Commitment to strategy: How ESG experts are promo­ting sustainability at EOS inter­natio­nally

When EOS acquires portfolios, it follows criteria which reflect dedication to corporate responsibility. This method is a key element of sustainability strategy, which includes goals like minimizing environmental impact in real estate and ensuring defaulting payers are treated with fairness and respect.

Making the strategy a reality at each location is the task of people like Agata Miastkowska, the ESG Officer at EOS Poland: “We are bringing the objectives to life. In Poland, for example, we have been very successful in setting up many processes and we are ready to take on more challenges towards sustainable future.” Throughout the Group, ESG experts like Miastkowska are helping our national companies to grasp the importance of ESG and seeing to its implementation, thereby ensuring that corporate responsibility (CR) at EOS succeeds in becoming a vibrant corporate culture – instead of being condemned to remain nothing more than well-intentioned documents.

ESG is understood as a broader term for corporate responsibility (CR) and includes the three main pillars of sustainable management: Environment, Social, and Governance. ESG principles are transforming the economy, as the relevance of responsible corporate governance is growing rapidly – including in the debt collection industry. “Particularly in the financial industry, trust and reputation play an important role. Companies need to ensure that they treat defaulting consumers fairly, promote diversity in the workforce, and are environmentally conscious in their activities,” says Kristina Žgur, ESG Officer at EOS Slovenia.

There are many reasons for companies to position themselves as ESG-compliant: Customers and regulators are demanding more sustainability; the attractiveness of long-term business relationships is increasing, thereby reducing risks; young talent is increasingly looking at how potential employers perceive their social responsibility; and employee satisfaction is rising. The view of the market is particularly important: “A strong ESG performance improves the financial performance of companies,” affirms Miastkowska. “This is because the companies receive more favorable loans, reduce their risks, and become more attractive to investors.” In the financial sector, it is primarily banks – as vendors of NPL portfolios to debt collection companies – that insist on compliance with ESG criteria.

A good CR strategy takes all of this into account – with the objective of gaining the trust of investors and customers. EOS is making progress and communicating the ESG goals it is pursuing with this strategy, thereby demonstrating its commitment and creating common ground. The CR strategy is therefore aligned with the overall corporate strategy, identifying and minimizing potential environmental and social risks, analyzing progress, and establishing mechanisms to internally enforce and monitor the ESG agenda. “Just establishing guidelines does not help much – they also have to be put into practice,” says Miastkowska. “At EOS, the focus is on collaboration. After all, for the CR strategy to be successful, it is essential that all departments work together, such as HR, Legal, Controlling, and Finances.”

In the changing debt collection market, EOS is not only taking part in ESG but also leading the way. The company has received an excellent ESG rating from Morningstar Sustainalytics, the renowned agency that examines how companies manage key industry-specific sustainability risks. On a scale of 0 to 40 and above, EOS achieved the best category of 9.9 (“negligible risk”). This puts EOS in the top 3 of all companies assessed in the “Consumer Finance” sector. “This top ranking shows that our CR strategy is successful – and it is also an incentive to improve a little more each and every day,” says CEO Marwin Ramcke.

The EOS Group has signed the UN Global Compact, a pact between companies and the United Nations to make globalization more socially viable and ecological. The company’s CR strategy integrates the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the key areas of EOS as a financial services provider.

As Žgur explains, the strategy consists of four fields of action: “Respectful treatment of consumers (Responsible Collection), social responsibility (Joint Progress), high industry standards (Financial Sustainability), and, as part of the Otto Group, support for its climate protection strategy (Environmental Protection).”

Internal processes have been adapted to optimize collaboration between different departments and countries in ESG matters. Overall responsibility for sustainability lies with the CEO, while the Corporate Development (CD) department bears operational responsibility and handles Group-wide implementation and strategic development of the EOS Group’s approach to sustainability. CD works closely with the national companies, which provide the relevant resources and are increasingly developing ESG experts such as Miastkowska and Žgur. It is their job to translate the ESG Group strategy into specific measures for the different countries.

As the managers supervising ethical and sustainable work conditions, they are the ones driving these principles within the organization. The responsibility they bear is considerable: promoting the CR agenda in day-to-day business; managing, combining, and evaluating ESG data; monitoring suitable KPIs and making suggestions for improvement; training employees – and, of course, keeping up to date with regulations, new laws, and best practices. Miastkowska sums it up this way: “As strategic partners, we create the links to unite the various departments and see to it that our ESG goals are implemented.”

In addition, the experts also manage numerous specific local ESG projects that are aligned with the EOS Group’s sustainability initiatives. Together with colleagues, Miastkowska is developing a project to help vulnerable debtors in psychological crisis and is running initiatives to improve the financial literacy of teenagers from SOS Children's Villages. Among other things, Žgur organizes the “Minutes for Sustainability” for EOS employees and regular campaigns during Diversity Month in May and is responsible for a financial education project in schools that is based on the Group-wide financial education initiative on “Financial Literacy.”

These efforts are producing results: “We are on the right track – both with the Group and with EOS Poland,” Miastkowska concludes. And EOS Slovenia has just been granted the “Advanced Socially Responsible Employer” certification, which is based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS).

It is moments like these that give a sense of pride because they show that sustainability is making a difference. Žgur has a fitting Steve Jobs quote: “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.” This could be the beginning of a job description for ESG experts.