At Heijmans, we want to play a leading role in working on solutions for the complex challenges facing our country. The challenges are far-reaching and complex, and extend to areas such as the housing market, accessibility, labour shortages, water issues, the energy transition and climate change. It is precisely the interconnectedness of these challenges that makes them so complex. As creators of the healthy living environment, we at Heijmans are skilled at tackling these kinds of complex issues.
We are taking the step forward to find and realise new integrated solutions together with our chain partners.
We want to leave the places where we develop and build in better condition than we found them. We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We have set out how we can do this in our strategic plans. It is clear that we can only do this together with our partners and with the more than 5,500 colleagues at Heijmans who work hard every single day to create a more sustainable future. This explains the title of our strategy: ‘Together towards 2030’.
Solid foundation
With our previous strategic plan, we laid a solid foundation for the period 2018 to 2023. We worked specifically on strengthening the pillars of Better, Smarter and More sustainable. Quality and stability are now firmly anchored in our organisation, and we have created the conditions for future growth. We will continue to build on this foundation in the period to 2030, while continuing to invest in a strong and resilient organisational basis.
Clear direction for the future
In 2023, we recalibrated our business strategy. With the business strategy ‘Together towards 2030’ and the promise ‘Together, it’s possible’ in combination with our financial targets for 2027, Heijmans is setting a clear direction for the future. In this strategy, we combine social responsibility, financial results and teamwork.
Five strategic pillars
With our ‘Together towards 2030’ strategy, we are providing direction for our ambition to become a sustainable leader in our sector. We are doing this based on five strategic pillars: Well-being, Sustainability, Connection, Producibility and Team. Each pillar has a specific focus: Well-being and Sustainability describe WHAT we do to realise a healthy living environment; Connection and Producibility describe HOW we increase our impact to achieve this; and Team describes WHO we do this with. We have formulated twelve non-financial ‘bold statements’ to support the five pillars. These are challenging ambitions that give us the perspective to set goals for the future.
Embedding in the organisation
Last year was all about fleshing out our revised strategy and the related strategic pillars, as well as embedding and activating them in our organisation. To realise this, we set up a special network of so-called champions. These colleagues, from various business units and departments, play a coordinating and motivating role when it comes to the programmes and initiatives that emerge from our strategic pillars. Thanks to their cooperation, they ensure wide support for our strategic pillars, that programmes are launched, progress is guaranteed and knowledge and initiatives are shared throughout the organisation and across sectors.
In addition, we devoted a great deal of attention last year to activating the strategy within the organisation. We did this by organising inspiring meetings bringing together different groups of colleagues. We also organised lunch lectures and interactive sessions. In addition, we set up a special intranet page where all strategic information is clearly bundled and where examples are shared. One initiative that played a special role in this was part of our ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ programme. Since September 2024 they have been travelling to various Heijmans teams across the country with their creative concept, De Gele Koffers (the yellow suitcases). These so-called suitcases contain various workshops and materials that are used to make the strategy tangible for employees. During these sessions, practical examples and insights are collected and then shared more widely across the organisation.
Overview of strategic pillars
How we create impact
We want to make a positive contribution to society as a whole. Our value creation model provides insight into how we use raw materials and other forms of capital to add sustainable, long-term value through the production of goods and services. Our value creation model can be interpreted as follows:
Business model and strategy
Our primary focus is on the operationalisation of our mission ‘Creators of the healthy living environment’. We will achieve this mission by realising our strategy, which is based on five pillars: Well-being, Sustainability, Connection, Producibility and Team. Our organisation will do this on the basis of our DNA: ownership, result focus and teamwork. Plus we take into account a number of key trends and developments that impact our business model, such as the energy transition, the labour market and the need for mobility and housing. In accordance with the new reporting requirements pursuant to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Heijmans recently conducted a so-called double materiality analysis. This analysis determined that the following seven material themes are of great importance to Heijmans: (1) climate change, (2) water and marine resources, (3) biodiversity and ecosystems, (4) use of materials and circular economy, (5) our own employees, (6) employees in the value chain, and (7) business conduct.
Input
The input of our value creation model consists of everything we need to start creating value. This ranges from the buildings we occupy to the financial resources and the brainpower and manpower we need to realise our products and services.
Output
The output consists of our results, our concrete products and services. This includes obvious products such as our homes, buildings and roads, as well as service and maintenance activities. But it also includes less tangible contributions, such as knowledge development in the sector and strengthening the chain as a whole.
Impact
Ultimately, Heijmans' output has an impact on a number of social issues. We used a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) impact analysis to determine which of the 169 sub-goals we have the greatest impact on. These include the following goals:
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affordable and sustainable energy
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decent work and economic growth
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industry, innovation and infrastructure
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sustainable cities and communities
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responsible consumption and production
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climate
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life on land
In recent years, we have linked our non-financial ambitions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals provide a global framework for assessing and managing the impact of our activities. Our most significant positive impact includes the creation of buildings for living and working, the promotion of mobility and the realisation of facilities that contribute to the mitigation of climate change, such as dykes and water storage facilities. At the same time, we recognise our most significant negative impact, including emissions such as CO₂, the use of raw materials and the production of waste.
By aligning our ambitions with the SDGs, we show the value we add to society. This includes our contributions to sustainable cities and communities, climate action and responsible production and consumption. This is how we underline our responsibility to balance both positive and negative impacts on society and to promote a sustainable future.