Relationship and stakeholder management

In performing its duties, the Supervisory Board acts in accordance with the interests of the company and the business connected with it, taking into consideration the interests of the company’s stakeholders. The Chair of the Supervisory Board is in regular close contact with the Co-CEOs, as is the Chair of the Audit Committee with the CFO.

Furthermore, the Supervisory Board regularly interacts with members of the Executive Committee who attend Supervisory Board meetings and the yearly site visit of the Supervisory Board.

The Supervisory Board interacts with our employees on various occasions and in various contexts. The Supervisory Board regularly receives information on relevant topics from senior leaders and experts in the company during committee meetings, full Supervisory Board meetings, and also as part of their ongoing professional education. An overview of the kind of topics discussed during the 2020 Board meetings, which also gave the Supervisory Board an opportunity to interact with the employees involved in them, is given below. Normally its annual site visit gives the Supervisory Board the opportunity to interact with employees at different levels, from the shop floor to senior leadership, thus collecting valuable information and insights from various sources across the company. As a result of COVID-19, the Supervisory Board was unable to make a physical site visit in 2020. Instead, an interactive virtual plant tour of the Veramaris facilities in Blair (Nebraska, USA) was given.

Direct, one-to-one contact between Supervisory Board members and Managing Board and Executive Committee members generally follows naturally from topics discussed in the meetings of the Supervisory Board. These discussions draw on the expertise of individual Supervisory Board members, whose advice is sought on a wide range of specialist topics as required. Supervisory Board members also have direct contact with other employees in the course of the aforementioned site visits and specifically arranged meetings.

In 2020, meetings were held virtually whenever practicable, while others (e.g., certain induction visits to DSM sites for new Supervisory Board members) had to be postponed.

Examples of the meetings and visits that could take place include Thomas Leysen’s visit to DSM Nutritional Products in Kaiseraugst including a site visit to the DSM Nutritional Products Sisseln site (both Switzerland), and to DSM Protective Materials in Heerlen (Netherlands). Rob Routs and Frits van Paasschen reviewed DSM’s digital strategy with the Chief Digital Officer. Rob Routs and Eileen Kennedy had an in-depth discussion on Personalized Nutrition with Co-CEO Geraldine Matchett and the Senior Vice President Corporate & Nutrition Strategy. Pradeep Pant, who is based in Singapore and has extensive knowledge of and experience with Asian markets, continued to be in regular contact with our senior management in that region.

The Supervisory Board takes an active interest in maintaining a good understanding of our stakeholders and their positions on various topics related to the company’s areas of business. This includes the perceptions of our shareholders. The Supervisory Board is informed of the position of other DSM stakeholders by the Managing Board. In addition, the Supervisory Board collects such information through its own network.