PostNL makes a positive impact on society
We take the world around us into account in everything we do, ensuring we take responsibility for both our role in and our impact on society. Our ambition is to continue to operate at the forefront of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) topics and make a positive impact on society.
We have tailored our ESG agenda to the most material topics as defined by our stakeholder engagement process and materiality assessment, and have linked these to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which helps us focus on those areas where we can make a material impact. More information can be found in the 'How we create value' chapter.
We are working to ensure our people take pride in their work by further developing on our strategic focus areas as laid out in this chapter. This not only benefits our organisation and our people but we believe we also make a positive impact on society by providing over 50,000 people direct and indirect employment. Currently, close to 7% of total mail delivery hours is carried out by people that fall into the category people with a distance to the labour market and our aim is to increase this number to 7.5% by 2025. In 2023, we continued to recruit mail deliverers with a distance from the labour market, who are then supervised by job coaches after employment.
We look beyond our own operations and proactively engage with partners in our value chain, for example through stakeholder engagement. The stakeholder dialogues we undertake help us better understand our stakeholders' interests and the way our activities affect their decision-making process. Understanding the expectations of stakeholders helps us allocate resources effectively on relevant topics while focusing on adding short-, medium-, and long-term value. More information on stakeholder engagement can be found in the 'Stakeholder engagement' chapter.
As an important player in the value chain, we also take responsibility to positively impact a range of key material topics, including working conditions, equal treatment and opportunities, and human rights. The progress we made on these areas in 2023 are described throughout this Annual Report.
Social presence & responsibility in communities
Our purpose is to deliver special moments, and in 2023 the PostNL Special Moments Fund continued to look for ways to create greater connection, contact, and consideration for one another across society. The Fund, which plans to launch new social activities and maintain existing ones, is tapping into PostNL's unique delivery network, where our mail and parcel deliverers visit every street every day, to support projects that help reduce social differences.
Continuing to support the fight against loneliness
We further expanded our cooperation with municipalities across the Netherlands to tackle loneliness in 2023, following the success of a project that sees deliverers report cases of possible loneliness they encounter to municipalities. The project was expanded to mail deliverers during the year, adding to the parcel deliverers who were already active. In a round table with Queen Maxima, she complimented PostNL employees who report loneliness.
Joop helps to reduce loneliness
In Liemers, the Netherlands, parcel deliverer Joop Tolhuisen takes the concept of 'noabership' (taking care of one another) seriously. Joop is an important presence in the neighbourhood, where everyone knows Joop and Joop knows everyone. So, it's not surprising that he participates in our scheme to reduce loneliness. “I have already passed on a few locations where I feel residents could benefit from some company,” says Joop. “One involved a lady who had recently lost her husband and had not seen her son for over a year. I thought, before she ends up too isolated, I think it would be wise to pass this on. We remain anonymous when we make such a report, and the social workers contact you to see if they can help. You would think that it's only older people who feel lonely, but young people do too.” So does Joop practice 'noabership'? “I had never heard of it, but I've seen how important it is.”
Stichting Jarige Job
In 2023, we continued to work with Stichting Jarige Job, a foundation that provides poor children in the Netherlands with a gift box to celebrate their birthday. We deliver these birthday packages to families at home. Each year, more than 100,000 children celebrate their birthday with the charity's help, and in January tens of thousands of gifts were collected through a special 'Mooi Gebaar' (nice gesture) campaign. Throughout the year, around 200 PostNL employees volunteered to pack boxes with presents during team outings, which were organised as a way of giving back to society.
Opening additional parcel lockers at the Salvation Army
During the year, we rolled out additional parcel lockers at Salvation Army community centres in the Netherlands, where local residents can drop off and pick up their parcels. We began working with the Salvation Army in 2022, with the aim of raising the profile of their community centres among local residents. We are also providing the charity with a fee for each parcel delivered or sent from the parcel lockers.
Donations for local associations and foundations
We started a new initiative in 2023, aimed at helping local associations and foundations. Alongside their regular work, PostNL employees are often active in these organisations, which are indispensable for club life. PostNL employees who participate can request a donation for the club they support, and twice a year PostNL provides 100 donations of €250 per local association or foundation.
Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland
Since 1924, PostNL has issued Children's Welfare Stamps to raise money for Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland. There is a surcharge for each stamp, and the proceeds from all the surcharges go to the foundation's projects, which are aimed at supporting vulnerable children. Additionally, we helped Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland set up a national alliance to make sure there is a buddy for every child.