EMPLOYMENT
GRI 103-1,2,3; GRI 401-1,2; GRI 102-8
As the pandemic persisted in 2021, we continued to implement measures to ensure the safety of our employees. Despite this challenging backdrop, we successfully advanced in many of our human resources (HR) plans and initiatives, such as launching Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, rolling out automated recruitment and onboarding, ramping up talent acquisition and many more.
We are working toward our 2030 gender diversity targets with a number of initiatives (see section on Gender & Sexual Diversity). In 2021, the share of women in management and leadership roles, excluding acquisitions, was 12%, which was stable compared to the 2019 baseline. This is due to the Surface Solutions Division’s transformation and an exceptionally competitive market place that was exacerbated by the pandemic.
There was also no change in the share of women (23%) in our high-potential programs versus 2020. Compared to 2019, there was a slight decrease from the 24% due to normal fluctuation with the new cohort of participants. We remain committed to achieving our 2030 diversity targets, including acquisitions.
An Employer of Choice for Global Talent
Oerlikon’s global workforce numbered 11 808 full-time equivalents (FTEs) at the end of 2021, with 55% based in Europe, followed by Asia-Pacific (30%), North America (12%) and the rest of the world (3%).
In 2021, Oerlikon’s global workforce (FTEs) increased by 10%, mainly due to the acquisitions of INglass and Coeurdor.
As an equal opportunity employer, Oerlikon offers attractive compensation and benefit packages to all employees, including temporary or part-time employees and interns, in compliance with local labor laws and practices. Parental leave is also part of the employment package according to local labor regulations and practices. In 2021, a new global Mobile Work policy was issued, focusing on the importance of wellbeing and recognizing that the place of work is shifting.
Employee Engagement Positively Impacting Culture
Periodically, we conduct employee engagement surveys that solicit input from the global organization. The most recent survey took place in 2019, encompassed all Oerlikon sites and was made available in 23 languages.
The results of the 2019 survey were aggregated and analyzed just as the COVID-19 pandemic arose in early 2020. Based on the feedback from more than 7 000 employees, we captured the tone within the company across regions and completely revitalized our cultural foundation in a Success Model (see the following section “Embedding Desired Behavior in our Culture” for details). The next survey is being prepared for rollout in the middle of 2022.
Embedding Desired Behavior in Our Culture
In 2020, we launched a global initiative to strengthen and align our culture. The initiative was aimed at anchoring clear, memorable, action-oriented and Oerlikon-specific principles for how we aspire to work together to drive company success and build an engaging culture. The initiative was based on inputs from thousands of employee comments in our two past Employee Engagement Surveys, over 60 targeted interviews with leaders and employees across the company, a two-day workshop with our Executive Committee (EC), participation from our Global Leader community and feedback from employees and managers across the Group.
The feedback resulted in six brief statements of the new Oerlikon Success Model, replacing our former 25 leadership competencies and 8 Leadership Principles. The statements encapsulated in a few easy-to-remember words the core capabilities we need to drive business success. Additionally, Oerlikon leadership is committed to the three core principles of the culture initiative: Leaders Walk The Talk, A Multiple-year Journey Shaped by all Leaders and Employees and Embed the Success Model in Business and People Processes.
“Beruf und Familie” (workandfamily) Pilot
In 2021, we continued supporting the “Beruf und Familie” program, which is under the umbrella of the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. In 2021 we added pme Familienservice (Family Service) as a service provider to our workandfamily program. pme offers a variety of services related to childcare, elderly care, coaching for challenging times in life and many more. Particularly helpful services from pme are their hotline and online services, including webinars.
Another activity under this program is Remote Working and Leadership, which we started for employees and managers at the beginning of the pandemic. The program focused on supporting employees to familiarize themselves with working and leading remotely and how best to conduct virtual ex-changes. The program proved very popular as it enabled employees to learn about maximizing their own strengths in a remote setup.
Talent Acquisition
In 2021, we formed a new global talent acquisition team of dedicated specialists located mainly in Germany and the USA to strengthen Oerlikon as an employer of choice. In the fight for talent, the team responded by thinking outside the box and is developing strategies and plans, including new agreements with key schools and universities and more competitive salaries and benefits packages, so as to attract and retain the most talented people to serve our customers and ensure business growth.
We continued to increase our usage of online channels for acquiring new talent. In 2021, 50% of our acquisitions were sourced over online platforms such as Glassdoor and Indeed. The switch to a more digital approach for recruitment has led to significant savings compared to conventional recruitment methods.
We also introduced more digital automation for recruitment in 2021. Video interviews for recruitment were piloted in the USA and are now being rolled out globally at all key locations. The automated onboarding process, which was also piloted in previous years in the USA, is now in place in all key countries. This kind of automation process not only increases efficiency but also promotes safety with reduced in-person human contact.
As digitalization tools and channels are adopted more widely in recruitment, we recognize that it is also important to provide in-person platforms and information to recruit new talents. In 2021, we organized a number of campus talks, for example at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, which runs a leading thermal spray program, and participated in recruitment events such as the Top Women Tech Summit and the Dayton Metco Library’s 2nd Career Adventures Day in the US. We also organized Oerlikon Days for students to visit our sites, for example, fresh graduating students visited our Friction Systems site in Shanghai, China.
Recognizing the power of word of mouth, we continue to offer our employees recognition and rewards for referring successful candidates. Beyond these internal resources, we also look to our network of customers and suppliers for referrals of promising candidates.
