Stakeholder Engagement

We strongly believe that for our policies and practices to be effective, they must evolve and be informed by the perspectives of our many stakeholders, including our Associates, customers, investors, and others. Therefore, we strive to maintain an open dialogue with these important groups to achieve our goals.

• Engaging With Our Associates 

  We believe Associate engagement, relationship building, and our open-door philosophy are key to maintaining our culture, whether in our stores, distribution centers, or offices around the world. We want our Associates to be informed about our businesses and encouraged to learn and grow through both formal and informational interactions. We believe these efforts help strengthen our inclusive culture so Associates feel welcome, valued, and engaged. As such, we have many different ways to communicate with and hear from our Associates, which became even more vital as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted how we interact in the workplace.

  As our office Associates largely continued to work remotely in fiscal 2022, our in-person communications events remained virtual. We were pleased to be able to continue engaging our remote Associates through Town Hall meetings, State of the Company meetings, and CEO updates. Additionally, we continued to publish The Thread, our global intranet, and The Loop, a weekly e-newsletter, which disseminate announcements and facilitate information and policy sharing; TJX geographic-specific publications, such as TJXtra in Europe; and weekly bulletins in various regions around the globe. Yammer, a social media tool we launched in fiscal 2021 for office Associates to share information and engage in virtual discussions, became more active and helped foster relationship building amidst the pandemic.

  In our stores, we share important company information with and receive feedback from our Associates through socially distanced team huddles and in-store bulletin boards. These bulletin boards also feature store news, like volunteer events, fundraising successes, new processes, and more.We also have programs for Associates to share ideas, including thoughts on how to further improve the customer experience, as well as several in-store programs designed to motivate and reward our Associates, stores, and districts. See more about our engagement efforts below.

• Engaging With Our Customers 

  Our customers are very important to us, and engaging with them allows us to address their changing preferences, tastes, interests, and concerns. One way we measure our success is by asking customers to rate their experience using online customer satisfaction surveys. Based on what we hear from our customers, we regularly provide Store Operations management with feedback regarding store performance so they may identify opportunities and address issues quickly – and ultimately improve the in-store experience. This input also allows us to develop clear customer experience training for store managers, team leaders, and Associates. The data has also helped drive broad improvements across many of our retail chains, including redesigning floor plans, creating small “shops,” and changing lighting to better highlight products. We have carefully tested each initiative for how it can drive excitement about our retail chains and products and continue to help deliver the experience we know our customers love and have come to expect.

  Additionally, each retail chain has a website that highlights important information (including our COVID-19 health and wellness protocols), seasonal offerings, store locations, and contact information for Customer Service groups, and for some of our retail chains, the ability to shop online. Our chains also leverage a variety of social media channels for customer engagement and real-time feedback on shopping experiences.

  Our engagement efforts are all in place so that we can continue to provide excellent service to our customers.

  

• Engaging With Our Investors 

  In addition to our public disclosures and corporate responsibility reporting, we speak regularly with shareholders throughout each year via investor meetings, conferences, phone calls, and written correspondence. Held mostly in virtual formats in fiscal 2022, these interactions allow us to engage with the investor community regarding our Company’s financial performance and on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters. We listen to our shareholders’ insights and perspectives thoughtfully, considering what is best for our many stakeholders and our Company overall.

• Information Security and Privacy 

  Information security and privacy are very important to TJX. We have many protocols in place that are designed to help protect the security of our customers’ personal information. The Privacy pages on our retail brand websites describe our privacy policies pertaining to the personal information we collect about our customers.

  For many years, we have maintained an Information Management Program, led by our Chief Risk and Compliance Officer (CCO) and Information Risk Management Director. This program is overseen by TJX’s Information Management Steering Committee, which meets regularly and includes a number of senior leaders, including the Data Protection Officer, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and Director of Internal Audit. This Committee is responsible for developing and overseeing strategies to help TJX’s Information Management Program enhance the overall privacy, information security, and records management posture of TJX. Our CCO and CISO regularly report to the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.

  Our Information Management Program incorporates several components, including:

  Privacy: Our privacy policies address the types of personal information we collect from customers, how we may use that information, with whom we share that information, how we protect that information, and how individuals can exercise their rights in regards to their personal information. We don’t generate revenue by selling personal information.

  Information Security: While cyber threats are constantly evolving and no retailer can guarantee perfect security, we have a multi-faceted approach designed to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to the personal information that we collect from customers. This approach includes measures like encryption for certain types of personal information, controls over access to TJX facilities and systems, along with other threat and risk-based safeguards.

  Records Management: Our records management program consists of policies, guidelines, and practices designed to promote both the retention of company records to meet legal and business requirements and the timely deletion of records and other documents, with particular emphasis on minimizing the retention of personal information where appropriate.

  In addition to these components, we perform selected audits and make training available to appropriate TJX Associates.

  Audits: Our Internal Audit team performs audits that address compliance with TJX information security policies and, along with other teams, reviews certain third-party service providers with respect to their security practices concerning personal information.

  Associate Training: Privacy and Information Security training is made available to appropriate TJX Associates and is tailored to their job functions. This training is often supplemented with other education, communications, and an internal Information Management website, all designed to help our Associates understand our expectations in this important area.