Corporate Governance & Sustainability

For CONET, sustainability means responsible, resource-conserving corporate management and control geared towards value creation and profitability. As a service provider, CONET focuses on the goal of taking into account the different interests of all relevant stakeholders in our work in a balanced manner on a permanent basis. This relates to the concerns of our employees as well as the demands of our customers, the requirements of shareholders and companies and, ultimately, the community.

Our aspiration to ensure balance and equilibrium in this area of tension is reflected in our corporate constitution and determines the values, actions and standards of conduct of employees and managers alike. In regular customer and employee surveys, which generally take place every two years, and as part of the annual evaluation of the corporate strategy and annual targets, the Management Board and management of the individual companies review compliance with and further development of the relevant guidelines.

CONET values long-term business relationships. Strong relationships with customers, partners and employees are more important to CONET than short-term profit-oriented success, because satisfied customers and employees are the greatest asset and the best advertisement for CONET. This is why we focus our efforts in the search for employees as well as in customer acquisition and the resulting discussions on ensuring a close bond through trusting cooperation with the aim of joint success in the long term.

Sustainability aspects naturally also play an important role in the solutions that CONET implements for its customers. After all, the main purpose of information technology is always to increase efficiency and productivity in important core processes. Together with the emphasis on long-term customer relationships described above, CONET attaches particular importance to developing solutions that do not exclusively maximize its own profits and only provide short-term answers to operational challenges. Rather, CONET's aim is to ensure future viability with flexible and expandable IT architectures and systems, while at the same time safeguarding investments already made wherever possible.

The companies of the CONET Group* attach great importance to creating and maintaining long-term and successful business relationships. In addition to economic aspects, we also pay particular attention to ecological and social aspects. We shape our entrepreneurial actions sustainably and are constantly striving to improve in this area.

We expect our Business Partners to act in an equally responsible manner. Compliance with the principles described in this Code is essential for the business relationship with our Business Partners and is considered the basis for cooperation.

Code of Conduct for Business Partners of the CONET Group

Although CONET is not a manufacturing company, furthermore only maintaining a limited number of company locations and offices, CONET is well aware of its responsibility as a successful player in its home economy, and is actively addressing the challenges and tasks of environmental management and environmental protection.

Accordingly, CONET is certified in the areas of energy management, energy controlling, the use of savings potentials as well as environmental conservation by saving resources along the lines of DIN EN 16247, thereby underlining its sense of responsibility for a sustainable and sensible business.

All employees are committed to using resources like water and electricity responsibly, help waste prevention and take part in CONET’s waste separation system. The management promotes and communicates this commitment with personal coaching, online resources in the company’s employee portal and in course of regular staff meetings and events.

The focus of CONET’s activities is to meet customers’ requests and requirements. Our goal is to satisfy our customers and to understand and fulfill their demands.

Due to this fact, the CONET management has committed itself to the introduction and maintenance of a quality management (QM) system.

This QM system has been certified according to the international standards DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and is based on extensive experience that CONET gathered in IT projects.

The introduction and maintenance of the CONET QM system contribute to:

• increase the quality of CONET’s products and services and to strengthen the trust of our customers in the efficiency of our company by better quality
• improve the in-house processes in order to increase our efficiency and productivity
• increase the satisfaction of our customers in CONET’s products and services by encompassing the customer’s requests and requirements
• create transparency in processes of project handling and organizational structures und thus make it comprehensible for each interested party
• define sensible standards and proceeding and to monitor their compliance and its reutilization
• reduce risks in processes and projects by improved strategies to avoid mistakes
• strengthen the consciousness of responsibility of each employee within the process of quality management
• securing our know-how and to ease the adjustment of each employee to a new job

The QM system is continuously monitored, improved and extended by our quality management officer in order to guarantee a long-term operability.

Quality Management: Key Factor for Successful Projects

Additionally, he trains and supports project teams in the use of standardized processes. At the beginning of a project, all necessary arrangements of quality management will be discussed to the specific extend and manner. In so doing, CONET guarantees an optimal proceeding. The project manager is responsible for the realization of quality management. He coordinates the communication with the contact person of the customer and implements an IT solution that fits to the requirements of the customer.

The respective project manager is responsible for the services and support of such customer relationships. CONET ensures a high degree of personnel stability in these key positions (> 5 years).

The consistent quality of the fulfillment of the contract is guaranteed through the following measures:

• Control of adherence to internal quality regulations according to the process-oriented standard ISO 9001:2008 (relevant papers, prescribed processes) through external as well as internal reviews and audits
• Creation of and compliance to customer-specific operational concepts
• Creation of documentation on subprojects that are carried out
• Education and training of deployed personnel as well as the project manager (internal training courses for core qualifications, manufacturer seminars, trade events, literature)
• Constant updating of key qualifications (e.g., upgrade courses for new manufacturer product versions)
• Acquisition of new project-specific core qualifications by employees working on day-to-day operations of the project, thereby reducing dependence on internal or external experts for improving responsiveness
• Knowledge exchange through the assignment of staff in various projects for the avoidance of operational blindness and attainment of new "best practices"
• Establishment of a monthly project-specific reporting system for the customer and, in the case of key orders, for internal management as well
• The highest possible constancy in deployed personnel in order to make optimal use of organizational and project knowledge. As fixed an allocation as possible of employees to projects instead of purely service-oriented structures
• Securing knowledge acquired in the project through documentation, centralized information provision (project directory / project database) and organizational measures for ensuring familiarized and capable substitutes are available on short notice
• Organizational and technical safeguarding of an optimal flow of information for CONET employees (full access to knowledge resources in the company network and Internet via notebooks with secure dial-up and mobile accessibility to other knowledge bearers)

Quality Management in Specialized Solutions and Services

In addition to the overarching QM system, CONET Technologies Holding GmbH, CONET Business Consultants GmbH, CONET Communications GmbH, CONET Services GmbH, CONET Solutions GmbH and Babiel GmbH are currently also successfully certified in quality management in accordance with ISO 9001 for their respective solutions and services via corresponding extension audits.

The CONET Group companies CONET ISB GmbH and PROCON IT GmbH also base their quality management on ISO 9001.

If you are interested or have further questions about our quality management system or specific quality assurance measures, we will be happy to put you in direct contact with our CONET Quality Management Officer.

The CONET Group's risk strategy regulates the risk policy principles and requirements (core components, roles, responsibilities and processes) for proper, Group-wide, uniform and forward-looking risk management and its integration into the corporate strategy. The risk strategy is adjusted annually in line with changing environmental conditions. To this end, economic fluctuations, technological change and the development of individual sectors and customer segments are considered and evaluated as relevant influencing factors and incorporated into the corporate strategy and risk strategy.

The organizational anchoring of risk management in operational and strategic controlling enables an active and holistic approach to risk management that is integrated with the planning and reporting processes.

The aim of risk management at CONET is to increase risk awareness at all levels of the company and to establish a value-oriented risk culture in order to achieve the medium-term financial targets and thus support the systematic and continuous increase in the value of the company.

CONET has its own web-based idea management and suggestion scheme under the name “Idea 2.0”. Every employee is encouraged and able to enter their ideas for improving processes, increasing efficiency and conserving resources. The further process of evaluation and implementation or rejection is documented in the system and is therefore transparent and comprehensible for idea providers and decision-makers. Improvements achieved jointly on the basis of these ideas and suggestions are linked to an incentive system and are also presented to the workforce at regular company meetings.

CONET challenges and encourages its employees in equal measure: Every new employee receives an introduction to occupational health and safety when they join the company. In addition, it is the responsibility of line managers and the respective occupational safety officers to regularly demand compliance with occupational safety regulations. CONET supports the compatibility of family and career with flexible working time models. In the event of illness, the company provides care that goes beyond the statutory requirements and offers its employees a range of supplementary insurance policies, for example for outpatient care and nursing care. The free supply of mineral water and fruit for employees as well as numerous health management measures - from advice on ergonomics and nutrition to in-house sports programs and cooperation with regional clubs and sports facilities - round off the offer.

Dealing fairly with customers, partners and employees alike creates a fundamental level of trust, which CONET further strengthens through three key aspects of good corporate governance:

• Efficient cooperation between the individual management bodies
  The management bodies of the CONET group of companies work hand in hand. The management of the individual companies inform each other and report to the management of the holding company at regular intervals and in a timely manner on all relevant corporate projects, business developments and any economic risks.

• High level of transparency in corporate communications
  CONET ensures transparency towards stakeholder groups, the media and the public by regularly publishing management reports and current press releases on relevant business changes. As a modern IT company, CONET primarily uses the Internet to provide timely and constantly available information.

• Open internal communication with our employees
  CONET closely involves its employees in the further development of the company as guarantors and multipliers of its own success. At regular staff meetings, via an ideas portal and a modern intranet, the company management informs employees about current developments. CONET maintains an open-door policy for direct interaction.

Further information about CONET's commitment to corporate social responsibility can be found in the relevant sections of our homepage.

• Solutions
• Other Technologies
• Mission, Vision & Culture
• Good Reasons for CONET