Being a sustainable and responsible organisation is our key commitment: Nisha Jagtiani

An exclusive interview with Nisha Jagtiani, Group Director, Landmark Group that’s all set to complete 50 years of operating as a homegrown business in the Middle East in 2023.

“Mothercare (in Bahrain), Babyshop as we know it today, was the start of our journey in 1973,” she pointed out.

Jagtiani serves on the Board of the Landmark Group overseeing the strategic vision for the organisation. She drives the business with her biggest passion – people. Asked how important it is for businesses to have a sense of purpose, here’s what she said.

“We have always felt that businesses have a responsibility to conduct themselves in the right way through a strong set of values to positively impact their stakeholders. For us at Landmark Group, a deep sense of purpose has been profoundly rooted into our philosophy from the start – ‘to create exceptional value for all the lives we touch’ – be it our employees, customers or the communities we serve. We continue to live our purpose through our brands and people.”

Walking the talk

Being a sustainable and responsible organisation is a key commitment for Landmark Group, Jagtiani emphasised.

“This includes taking a circular approach to how our products are made, ensuring a fair and safe workplace for our employees and suppliers, as well as making a positive contribution to communities. While our ambition to have a positive impact on people and the planet has been guiding our agenda for many years, we recently formalised our sustainability framework, set targets and formed a Sustainability Committee to continue integrating our sustainability ambitions into our business strategy. We built our own in-house carbon accounting model to calculate emissions, water and waste, bottoms-up to cover 50,000+ product types totalling 600 million pieces across our brands per annum: Scope 1 & 2 (~10%), Scope 3 (~90%).”

“We’re also deeply committed to making a difference in the communities where we live and work. We focus on three areas – Education & Employment, Health & Wellbeing and Disaster Relief – and collaborate with stakeholders representing civil society, including social organisations, governments and academic institutions to drive change and support the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” she added.

With a team of 48,000 professionals representing over 70 nationalities, people are at the heart of the organisation and its greatest strength. A big reason why the Group feels attracting and retaining talent is so crucial and offers them avenues for internal growth.

“We’ve created programmes encouraging learning and an entrepreneurial spirit. We’ve rolled out our Business Excellence Programme to develop our high-potential employees. We’ve also kicked off country-specific initiatives such as the First-time Managers Programme, a digital course for new managers that will help them acquire leadership tools and skills required to effectively manage and develop their people. In addition, the Landmark Tower Clinic launched last year in partnership with Health Hub clinics provides our employees and their families in the UAE with access to free medical treatment with zero co-pay.”

Inclusion is the way ahead

Education and healthcare are two sectors of social development that Jagtiani feels most passionate about and believes that every individual must have access to basic and quality healthcare and education.

“From a business perspective, I believe reforms that promote inclusion and integration of women can be beneficial. This is especially true in Saudi Arabia, where more women are joining the workforce, many of whom are doing so for the first time. Reforms such as these will not only promote equity and inclusion but also contribute to creating a more diverse, well-rounded and dynamic workforce.”