Earlier this week, we sat down with K2’s CEO Nick Plummer to talk thoughts on 2022 and hopes for 2023. We discussed our strategic business plan KINETIC, the upcoming launch of our charitable foundation, lessons learned from last year, our sustainability drive and our global company conference. Read on to gain an insight into Nick’s experience of 2022 and his ambitious vision for 2023.
Read about our global company conference here.
2022 marked the first year of KINETIC. Are you satisfied with the progress made so far?
I’m more than satisfied. What we achieved last year is probably what most companies in a similar position would be happy to deliver over the course of five years. Whilst I wasn’t involved in any of the discussions during which KINETIC was formed (purposefully so – I wanted the Senior Leadership Team and the Board to use their expertise and experience to chart the course of the business), I did come up with the name itself. To me, Kinetic energy says movement, fluidity, power – an unstoppable, forward-driving force. That’s the energy that I want our business plan to bring to K2: that’s why it’s called KINETIC and that’s how we blew 2022 right out of the water.
Last year, you and a few other members of the K2 family flew out to São Paulo, Brazil to visit a favela school. This visit sparked the idea for the establishment of a K2 charitable foundation, Foundation for the Future. Can you tell us more about this?
Foundation for the Future will extend our ability to contribute to society, something that is hugely important to me. It has been part of the business for a long time now, but KINETIC has given it shape and structure, enabling us to monitor the impact that we are having on society and ensure that it is both meaningful and sustainable. Our charitable foundation will allow us to efficiently channel the funds that we raise into projects of our choosing – the school build in São Paulo, Brazil being one of these. Construction will begin in Q1 of this year, when Foundation for the Future will also be officially launched.
What lessons have you learned from 2022 that you will take forward into 2023?
Lots, which is exactly as it should be. The key lesson is not really a lesson in the sense that I already knew it – have always known it. So it is more a reinforcement of the understanding that K2’s throttle is directly connected to talent. We have achieved the things that we have because we have the right people in our family – it’s as simple as that.
Another lesson learned was that if I feel that something is the right thing to do, then it is the right thing to do. The KINETIC Benefit, a profit share incentive scheme for all employees, is proof of that. I learned that the really honest conversations that you have to have with other leaders about the effects of growth are not difficult conversations to have. And that’s because the leaders within the company have the presence of mind to embrace change and the agility to run with it.
This year will see us publish our first ESG Report and submit our first Communication on Progress to the UN. What are your thoughts on K2’s sustainability journey so far?
Since we began our sustainability journey in earnest at the beginning of last year, we’ve covered a lot of ground, especially in comparison to other like-size companies. Procrastination is not something that K2 are familiar with, and the huge leaps forward that we took over the course of 2022 are evidence of this. Our work with global sustainability ratings company EcoVadis, our knowledge sharing partnership with Bath University, the development of Foundation for the Future, the preparatory work for our United Nations Communication on Progress and our ESG Report… There’s some very strong groundwork here, groundwork that I know will evolve into a set of truly meaningful interventions as the year progresses.
Our global company conference – would you do it again?!
‘Again’ is the problematic word here. I find the idea of another conference incredibly exciting, but the genius in life is to innovate, not to copy.
