The Neiman Marcus Group says it’s meeting certain ESG goals ahead of schedule.
According to the retailer’s third annual report on equality, sustainability and governance, issued Wednesday, 21 percent of its leadership roles — vice president and higher — are now occupied by racially diverse people. That compares to 18.2 percent in fiscal 2021. The goal is for 28 percent of leadership roles to be occupied by diverse employees by 2030.
Additionally, NMG reported that it has extended the life of more than 1 million luxury items through alterations, repair, resale and donations over its past three fiscal years, two years ahead of schedule.
“When we established our ESG strategy three years ago, we challenged ourselves to meet an initial set of goals by 2025,” NMG’s chief executive officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck wrote in the report, which outlines NMG’s ESG progress from July 31, 2022, to July 29. “Our recent analysis of customer trends indicates that customers who receive an alteration or repair service are more engaged with us, spending 73 percent more with us over a 12-month period following the service.”
Van Raemdonck indicated that increasing racial and ethnic diversity in leadership roles was accomplished by “implementing evidence-based practices to eliminate bias across the associate experience, including hiring, development and retention.”
NMG said its flexible workplace policy, enabling associates to work remotely, increased retention by 4 percent, and reduced the time to hire by 10 percent during its last fiscal year, while operating in a volatile business environment.
“By prioritizing flexibility and a better work-life integration, we also drive team accountability. Since committing to a remote-first hybrid work environment more than three years ago, we have empowered our teams to focus on the business without the distraction of the return-to-office debate,” said Eric Severson, chief people, ESG and belonging officer, NMG.
Also on the people front, the company partnered with the Fashion Scholarship Fund to award a new scholarship to 10 students to further their careers in sustainable and ethical fashion. The award program continues in NMG’s current fiscal year.
In addition, NMG formed a partnership with the National Minority Supplier Development Council to give diverse-owned brands increased access to buyers, category managers, training and development opportunities as well as meetings to review supplier success metrics. This year, NMG aims to certify 25 diverse-owned suppliers through the program.
Citing other ESG accomplishments, NMG said it got a perfect score for the second consecutive year on Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and was listed as a top company for disability inclusion on the Disability Equality Index, which independently benchmarks corporate disability inclusion policies.
The luxury retailer also said it committed to the Science Based Targets initiative, which helps companies reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals. Of the 4,000-plus businesses around the world involved with the initiative, NMG said it’s the first and only luxury retail partner to participate.
“As an integrated retailer, we are in a unique position to influence positive change within our workforce and in our stores but also in the industry at large,” van Raemdonck wrote.
