How STIEBEL ELTRON digitally transformed its Policy Management with EQS Policies

Compliance plays a vital role in STIEBEL ELTRON’s day-to-day operations and overall business strategy. The company maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, competition violations, and other legal breaches. Its Code of Conduct is the foundation of the compliance strategy and serves as a guide for ethical business conduct.

STIEBEL ELTRON sees compliance not merely as the observance of laws, internal regulations, and ethical standards but as a core element of every decision and activity.

Motto: “Only clean business is STIEBEL ELTRON business.”

Before introducing a EQS Policies, a digital policy management solution, STIEBEL ELTRON faced several key compliance challenges:

• Unclear and fragmented policies: Policies existed in various formats and systems (paper, PDFs, emails), causing inconsistencies and access issues.

• Lack of up-to-date information: Regulatory changes were difficult to track and implement efficiently, increasing the risk of non-compliance.

• Poor traceability: It was challenging to document whether employees had read and understood policies, creating legal and liability risks.

• Inefficient communication and awareness: Policies were often distributed without interactive awareness-building or updates, resulting in low engagement and understanding among staff.

• High administrative effort: Manual management and distribution of policies required significant time and resources.

• Translation and clarity challenges: As an international organisation, it was essential to provide policies in multiple languages. Without a centralised system, translations were inconsistent, leading to misunderstandings across regions. Ensuring proper comprehension in native languages was also difficult.

• Increased risk of non-compliance: Without structured systems, it was hard to detect violations early or provide full audit trails during internal audits.

The EQS Compliance Cockpit and Policy Manager enabled STIEBEL ELTRON to overcome these challenges through automation, centralised access, and transparent monitoring. Key benefits include:

• Centralised and consistent policy management: The EQS Policy Manager allows policies to be centrally stored and managed in multiple languages, eliminating scattered documentation. Employees have real-time access via the EQS Integrity Hub in their own language.

• Automated approvals and version control: Multi-stage approval workflows ensure efficient policy creation and updates. Precise versioning and audit trails deliver full transparency.

• Monitored confirmations and employee engagement: The system tracks policy confirmations and promotes understanding through interactive certifications and knowledge checks. Real-time dashboards allow the compliance team to see which policies have been read, confirmed, or ignored – helping identify gaps early and reduce risk.

• AI-powered 24/7 support via Policy Buddy chatbot: The integrated chatbot answers routine policy-related queries instantly, easing the workload of the compliance team and giving staff fast, accurate support.

• Smart distribution and automated reminders: Policies are automatically sent to relevant recipients, and the system tracks acknowledgements with certifications and knowledge checks. Automated reminders and escalation ensure nothing is missed.

• Modern, user-friendly interface: The intuitive design allows for easy navigation. A clearly structured dashboard helps compliance teams, managers, and employees access policies, track progress, and complete tasks efficiently – increasing user acceptance and reducing the need for training.

• Multilingual support for global teams: The EQS Policy Manager and Integrity Hub support all relevant languages, with built-in machine translation for seamless communication and documentation.

• Seamless integration with other EQS modules: The Compliance Cockpit integrates smoothly with other tools such as the Integrity Line whistleblowing system.

The implementation of the EQS Compliance Cockpit was structured and efficient. A key challenge was integrating existing compliance processes and ensuring smooth collaboration across all departments. Close cooperation with the EQS team allowed rapid identification and resolution of issues, with custom adjustments tailored to STIEBEL ELTRON’s structure.

The implementation spanned around six months, from planning to full deployment. EQS provided support throughout — from needs analysis to technical setup and administrator training. Their expert guidance and responsive service were particularly valuable.

Administrator training was conducted in multiple phases to cover every component of the Cockpit in detail. The intuitive interface made the transition easier, and the tool was quickly embraced. Users especially appreciated the improved transparency, design, and ability to centrally manage compliance.

Since introducing the Compliance Cockpit, STIEBEL ELTRON has seen major benefits:

• Significant time savings in handling compliance-related enquiries

• Greater transparency in compliance processes thanks to centralised data and workflows

• Automated documentation and deadline control, enabling full visibility at all times

The EQS Group Compliance Products Service Portal also improved efficiency in handling requests. Pre-categorised queries are processed directly without back-and-forth communication. The real-time tracking of request status reduces unnecessary follow-ups, streamlining the support experience.

Key advantages achieved using the Compliance Cockpit:

• Automated workflows and deadline tracking: Manual tasks are minimised through automated alerts, approval flows, and escalation processes.

• Centralised documentation and real-time reporting: All compliance documents (e.g., policies, work instructions) are stored in one place and easily accessible. Data for audits and regulators is available in real time.

• User-friendly design and multilingual capability: A clear interface and international language support improve adoption across global teams.

• Access controls and role-based permissions: Sensitive data is protected with strict access rights for authorised users only.

• Interactive and understandable policy delivery: The Policy Buddy chatbot provides employees with easy access to comprehensive policy information through conversational dialogue.

STIEBEL ELTRON plans to expand its EQS Compliance Cockpit by integrating the Risks and Data Privacy modules to further strengthen its framework:

• The Risks module will allow systematic identification, assessment, and mitigation of compliance risks – making risk management more professional and transparent.

• The Data Privacy module will strengthen GDPR compliance and ensure regulatory requirements are met more efficiently. Centralised privacy process management will automate deadlines, documentation, and audit readiness.

A key added benefit will be maintaining a single, shared record, meaning group subsidiaries won’t need to duplicate documentation already managed by the headquarter.