Demonstrating Integrity
We believe that our company can only gain and strengthen the trust of its staff, customers, suppliers, shareholders, business partners and all other stakeholders if they can rely on our lasting integrity and compliant behaviour. Our aim is to become a role model for integrity and compliance. This way, we want to live up to the trust placed in us and maintain our integrity as a company that acts ethically and in accordance with all laws and regulations.
Our behaviour and daily decisions have an impact on the integrity and reputation of the whole HENSOLDT Group. Our Code of Conduct constitute the cornerstone of our commitment to integrity. They describe minimum standards that are binding for every HENSOLDT Group employee worldwide. We owe it to ourselves and all stakeholders to adhere to the highest professional standards.
Sustainability in all its dimensions is also an aspect of integrity and a crucial topic for us at HENSOLDT. Besides minimising our ecological footprint, this means living a culture of integrity as well as fostering our employees and local communities. And it includes the protection of nations and societies with our innovative sensor solutions. Further details can be found in the information provided by our Sustainability Department and in our Sustainability Report.
Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct forms the basis for all of our business activities and are a core element of our Group culture, protect our employees, the company and its reputation, and HENSOLDT’s stakeholders through a rigorous zero-tolerance approach. The aim is to ensure ethically correct action at all levels of our business and to systematically prevent violations of laws and regulations.
The Code of Conduct represent the central guiding principle with regards to ethical and compliant conduct within the HENSOLDT Group. Adherence to these is of major importance in all global business ventures in respect of our dealings with each other internally and also with our customers, business partners, shareholders and all other stakeholders.
Furthermore, they provide guidance to all internal and external stakeholders on our approach to compliance management at HENSOLDT and on how to interact with compliance functions in case of infringements of the applicable rules.
The same Code of Conduct apply to all employees of HENSOLDT Group companies, regardless of their location, position in the enterprise, or division. They set out general rights and obligations and define mandatory basic rules for internal and external cooperation. The Partner Review Directive applies to dealings with all our partners, while the Supplier Code of Conduct governs our supplier relationships.
One of the main tenets of the Code of Conduct is challenging all employees to communicate openly. In addition to reporting suspicious activities directly to their supervisors, employees also have the option of using the HENSOLDT OpenLine, a platform that permits anonymous reporting 24 hours a day. The results of the investigations are presented to the Management Board and the Supervisory Board on a regular basis.
All employees receive regular information and training on the content and requirements of the Code of Conduct and other compliance topics and regulations. One key aspect of this is to strengthen the individual responsibility of each employee and heighten their awareness so that they are able to better recognise relevant risks. Executives are involved in all facets of our compliance programme and are called upon to actively communicate the significance of this to their subordinates.
Human Rights
HENSOLDT places the highest priority on complying with our international obligations to protect human rights.
As a generally applicable codex, our Code of Conduct assert HENSOLDT’s commitment to upholding human rights – both within and outside the HENSOLDT Group. The values and practices to which HENSOLDT is committed correspond to internationally recognised standards as set out in charters, declarations and guidelines, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (ILO).
High regard and respect for human rights are a top priority at HENSOLDT: we firmly believe that sustainable economic operations can only be achieved if we act ethically and with integrity. We are fully committed to our responsibility for human rights in the context of our business operations. We affirm our commitment to the relevant international conventions and declarations as referred to above, as well as to recognised global, regional and national systems that aim to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights.
Since 2020, we have been a signatory of the UN Global Compact and therefore fully committed to the UNGC’s ten principles, which serve as guiding pillars for the activities and conduct of our Group. In 2021, we approved our Human Rights Group Policy. This confirms our strong commitment to human rights in all our business activities.
By continuously enhancing our processes and systems and by means of forward-thinking action, we strive to claim a leading role in the defence industry with regard to corporate respect for human rights.
Further details can be found in the Section Sustainability including the Human Rights Policy and the Sustainability Report.
Conflicts of Interest
The HENSOLDT Group has implemented policies and procedures in order to identify and manage actual or potential conflicts of interest. In this context, HENSOLDT has established a Conflicts of Interest Policy which refers to any case where an employee’s personal interest might contradict the interest of the HENSOLDT Group. This policy outlines the rules regarding conflicts of interest as well as the responsibilities of employees and the HENSOLDT Group in resolving any such issues. All HENSOLDT Management Board and Supervisory Board members, executives, managers, and employees must follow this Policy and either avoid conflicts of interest altogether or handle any conflicts in a transparent way.
At the HENSOLDT Group, every actual or potential Conflict of Interest must be reported in a transparent manner as soon as the related person identifies such Conflict of Interest. In a standardized process the competent manager together with other relevant stakeholders like the Human Resources and the Compliance Departments will have to decide whether to proceed with the relevant business activity or not, while always complying with the principle of commercial arms-length business.
Governmental Relations
As a leader in defence and security technology, we always present ourselves to our customers in a transparent and impartial manner and maintain the requisite professional distance.
Regardless of whether customers are in the public or private sector or how far back our business history extends, we ensure that any partners whose services we use at the interface to politics and authorities undergo rigorous pre-selection. They are subject to the same strong compliance standards as HENSOLDT employees themselves.
The German federal government holds a 25.1% stake in HENSOLDT AG. The dialogue and the exchange of information with political decision-makers is therefore an integral part of our activities.
HENSOLDT has representative offices in Berlin, Koblenz, Brussels and Paris. HENSOLDT is registered in the transparency registers of the German Bundestag, the European Commission, the Bavarian and the Baden-Württemberg Landtag and has committed itself to their codes of conduct and their objective of transparency and integrity in the representation of interests.
Contributions to democratic political parties are subject to applicable laws, as well as internal compliance regulations that are often even stricter. They fall within the remit of HENSOLDT’s Executive Board, which issues approvals on a very restrictive basis.
The representation of interests of HENSOLDT towards parties, members of parliament and government officials is based on the legal requirements and internal compliance guidelines. HENSOLDT does not allow its directors or employees to exert unfair influence on politics and legislation.
Supply Chain Management
A Supplier Code of Conduct has become an integral part of our supply chain management. Our suppliers are queried and monitored via a supplier self-assessment. With this, we aim to make the supply chain even more sustainable.
We expect our suppliers to implement and adhere to their own written code of conduct, which must fulfil the expectations of our Supplier Code of Conduct as a minimum and ensure that the suppliers they work with in providing goods and/or services also satisfy these principles. Furthermore, we expect our suppliers to maintain effective programmes that require their employees to make ethical, value-driven choices in their business dealings and that they develop an employee code of conduct and offer the related training.
With our supplier self-assessment, we conduct due diligence when engaging and re-engaging with our suppliers. In general, our business partners are subject to sanctions and blacklists screening.