Employees

Vetropack’s long-term success is largely down to its employees. The company has therefore set out the ambition to become an “employer of choice” in its new strategy. The aim is to make Vetropack known as a first-class brand on the job market, including outside its immediate reach. Vetropack wants to achieve this goal by investing in further professionalisation of human resources management, attracting new talent, continuous employee engagement and the professional development of employees in the spirit of a “learning organisation”.

A strategic approach to human resources management

As part of the new “employer of choice” strategy, Vetropack tightened up its human resources management in 2020 to achieve human resources (HR) processes that are uniform and systematic across the Group. Vetropack therefore implemented “SuccessFactors”, a digital HR tool that increases transparency and fairness – from talent recruitment, employee engagement and training and development right through to succession planning. During this implementation, Vetropack developed a new classification system and standardised job titles and descriptions, which will make career development plans more transparent and comparable for all functions and positions at the different sites.

Talent recruitment, development and retention

Vetropack has proved itself to be a good employer at its locations. In conjunction with the considerable name recognition of the Vetropack brand as a high-quality Swiss glass container manufacturer, the Group has always succeeded in attracting and retaining top talent despite the stiff competition for qualified staff in the industry. However, the skills required and the availability of suitable candidates are changing, especially due to digitalisation and social and demographic change. Vetropack has therefore reviewed its talent recruitment strategy and introduced a new application system at Group level. All new vacancies will be listed transparently in this system and advertised automatically and in a standardised manner on Vetropack’s revised career site. The company also began to work more closely with LinkedIn. In addition, Vetropack established the position of Group Talent Acquisition Leader. This new role facilitates a coordinated approach to key hires.

Vetropack also implemented a revised talent and organisation review programme (TOR) with the aim of identifying, retaining and developing internal talent. It is also intended to ensure that all key positions within the Group have a robust succession plan. This will help the company to anticipate potential organisational challenges and offer its employees reasonable professional development opportunities.

Over the next few years, Vetropack will measure the success of the approach for attracting and retaining talent using key performance indicators (KPIs) such as staff turnover, the talent retention rate and the percentage of management positions filled internally. Internal promotion rates will also be tracked from 2021.

Employee engagement

Vetropack focuses on continuous exchange with its employees. This was all the more important in a year dominated by considerable uncertainty due to the global pandemic. In 2020, Vetropack carried on building on the findings relating to engagement obtained in a Group-wide survey conducted in 2019. At all locations, the company organised engagement workshops to explain the results of the survey and have an open discussion about strengths, weaknesses and possible ways to improve. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Vetropack was able to hold workshops involving employees from all levels and functions. From this direct feedback, Vetropack gained findings that will help it to implement additional measures to strengthen trust and individual responsibility throughout the Group.

Following the survey on engagement, a culture survey was conducted at Vetropack’s headquarters in Bülach. The questionnaire touched on various aspects of workplace culture in the company. The outcome was that Vetropack was successfully certified as a “Great Place to Work” in 2020. This achievement shows that Vetropack is an attractive employer where employees can grow. Vetropack employees are proud of what they do and feel part of the Vetropack family. Vetropack has set itself the goal of obtaining the same certification at all sites in future. Going forward, it will track the “Trust Index” of “Great Place to Work” as one of the three main employee-related KPIs.

Vetropack also launched “Beekeeper”, a digital workplace app where operational systems and communication channels run on a secure, intuitive platform. This tool facilitates internal communication and collaboration and will be key to the “employer of choice” strategy. The app also promotes the direct exchange of expertise between different production sites. An integrated translation tool enables discussion even if the two employees participating do not speak the same language. Vetropack also expects the app to improve the sharing of feedback from the bottom up.

Learning organisation

The glass packaging sector is fast-moving and talent is scarce, which is why highly qualified employees and their continuous development are crucial to boosting Vetropack’s competitiveness. The Corporate Human Resources department creates the framework conditions for a learning organisation and enshrines a continuous learning mentality in the company.

Vetropack pursues an integrated learning approach comprising classroom events, virtual training and onboarding programmes, offering a comprehensive learning infrastructure that promotes the development of hard and soft skills. The company’s own training centre in Pöchlarn, Austria, ensures that valuable expertise is passed on to the next generation of glass makers. The centre focuses on the hard skills in glass production processes, while the newly developed “Vetrocademy”, a professional development platform, concentrates on fostering soft skills and aims to improve strategic expertise. The first “Vetrocademy” module is starting in 2021 and includes a comprehensive management curriculum covering all aspects of professional management. All 400 managers within Vetropack Group will complete the programme, which will take between 18 and 24 months depending on their function and level. In the future, Vetropack plans to develop further modules for key areas and functions and is currently evaluating potential topics to focus on.

As part of the “employer of choice” strategy, new KPIs are being monitored, such as training costs per employee and the ratio of technical and compliance to soft skill training courses.

Occupational health and safety

As a responsible employer, the safety and health of employees is a major concern for the company. Vetropack therefore follows a “Safety first” philosophy. Safety matters are discussed across all plants to continuously improve occupational safety. All employees receive occupational safety training annually.

Apart from the two sites in Austria – Pöchlarn and Kremsmünster – the production plants do not yet have a certified management system for occupational health and safety. Vetropack is, however, aiming to have all the remaining production sites certified in accordance with ISO 45001 by 2022. A number of glassworks already implement similar local standards. With the certifications planned for 2022 in mind, “safety minutes” were introduced at all levels in the reporting year, amongst other initiatives. “Safety minutes” are short, regular safety training sessions. They generally last for less than ten minutes and take place at the beginning of a shift or at the start or end of a meeting, for example. There is no prescribed format for these short sessions. They may include refresher exercises on current safety protocols, brief video presentations, question and answer sessions or discussions of specific case studies, which are all intended to raise awareness of occupational health and safety.

Vetropack also aims to strengthen its position as an attractive employer through the proactive and preventive promotion of occupational safety and employees’ health. Other positive effects including boosting productivity and satisfaction at work and reducing absences.

Key indicators occupational health and safety