Heidrick & Struggles International : & Struggles 2023 ESG report PDF

HSII

2023

Sustainability Report

Our Swedish team restored the natural beauty of the

Stockholm archipelago by diligently picking up litter.

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

2

01

04

A Message

03

Sustainability

08

From Our CEO

Priorities

02

05

2023 Executive

04

Sustainability

10

Summary

With Clients

Partnering With Clients

11

Leadership Teams of

the Future

12

03

Social Impact

15

Sustainability

17

Publications

19

About Heidrick &

05

Struggles

Our Business Segments

06

Awards and Recognitions

07

06

Our People,

20

Culture & Benefits

Global Network of

21

Colleagues

How We Work

22

Total Rewards

24

Talent Management

and Development

26

Diversity, Equity

& Inclusion

30

07

Our Communities

36

Global Day of Service

37

Philanthropic Committee

39

08

10

Our Climate

Appendix

57

Strategy

40

GRI Index

58

Strategy & Approach

41

SASB Index

67

Energy & Emissions

TCFD Index

68

Management

42

Responsible Operations

45

UN SDGs

69

Celebrating Earth Week

47

Sustainability Data

73

09

Our Leadership

48

& Governance

Our Current Board

49

Sustainability

51

Governance

Ethics

53

Cybersecurity

54

and Privacy

Risk Management

56

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

3

A Message From Our CEO

Dear Stakeholders, I am proud to share our 2023 Sustainability Report. Having joined Heidrick & Struggles at the beginning of this year, I was thrilled to see the efforts already made to further our responsibility and commitments to our broader communities. This past year, we have made significant strides in advancing our sustainability initiatives which are detailed in the report.

Linking Sustainability to Strategy

To first take a step back, each of the seismic events we've seen across the past five years has reshaped the way leaders must lead - and changed how companies develop and enable leaders. The advent of GenAI has begun to reshape how companies organize and operate. Ongoing geopolitical dynamics have complicated international strategies for every client. And companies need to shape the next generation of leaders and access talent in new ways.

At a time of increasing societal and, in some cases, geopolitical divisions, the word "sustainability" itself is often misused and misunderstood. For self- evident reasons, sustainability is at the core of our strategy. The commitments we make to our clients, people and investors are predicated on our

dynamic durability as an enterprise. Clients partner with us for years - and in many cases decades; investors hold us accountable for generating value now and in the future; and our best colleagues lean in to grow the business across long careers.

This requirement of institutional durability demands that we access the best talent and enable them to thrive at work, and that we endeavor to help our communities and natural environment to thrive and flourish. Without a vibrant workplace, healthy communities and a healthy planet, we cannot operate at our highest potential. Nor will we be able to create the unmatched value for clients, colleagues, and shareholders that is at the core of our strategy.

Understanding that no single organization can create lasting, positive impact alone, we are dedicated

to helping our clients adapt to the shifting expectations businesses face. As leadership requirements evolve, organizations need assistance in cultivating, accessing, and empowering talent to drive sustainable outcomes. Existing leaders require bespoke support to adapt and grow their leadership approaches. This commitment is central to our mission, both within our organization and for our clients.

Our sustainability commitments extend along five dimensions:

Creating a high performing workplace through a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and excellence.

Uniting our teams and engaging our communities through philanthropy and outreach.

Driving efficiency in our operations and reducing our impact on the natural world.

Continuously innovating to support our clients' sustainability objectives.

Holding ourselves accountable to our responsible business policies and practices.

Disclosing with Transparency

Transparency is paramount in advancing our sustainability journey. This year's report demonstrates our commitment to transparent communication, helping stakeholders track our progress toward our goals and hold us accountable. In a step toward measuring and managing our environmental impact, we are proud to announce our first CDP disclosure in 2023, with continued reporting planned for 2024. Also, over the past five years, we have extended our emissions quantification and disclosure, improving data accuracy for benchmarking and future decision-making. This increased understanding of our emissions supports our preparations for a carbon reduction strategy to reach our science-based targets.

Thank You

Heidrick & Struggles is where the best people come to do their best work. A huge thank you to our passionate and innovative global team who are driving our sustainability efforts forward. Their dedication is instrumental in creating a lasting positive impact. We remain committed to fostering collaboration that advances these goals, and we look forward to sharing our continued progress with our valued stakeholders.

Tom Monahan

CEO, Heidrick & Struggles

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

2023 Executive Summary

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

4

Our People, Culture

Our Communities

& Benefits

86%

2,900+

of our employees participated in at least

hours volunteered on Global

one employee survey

Day of Service

Our Climate Strategy

B-

CDP Climate Change Score

SBTi

Our Leadership & Governance

38%

of our Board of Directors were women

25%

63%

of our colleagues were women

45

non-profit organizations supported on Global Day of Service

We have committed to setting near-termscience-based targets with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)

of our Board of Directors identified

as belonging to racially or ethnically un- derrepresented groups

27%

of our U.S. colleagues identified

as belonging to racially or ethnically underrepresented groups

DE&I

We developed a comprehensive, strategic roadmap to serve as the foundation for driving inclusion and collaboration in achieving our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) goals

2,220

miles raced in support of Rwandan women

2,000

meals provided to laborers in Dubai

38%

reduction in emissions intensity per employee since 2019

60%

of our office space globally is in sustainably certified buildings

40%

of the CEO and President's direct reports were women

SOC 2 Type II

attestation received

AI

We established an Acceptable Use Policy and cross-functional deployment team

Sustainability With Clients

Through our suite of integrated human capital solutions, we work closely with our clients

across the gamut of sustainability topics.

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

5

About Heidrick & Struggles | Our Business Segments | Awards and Recognitions

About Heidrick & Struggles

We help our clients change the world, one leadership team at a timeĀ®. Heidrick

Our Values

Five primary values serve as the firm's foundation, building on the principles that have guided our employees' actions for 70 years. They have contributed to our ongoing success, helping us earn the respect of our peers in the industry and the organizations we serve. They also inform our commitment to operating sustainably

and responsibly.

Respect

Grow

Win

Always

Own

and value each

with our

as one

act with

the

individual

clients

firm

integrity

results

Our work spans

Fortune 1000 companies Major global organizations

Middle market and emerging growth companies around the world

Private equity firms

Government, higher education, and non-profit organizations

Other leading private and public entities

About This Report

This is Heidrick & Struggles' fourth sustainability report, covering how our services helped clients achieve their sustainability ambitions as well as our internal sustainability actions during fiscal year 2023, beginning January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, except where otherwise noted. This report was produced to align with globally recognized frameworks including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standard for Professional & Commercial Services, the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). It covers impacts within our corporate boundary - our global network of 61 offices in 30 countries. We welcome your feedback on this report and our sustainability initiatives, both internally and with clients. Reach out to our ESG Team at ESGTeam@heidrick.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "projects," "could," "should," "will," "continue," and other similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, are not guarantees of future performance, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond our control and are difficult to predict. We describe risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any of these forward-looking statements in our SEC filings, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward- looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

6

About Heidrick & Struggles

| Our Business Segments

| Awards and Recognitions

Our Business Segments

Executive Search

We partner with our clients - respected organizations across the globe - to help them build the best leadership teams in the world. Our consultants specialize in executive searches for Boards of Directors and the C-suite, including roles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and Chief Human Resources Officer as well as functional officer roles in areas like Information Technology, Legal, Risk, Compliance and Government Affairs, Social Impact, Marketing, Sales and Strategy, and Supply Chain and Operations. We

see heightened demand for executive searches related to Artificial Intelligence, Energy Transition, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Industrial Goods, Sustainability, and Technology.

On-Demand Talent

Through our leading On-Demand Talent services, we provide a transformational new way for our clients to quickly access flexible, independent talent options

to fulfill interim executive roles and high-impact project needs. We help clients quickly access distinct talent, expertise, and skills to solve a variety of short-term capability and capacity issues. Companies today are using On-Demand Talent to augment their leadership capacity in a wide variety of ways, including leading operational transformation projects, analyzing new business opportunities, driving profitability improvement programs, and implementing strategy. We are the biggest player in the U.S., growing in the UK, and, in 2023, we acquired Atreus Group GmbH, a leading provider of interim management in Germany.

Heidrick Consulting

We offer unique leadership advisory solutions and work with clients to make their businesses future-ready. Our success in this area comes from our deep understanding of effective leadership skills through projects with the world's premier companies. We develop more impactful leaders, aligning them and their teams around culture, purpose, and strategy to drive positive organizational change. We also support leaders in defining and implementing DE&I strategies. Working closely with our clients, we bring pragmatic solutions to create mindset shifts among leaders and teams. This helps drive performance change and deliver tangible, meaningful, and lasting impact. In 2023, we acquired businessfourzero, a London- headquartered consultancy specializing in developing and implementing purpose-driven change. This enables us to deepen our existing set of solutions and help our clients drive successful business transformations by linking purpose and strategy to leadership and culture.

Emerging Growth Initiative: Heidrick Digital

Heidrick Digital consistently innovates to meet the evolving needs of our clients. We offer unique digital solutions that address both traditional and emerging challenges.

Our flagship product, Heidrick Navigator is a comprehensive leadership intelligence platform. It combines Heidrick & Struggles' proven leadership expertise and AI-powered insights to aggregate relevant leader data across your organization to a single, integrated, real-time view offering companies a way to maximize their most important asset - their leaders. The platform allows our clients to assess, manage, and develop their leadership population at scale to achieve their business goals with the right leaders in the right roles.

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

7

About Heidrick & Struggles | Our Business Segments | Awards and Recognitions

Awards and Recognitions

Employee Awards

Christina

Cary

Recognized by Women We Admire's

Top 50 Women Leaders of DC

Liz

Hayes

Recognized by Women We Admire's

Top 50 Women Leaders in Illinois

Cecilia

Nelson-Hurt

Recognized as one of the "30 Black Stars" and received the Impact Award at the Annual Spring Luncheon benefiting the Bottomless Closet

Jennifer

Wilson

Recognized by Women We Admire's

Top 50 Women Leaders of Dallas

Industry Awards

Forbes:

World's Best Management Consulting Firms

Private Equity Wire:

Best Recruitment Company for Operations & Finance in Europe

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Sustainability Priorities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

8

All facets of sustainability - people, planet, and business practices - are embedded across our core values.

People are at the heart of all that we do. Clients partner with us to build future- ready leadership teams that create sustained value for their organizations and stakeholders. Internally, we're focused on fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture to bring out the best in our people and ultimately, drive high-performance. We are committed to strengthening our sustainability practices, prioritizing actions that

are significant to our operations and meaningful to our global network of colleagues, clients and communities we serve.

In 2022, we conducted a materiality assessment to identify and evaluate sustainability topics that impact our business. It involved seeking guidance from recognized materiality frameworks for our industry, holding interviews with

internal and external stakeholders to hear their concerns on material issues, and then orchestrating an internal assessment that compiled and analyzed this information.

The assessment helped us identify our six sustainability priorities:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Customer trust

Compensation and benefits

Employee engagement and management

ESG governance

Data security and privacy

Three-step approach for our materiality assessment

1. Identification of material sustainability topics that could impact the business

We leveraged leading external frameworks and ratings to determine our critical focus areas and identified 27 priority sustainability topics. This analysis provides context for concerns from individuals represented in our wide range of key stakeholder groups: investors, clients, peers, suppliers, finance partners, industry groups, ratings organizations, employees, and our leadership and board of directors.

2. Engagement with stakeholders

We conducted interviews with individuals from our key stakeholder groups and senior leaders at Heidrick & Struggles and administered an internal survey, which further uncovered how sustainability topics could impact our business.

3. Finalization of the material sustainability topics that impact our business

We assessed the weight of the impact of each sustainability topic on the company, considering stakeholder expectations and company relevance. This process led to the identification of our six most material sustainability topics.

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

9

Our key priorities will be continually reassessed to inform our sustainability strategy, guiding future assessment of risks and opportunities faced by our business. The priorities also reinforce the importance of the relationships we build with clients, employees, and the communities we work in. Human

Priority Area

Progress in 2023

Planned Actions in 2024

connection is at the core of our business. Maintaining strong relationships

with our stakeholders allows us to improve our work culture, better serve local community needs, and, most importantly, help our clients build world-changing leadership teams.

Heidrick & Struggles plans to conduct a double materiality assessment aligned with guidelines set by

the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) in the second half of 2024.

This double materiality assessment considers both the impact of sustainability topics on our business as well as how our company impacts society and the environment. Performing an EFRAG-aligned double materiality assessment in 2024 will improve our understanding of our priority issues and support the building of management plans to address them.

Diversity, equity,

Compensation & benefits

Employee engagement

Data security & privacy

Developed a strategic roadmap to serve as the foundation for driving inclusion and collaboration in achieving our DE&I efforts

Aligned go-to-market approach across business lines to drive increased customer satisfaction

Established the Global Parental Leave Task Force and Health & Wellbeing Task Force

Created internal mobility guidelines to support employees' career growth

Committed to the science-based target initiative (SBTi)

Submitted first CDP disclosure

Updated policies and programs to follow global privacy regulations

Establish a success metrics scorecard

Strengthen the integration of our services and investment in talent and product to align with our clients' urgent needs

Create a strategy to implement recommendations from task forces

Conduct a job leveling exercise across business lines

Continue to review results from our voice of employee survey and develop strategies to address feedback

Submit near-termscience-based targets for approval Conduct a double-materiality assessment Continue CDP reporting

Develop AI governance program that complies with new regulations and existing privacy laws

A Message From Our CEO

Executive Summary

About Us

Sustainability Priorities

Sustainability With Clients

Our People, Culture & Benefits

Our Communities

Our Climate Strategy

Our Leadership & Governance

Appendix

10

Sustainability

With Clients

Enabling clients to perform at the highest level through future-ready leadership and impact strategies.

Our comprehensive talent and human capital

offerings enable our clients to build future-focused

"leadership teams. I'm incredibly proud of the

collective efforts and positive impact the firm has

had, and I am excited to see how we, in partnership

with our clients, can continue to help change the

world for the better.

"

Tom Murray

President

Disclaimer

Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. published this content on 13 August 2024 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 13 August 2024 19:32:01 UTC.