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Supporting communities

We drive several initiatives to improve access to hearing health. First, by introducing new product categories with a lower threshold to enjoying the benefits of hearing health. Our over-the-counter hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing loss are sold without the need to visit a hearing care professional. 

Second, we seek to help people with hearing loss without direct access to hearing health due to their circumstances. During a one-week trip to Poland, GN employees were able to fit around 80 hearing aids for Ukrainian refugees.

Through different charitable campaigns globally, we donated a further 1,048 ReSound hearing aids.

The Beltone Hearing Care Foundation is a charitable organization on a mission to help individuals in need of hearing assistance, who may face financial barriers. We believe that everyone deserves the chance to hear and engage with the world around them. In 2023, the Beltone Hearing Care Foundation donated an estimated 900 hearing aids, bringing the gift of sound to 440 people with hearing loss. These numbers represent the tangible impact we strive to achieve, one person at a time.

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

GN fundamentally believes that diverse leadership teams and a diverse organization are key to our success as an innovation leader and, thus, we welcome differences broadly. To stay relevant as a business we need access to all employees’ competencies, creativity, engagement, and loyalty. We need the best talents, and we need diverse talents. Therefore, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are a strategic priority for GN.

Creating an equal playing field is a cornerstone to instill fair and just practices and policies that ensure all employees can thrive, be themselves, and exercise their full potential. To become a truly equitable employer, we embed inclusion and diversity in our people processes. As a company, we do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind based on racial or ethnic characteristics, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, disabilities, or any other classification as stated in GN's Ethics Guide.

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Safeguarding human rights

Safeguarding human rights in our supply chain requires that we continuously monitor supplier compliance with GN’s Codes of Conduct and local laws, and immediately address any cases of non-compliance. Due to the nature of our products and industry, and the location of manufacturing sites, we assess potential human rights-related risks to lie mostly in the area of working conditions and occupational health and safety. All tier 1 suppliers are audited every year and tier 2 suppliers every second year.

 

Audits are based on the UN Global Compact principles of responsible business and the SA8000 standard. In practice, during an audit, workers are randomly selected for an interview and an assessment to ensure their working hours, treatment by superiors, safety and salary are compliant with our standards and the local law. We require major audit findings to be addressed through corrective action.

 

To strengthen our human rights due diligence processes, in 2022, GN Audio became an affiliate member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), thereby committing to implement its industry-leading standards set out in the RBA Code of Conduct across its supply chain. All tier 1 contract manufacturers are audited every year, tier 2 suppliers every second year. For our hearing aid suppliers, we audit tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers based on supplier.

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Responsible Business Alliance statement

As an Affiliate Member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) for our video, audio and gaming products, GN fully supports the vision and goals of the RBA:

Vision: A coalition of companies driving sustainable value for workers, the environment and business throughout the global supply chain.

Mission: Members, suppliers and stakeholders collaborate to improve working and environmental conditions and business performance through leading standards and practices. We commit to progressively align its own operations with the provisions of the RBA Code of Conduct and to support and encourage its own first-tier suppliers to do the same. Wherever possible, we will seek to adopt the RBA approach and tools in practical ways in the spirit of the industry’s common goals.

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