Through a materiality analysis, we prioritized our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues and rebalanced the most relevant aspects for the Company and its stakeholders. We also launched a new sustainability strategy called “El Puerto de Liverpool’s Footprint", focalizing six priorities. Each of these will be managed by a multi-disciplinary Work Desk, adding to our mission of customer service. The Sustainability Desk, led by our Chief Executive Officer, will oversee this effort.
In a complex year, we continued a variety of sustainability actions in social, environmental and governance issues, as a strategic aspect for the Company.
Social footprint
In addition to the priority efforts outlined above, for the purpose of protecting employee and customer health at all times, we worked to reduce the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on Mexican society. We supported vulnerable communities by donating food, computer equipment and other products for those who needed the most, through various charitable organizations, including those that work with the elderly and frontline healthcare workers, a support of $1.2 million pesos was provided.
Liverpool Virtual University (UVL), a 20-year-old program offering employees the opportunity to learn skills that strengthen their employability, went 100% online during the pandemic. This change was also inspired by the Company’s ongoing quest to promote education in Mexico, allowing us to spread the University's offering to the general public for the first time, thus recording encouraging response.
We remain deeply committed to training and development of human capital, particularly through our Leadership and Customer Experience programs. With these we reinforce team management and internal communications, while promoting a healthy working environment that improves our ability to meet rapidly-changing customer expectations.
We continue to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion, both in hiring and in opportunities for professional advancement. In 2020, 60% of our overall workforce and 42% of middle and senior management were women.
Employee turnover closed 2020 at 19%, a considerable improvement over the previous year, reflecting the extent of employee loyalty toward the Company as well as El Puerto de Liverpool’s commitment to preserving jobs during the pandemic.
Environmental footprint
We work to combat climate change through two types of effort: reducing energy consumption through efficiency initiatives, such as replacing lighting fixtures with LED technology, and procuring our energy needs from sustainable sources, both through solar panels and through clean energy suppliers.
Governance footprint
With the accelerated growth in online sales, protecting our customers’ data security and privacy has become increasingly important. We have created a Security Operation Center (SOC) for actively monitoring and responding to possible cyber-threats. Also, for the second year in a row, we obtained the International Security Certification PCI-DSS for the use of external payment cards.
Through our “Responsible Sourcing” program, focused on suppliers of Suburbia store private label merchandise, strategic suppliers to Liverpool, and some of the proprietary brands, we reiterate our commitment to inculcate our values across the entire block chain, thus leaving a positive mark on society. We audit such suppliers to confirm their level of compliance with the principles of the Ethical Trade Initiative, which incorporates labor aspects such as working conditions or child labor prevention. We encourage them to address and correct any findings resulting from this process, as we develop an exit plan in case the risk associated with the finding is deemed very high or critical, should the supplier fail to comply.
This was a year of documented progress in terms of compliance and integrity, highlighting the publication of our Code of Conduct, a document that guides the conduct of all of us at El Puerto de Liverpool toward our internal and external stakeholders. We also integrated a compliance office, both actions resulting in an improvement from number 374 to number 26 in the ranking of the “500 Companies Against Corruption”.