September 25th is the National Sustainability Day, a date that coincides with the presentation, in 2015, of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. For this reason, it was the date chosen for the first edition of “Jornadas Regionais da Sustentabilidade” (Regional Sustainability Days), an initiative of GRACE.
Different perspectives and approaches to the topic were analyzed by speakers on the various panels: Environment, Social and Governance.
FN hotelaria is one of the members of the Madeira Cluster of GRACE – Responsible Companies, a non-profit public utility business association that operates in the areas of Social Responsibility and Sustainability.
It was in this context that FN hotelaria was represented at the event by Ana Melim, Director of Shared Services, who brought the FN hotelaria’s case in this area of Sustainability to the Social panel.
She recalled that FN hotelaria has always sought to base its actions on quality, differentiation and responsibility at all levels:
• The company positions itself as a “creator of solutions” suited to the needs of each client. This means that, internally, it is crucial to promote a culture that values the human component of the organization. In other words, at FN hotelaria we recognize the importance of the high qualifications and professional experience of our employees for the efficient and productive functioning of the company.
We seek to value the competence, technical quality and professionalism of our team, as it is our employees who allow FN hotelaria to operate and be competitive in any market. They are also the ones who support and value the trust that clients place in the company.
At FN hotelaria, there is therefore a policy of continuous training for employees and a systematic search for opportunities to improve processes and innovate management and production practices.
• Contributing to the well-being and quality of life of our employees is one of our major concerns. For this reason, we have implemented a series of measures, such as:
- flexible working hours, which make it easier to reconcile work and personal/family life, or even reducing working hours on Fridays;
- remote work, which allows employees whose roles allow it to work remotely, out of personal preference or with the aim of reducing the fatigue associated with travelling to work, saving on commuting, dedicating themselves to other activities that interest them, but also as a way of increasing their rest and leisure time;
- birthdays as a day off;
- health insurance, which represents a considerable financial aid in accessing health care for employees and their immediate family members;
- among other aspects.
• We seek to promote a culture that values the human component and transparency in relationships between people and the organization at the most diverse levels.
• From day one, it has been FN hotelaria's policy to retain its employees: whether through motivation in terms of working conditions, the possibility of professional growth, investment in training, and salaries and benefits, retraining, the valorization of knowledge and experience or their involvement and contribution in various aspects of the company's activity.
One of the values that our team values most is security and stability. FN hotelaria therefore seeks to establish “partnerships for life” with its employees.
From the beginning, our founders were also aware of the company's role in the community in terms of creating jobs, training new professionals for the sector, and contributing to the development of their region. Exercising all this responsibility in the best possible way has always been a concern.
• Externally, we have therefore gone through a phase of occasional philanthropy, through the allocation of donations to various social causes, whether through monetary donations or through the donation of hotel equipment, IT equipment, or others, to some institutions that play a very important role in our community and with our citizens.
• In a more active way, some donations have also been allocated to projects or causes that fall more within our scope of action.
But we like to keep an eye on initiatives that emerge and that we want to recognize and reward for the example they set for society. And we also keep an eye on causes to which we can contribute in some way. Knowing the needs more closely often helps us to understand that a small action on our part can often make a huge difference in someone's life or in the activity of an institution. Yes, because professionals in institutions also deserve our recognition and applause.
Regarding the work of FN hotelaria, we had the opportunity to carry out several actions, some of which we highlight below.
• FN hotelaria's path has been parallel to that of gastronomy and the social and professional evolution of Chefs, and the imagination, sensitivity and creativity that they bring to their work have always been a source of inspiration for the development of the service we provide.
It was with this in mind that, in 2016, in collaboration with Grupo Cardoso (hotel group), we paid tribute and expressed our gratitude to kitchen professionals and to Gastronomy, in the person of the Chef. A mural painting by the artist Bárbara Gil was unveiled, which aims to pay tribute to the Chef, depicting him in his moment of rest, and which occupies an exterior wall of Baía Azul hotel. As part of FN hotelaria's social responsibility policy, we wanted to pay tribute to gastronomy and its professionals, combining several dimensions: gastronomy, art, culture and community.
• In 2018, an initiative by FN hotelaria, Diário de Notícias Madeira (local newspaper) and Câmara Municipal do Funchal (Funchal City Council) led a group of elderly people to travel by plane for the first time. This solidarity initiative, which really had in impact on us, consisted of making the dream of this group of people come true. 10 elderly people from Centro Comunitário do Funchal (Community Center), Ginásio de São Martinho and Ginásio de Santo António (gyms) thus had the opportunity to visit the city of Lisbon. In this way, we intended to deepen our relationship with the local community, also within the scope of our corporate social responsibility.
• In 2021, we participated in a GRACE-Madeira Cluster initiative, which consisted of supporting access to technical, professional and higher education for children and young people from families with financial difficulties. “Famílias GRACE-Madeira” results from raising awareness about the impact of inter-business collaboration and the social economy on the community.
The initiative sought to “provide support to low-income families identified with children and young people who demonstrate motivation, commitment and capacity to continue their studies, in order to provide them with equal opportunities in accessing quality technical, professional and higher education, promoting their entry into the job market as fulfilled citizens and useful to society” (Grace). Associação Onda Solidária and Presença Feminina – Associação de Apoio à Mulher (associations) were GRACE’s partners in this objective.
In terms of relationships with suppliers, our quality management system provides for a set of requirements and criteria for evaluating their performance that encompasses good practices, namely compliance with environmental standards, the use of more sustainable materials and the adoption of ethical practices in its activity.
Also, every day, we seek to offer our customers solutions that are more environmentally friendly and more energy efficient, which allow for considerable savings. We seek to make our customers aware of the importance of opting for more environmentally friendly equipment.
But it is also part of our role to continue to implement more sustainable practices in our activity, whether through the correct disposal of waste, the use of products and materials in compliance with current environmental regulations, the introduction of electric vehicles into the company's fleet (already around a dozen) or the use of electrical energy produced through sustainable sources.
It is in this context that we are currently providing FN hotelaria’s headquarters building with a significant set of photovoltaic panels, which will allow us to take advantage of this renewable energy, while also enabling considerable savings.
These are concerns that have always been part of the brand's values and culture and that we try to have increasingly present in our practices, such as the environmental responsibility of a company that is also a supplier and installer of these solutions.
In addition to the environmental issue, we return once again to our focus: professionals. That's why we always try to make our customers aware of the importance of providing their establishments with materials and conditions to improve the safety, hygiene and functionality of spaces. Improving human interaction with kitchens and reducing energy and water consumption and operational costs are, in fact, two of the main objectives of our 'Industrial Kitchen of the Future' project, which focuses precisely on these issues and their combination with technology, namely the Internet of Things (IoT) and active smart technologies. The project's partners are MITI, Universidade da Madeira and Instituto Técnico de Lisboa (research and higher education institutions).
We are fully aware of much more that will have to be done, but we think that it is through small steps and everyone's contribution that we can do more and do things differently, so that our actions can really have some social impact and FN hotelaria can be worthy of the title of responsible company.
