Social - Our path to a better world
We are a young and committed company that is successfully employing people, serving customers and generating a decent turnover. This gives us a responsibility to society and the environment. We also have a strong sense of duty to our employees, to ourselves and to our children - the next generation. We want to be successful, but not in a selfish, enriching way. We want our purchases to be ecologically sound and our working conditions to be fair and good. We want our employees to feel good about working for us and to enjoy their work - so we offer them not only a salary, but also (further) training, recovery benefits and benefits in kind.
Of course, it would be best if everyone could always benefit. But who is everyone? Being socially responsible as an individual means taking care of the environment. It means not littering, not buying fast fashion, living sustainably and raising our children to not only look after themselves but also to care for the world around them.
For us as a company, this means using the opportunities and money available to us in a socially responsible way. We expect the same from our employees, as soon as they become part of metanoy, they must be guided by the maxims of the founders Tino and Marek. We do not tolerate racism, bullying, humiliation or discrimination, neither towards others nor within metanoy. This is the only way we can offer our customers an honest service and act as a modern company.
The implementation
Internal
Our sense of corporate and social responsibility is reflected, for example, in the fair pay we offer our employees. We also believe in 100% remote working, which means that everyone has a lot of personal responsibility, but also the freedom to manage their own time. (1) Because working efficiently and successfully is not incompatible with us. Thanks to the technical expertise that everyone brings to the table, tasks, workloads and deadlines can be accurately assessed and met. This allows everyone to have a say and shape their own working day, while at the same time being there for the little ones and taking part in family life.
Social is also about health, which is why we offer a healthy and ergonomic workplace. Employees should feel good both mentally and physically, and have the opportunity to develop and grow. Since 2024, every one of our employees has had the opportunity to take part in sporting activities; metanoy subsidises membership of a local gym. Our employees don't feel like exercising? That's OK too! Then there is a sustainable allowance in kind, which can be spent as desired in economically fair shops. We also make sure that everyone sticks to their working hours and takes their breaks seriously. Especially when you're working remotely, it's easy to get lost in thought and "just keep working". That makes recreation all the more important!
We have thought of something else for our employees: once a year we pay out a recreation allowance, which serves as a financial contribution for holidays or relaxing excursions. All metanoy employees with children also receive a childcare allowance; looking after the little ones should not be a financial burden, but rather a relief for the employee.
Some of our employees are involved in social work, which we think is great and worth supporting. In practice, this means giving them paid time off for a period of time. This means that they don't have to choose between social work and their own holidays and benefits.
All our employees have the opportunity to participate in training, seminars and courses. For us, individual support and development of our employees is part of the social value pillar. This enables them to learn new skills and perspectives, gain valuable experience and discover new passions. We recognise that this ultimately benefits not only them, but also us as an employer.
We see ourselves as a role model, and it's not just about sustainability or social awareness. We follow guidelines for our customers, our employees and also for our own conscience. There are clear laws, for example on working hours, health and safety and corruption. As a young company, we try to comply with everything. Not just the law, but also our own standards. If we expect our employees to behave correctly, it is clear to us as founders that we ourselves will always act in an exemplary and principled manner, despite economic pressures.
External
We want to offer the next generation space for internships, research and insight - metanoy as a teaching space: to broaden horizons. For us as a socially committed organisation, this also includes cooperation with universities. We give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in real working life and become an important part of the company structure. We do this through internships and job shadowing. We also employ fairly paid working students for exciting jobs with full participation rights. These students can not only gain work experience during their studies, but also earn their own money.
Metanoy also works with various universities, such as Leibniz Universität Hannover, FOM Stuttgart and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. Among other things, we are specifically involved in research projects there, so that we can proactively help shape new processes and approaches and have direct contact with students and lecturers.
Each year we also make a donation to a 'good cause'. For example, this is the second year we have made a financial donation to the Association of German Criminal Investigators (BDK). Among other things, the BDK publishes comics to raise awareness of cybercrime and bullying among young children.
When we were looking for a bank for our company, we had to meet a number of criteria. In the end, we became customers of EthikBank. The transparent and sustainable system, based in Germany, made the most sense for us. We particularly like the fact that our money is not invested in arms trading, nuclear power or companies that use child labour. The companies that receive money from EthikBank must be actively committed to sustainable business practices, and the bank also supports women's and environmental projects.
Ultimately, we are guided by the UN Millennium Development Goals in the form of ESG (Environment Social Governance). As a young and small company, we take these aspects to heart and align our business activities accordingly. And yes, we are not yet where we want to be, but getting there is part of our goal and our mindset.
But for us, social goes even further.
Social geht für uns aber noch weiter.
Non profit – not lucrative?
Oh yes! It's not always just about money, it's also about equal opportunities. There are many companies, associations and institutes that do important work: with children or in the medical and social fields. Unfortunately, these are the ones that sometimes lack equipment and/or know-how. There is no financial framework for training or purchases, even though they could use it and deserve it!
We see it as our responsibility to be social and to act. We want to provide new opportunities. That's why metanoy supports charitable projects that are worth supporting - free of charge. This is an important area of activity that we want to develop further in the future.
Specifically, we have organised this at metanoy as follows: all employees should invest a certain number of hours in charitable projects. In this way, everyone makes their own contribution. This is a financial challenge, as valuable working time is used, but no end customer is paid for it. This means that we are sponsoring ourselves and foregoing economic growth. But we at metanoy are happy to make this sacrifice. For us, economic and social success as a company must go hand in hand.
What's next?
We have now given you an overview of our current actions and our thinking: this is what we are doing now.
In the future, we want to be even more active, extend our entitlements and offer more to our employees. Specifically, we are considering a pension subsidy and additional health insurance for employees. Thanks to our organic concept, we remain flexible for innovation and our employees always have the opportunity to bring new ideas to metanoy, their concerns are heard and we always try to do our best as an employer and remain true to ourselves.
Bibliography:
- Vgl.: Bergmann, Frithjof: Neue Arbeit, neue Kultur. 2017.
Get in contact with us:
Book an appointment with our Managing Partner and Co-Founder Dr. Marek Stess or send us an email with your questions.