"Saving the world is the best business model"

How sustainable is a company? This question is often only asked of large corporations. But sustainability reporting is also worthwhile for SMEs. The rating platform "esg2go", a project of the CCRS Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of Zurich, makes it easier than ever. The fact that sustainability has also long been practiced by Winterthur SMEs is demonstrated by Christian Hunziker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Winterthur-based Hunziker Partner AG. Hunziker is a pioneer when it comes to sustainability reporting - his company has been compiling a sustainability report for years. Our Head of Business, Roger Graber, asked Christian Hunziker in a brief interview why every company should pursue more than just economic goals.

Mr. Hunziker, could I ask you to briefly introduce yourself and your company?
I am Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hunziker Partner AG in Winterthur. Our claim is "Sustainable. Clever. Convinced". It helps us to provide our products and services for heating, refrigeration, ventilation, air conditioning, sanitary and control technology in the areas of engineering, implementation and service in a customer- and value-oriented manner. Hunziker AG is celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this year. In addition, apprentices have always been trained in the company since the beginning, and 15 young people are currently preparing for their careers in six professions.

Why is sustainability an important issue for you?
Our sustainability efforts were triggered by a picture of a Japanese policeman I saw around 40 years ago. He was directing traffic in Tokyo with a gas mask. At the time, I thought to myself that we didn't want to fight the symptoms in our company, but rather tackle the problems. This led to the idea of making our company sustainable. The strategic environment analysis revealed ecological deficits. By tackling these, we significantly strengthened our business model and made a contribution to the eco-social market economy. We pursue the three-pillar model of sustainable development, i.e. we pursue ecological and social goals in addition to our economic goals. We fulfill our committed contribution to environmental protection by choosing ecologically responsible technologies, materials and suppliers. We avoid environmental pollution wherever possible or at least reduce it. Let me put it provocatively: saving the world is the best business model of all.

What would you recommend to an SME that wants to create a sustainability report?
I would simply start by writing. That's how we started twenty years ago. We looked at our company and recorded who we were and where we wanted to go. So this is about our own strategy. Now we are trying to find out which social and ecological effects can help us achieve our goals. We also show what we have achieved so far. We translate problems that we have not yet been able to tackle into goals. We explain all of this in an initial report. It's simple, with the sustainability report we are actually following a PR principle: do good and talk about it. In the second report, we comment on the goals formulated in the first report. Now we explain whether we were able to achieve the goals. Again, we formulate new sustainable goals. Each subsequent report will gain in depth and brilliance and will benefit the company in every respect.

Interview: Roger D. Graber, February 2022