that is an important mechanism for maintain ing high ethical standards and a culture of openness. This provides a channel for employees to report any violations or suspected wrongdoing or misconduct. The chairman of the audit committee is the recipient of the whistleblower function.

Economic stability and strength is a prerequisite to invest in sustainable business development. In a world that is continuously changing, the business must continuously develop.

It is OEM’s vision to be a leading technology trading group in industrial components and systems for sustainable development.

OEM’s business idea is to offer an extensive and detailed range of industrial components and systems from leading suppliers in selected markets in Europe. OEM’s well-structured local market organisation and efficient logistics offer suppliers a better alternative to setting up their own sales companies. OEM provides a high level of expertise and service and markets the products according to the specific conditions of each respective market.

All of this creates a long-term partner for customers and suppliers, which in turn is synthesised in profitability, growth and development. The economic development can be followed in the Annual Report.

Social Responsibility

A healthy company culture, equality in organisations and good health and safety practices are prioritised areas that make an employer attractive to both existing and future employees. This demands that all measures in the area of human resources are characterised by a professional attitude, with explicit guidelines for both managers and staff.

The goal is that all employees will have a performance appraisal each year to discuss their professional development, work situation and work environment, and where necessary address any discrimination, equality, health and safety issues, etc. In 2022, performance appraisals were conducted with approx. 95% of all employees.

Employee Commitment Makes A Difference

OEM’s long-term competitiveness is built on employee development and an influx of young talent. The expertise and commitment of employees are what make the difference in an increasingly competitive market. Professional development of sales staff and product specialists is crucial to the ability to offer the best service in the market. Strong teams and continuous skills development enable OEM to meet the increasing demands of the market for in-depth product and application expertise. While also creating good opportunities for employees to enjoy career progression within OEM.

It is becoming ever more important to develop added values and effective internal processes that are often adapted to the increasingly digitalised world. The employees are the guarantee that OEM in both the short and long term can maintain its position as one of Europe’s leading technology trading groups.

Personal Development Towards Specific Targets

Personal development is important to employee satisfaction and happiness. Annual performance appraisals and individual development plans play an important role in the ongoing skills development taking place in all areas. Development plans are tailored to the individual based on a review of the past years’ activities, the goals of the employee and the objectives and needs of the business. It is important to have efficient and effective processes for working with employee development to assist in the identification of candidates for management and leadership positions. The main responsibility for employee skills development rests with the companies themselves. Complementing this are central initiatives, such as Group-wide development programmes aimed at improving skills and building networks among the employees. To meet the organisation’s requirements for development, it is important that all managers work actively to identify and provide training for individuals with leadership qualities who can become future leaders. Since the majority of management recruitment is from within OEM, this is given high priority.

Ambitious Sales Force

With a business model based on trust and long-standing relationships with customers and suppliers, it is important to exceed expectations all the time. The sales professionals therefore work closely alongside the customers with the goal of providing the best service in the market. A highly effective sales process and good business acumen also increase opportunities for identifying and seizing upon potential new business. The sales professionals have multi-year development plans that are an important resource for improving the sales process. The sales personnel follow training programmes that run over several years to enable them to meet the requirements. Newly-hired sales personnel attend internal and external courses aimed at promoting personal development and creating an efficient sales methodology. A solid background in sales also opens doors to other positions at OEM, such as sales manager or business area manager.

Creativity And Interest Are Encouraged

Showing interest, being creative and goal-oriented are all traits that are encouraged by OEM. These qualities are important to an employee’s career success and help drive OEM’s growth. Experience from the sales and product organisations is highly valued and mobility between different operations and countries is encouraged.

Young Talent Strengthens The Organisation

The organisation is continuously strengthened through the recruitment of young employees who are interested in technology and sales. These are assets that bring dynamism and drive to the organisation. Well-designed induction programmes and individual development plans enable new employees at OEM to get up to speed quickly with their job tasks. In the long run, this also supports the employee’s own career progression with opportunities to gradually advance into more responsible positions. Young talents who are given responsibility and development opportunities within the organisation also creates a good breeding ground to be able to develop into leaders, and OEM has a long tradition of recruiting the majority of new managers and leaders internally.

OEM has a trainee programme for newly-graduated employees with degrees in engineering or economics and the potential to assume leadership responsibilities in the future. It also works collaboratively with several educational institutions, offering internship opportunities, guidance in thesis research projects and other assistance. This is a means of attracting future personnel and reaching out with information about OEM’s business and operations.

Commitment To Equality

At OEM, everyone has equal opportunities based on qualifications for the job, without regard to religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability or sexual orientation. One of OEM’s overall sustainable development goals is to increase the percentage of women with the aim of increasing the number of women in senior positions. Organisations where every individual has equal opportunities are more dynamic and have a stronger competitive advantage. Management positions are often filled from within the organisation and many of the senior executive positions are held today by individuals who have worked in the sales and product organisations. It is therefore particularly important to increase the number of women within these areas in order to achieve this goal. OEM operates in a male-dominated sector where there is an over-representation of men among job applicants. The focus is therefore on increasing the number of female applicants, especially within services that work closely with customers and suppliers. A series of activities are in place to maximise the chances of succeeding with this, including posing requirements on those conducting the recruitment process and giving female candidates the opportunity to meet female employees during the recruitment processes.

21% of the Group’s employees are women, which is the same figure as in 2021.

WELL-BEING IS A CORE ISSUE

Happiness and health are essential for enabling employees to perform and develop throughout their career, both individually and as part of a team. Workplaces must provide an attractive, safe and healthy environment and regular investments are made to ensure this is so for those who work there. Activities designed to create good cohesion, strong teams and group dynamics are often conducted in conjunction with conferences, workplace meetings and other gatherings. OEM offers employees support for physical activities to encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Employee Surveys

Employee surveys are carried out to follow-up the long-term and strategic development of human resources. Employee surveys cover basic working conditions, health and the working environment, motivation and incentive, and job satisfaction. Results of employee surveys conducted by the Group companies in 2022 show that the average score for the Employee Satisfaction Index was 4.1 on a scale of 0 to 5, with a response rate of approx. 98%. Moreover, the results show no differences between women and men.

The employee surveys are reported and processed the board meetings in respective companies. This is a way of identifying the companies’ strengths and weaknesses as an employer and can be followed up to achieve further improvements. Employee surveys will continue to be carried out regularly to chart changes and to implement improvements and thereby continue to increase the Satisfied employee index.

Employee Turnover

OEM strives to ensure that employees get on well and develop so that key competence is retained and that OEM is seen as an attractive employer during the recruitment of new talent. At the same time, the Group is dependent on renewal and new forces that balance long-term skills and experiences. Accordingly, OEM strives to have a staff turnover at a low yet reasonable level. In 2022, the total employee turnover rate was 19.7%. Employee turnover increased by 5.3 percentage points on the previous year. The Group’s workforce increased by 100 people during the year. However, what is most important to OEM is that its employees are happy and feel that they are developing, and the aim is to capture this in individual performance appraisals as well as through continuous development work.

Age Split

Length Of Employment

Absence Due To Illness

The average number of days of sickness absence per employee was 7.5 in 2022, which was up 0.5 days on the pre vious year. Health is essential in order to perform and develop, both as an individual and as a group. The objec tive is that no one should be affected by physical or mental ill-health as a result of their working situation. OEM encourages a healthy lifestyle by supporting physical exercise and preventive healthcare.

Working Rights

All our companies and suppliers must, in accordance with our Code of Conduct, comply with the minimum requirements in national legislation concerning labour law. OEM has zero tolerance for forced labour and works actively to ensure there are no infringements of regulations in our business or our value chain.

Our Role In Society

OEM accepts responsibility also at social level. The companies in OEM have a strong local anchorage and they often do business in small localities. The companies contribute to the communities in which they operate through sustainable, long-term business operations, support for local clubs and collaboration with various organisations. The companies strive to recruit new employees locally and to offer job opportunities to young people. Through an active and constructive dialogue with the local society the companies want to create the prerequisites for local growth.

Performance data for 2022 are not available.

Taxes

Through employer's contributions and taxes the group contributes to our communal welfare. All relevant tax legislation and regulations of the countries in which business is conducted shall be fully complied with.

Eu Taxonomy

OEM adheres to the requirements of the EU directive on sustainability accounting (Non-Financial Reporting Directive or NFRD), and therefore reports in line with the established taxonomy and the rules and regulations for sustainability reporting for 2022.

For the 2022 reporting period, we therefore disclose the proportion of our Group turnover, capital expenditure and operating expenditure associated with taxonomy-eligible economic activities related to the first two environmental objectives: climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. We also disclose the proportion of environmentally sustainable (taxonomy-aligned) activities in relation to these eligible economic activities.

The tables on pages 20-21 show reporting in accordance with the EU template for non-financial undertakings.

Definitions

Taxonomy-eligible economic activity means an economic activity that is described in the delegated acts supplementing the taxonomy regulation, irrespective of whether that economic activity meets any or all of the technical screening criteria that have been laid down.

Taxonomy-non-eligible economic activity means any economic activity that is not described in the delegated acts supplementing the taxonomy regulation.

Environmentally sustainable (taxonomy-aligned) activities means any economic activity that meets any or all of the technical screening criteria that have been laid down.

We have examined the relevant taxonomy-eligible economic activities based on our activities as a technology trading company that also has property holdings, and have identified the following in accordance with delegated acts supplementing the taxonomy regulation.

The environmental objective that is classified as taxonomy-eligible is objective No. 1, Climate change mitigation.

Assessment Of Our Activities Covered By The Taxonomy Regulation

The majority of the properties owned by OEM are used for its own business purposes and are therefore not covered by the Taxonomy Regulation. A property was acquired in Finland in 2021 for the same purpose, but is currently being leased to external tenants