Employees

Vetropack's long-term success depends largely on its employees. It is they who make the critical difference between us and our competitors. Given that the shortage of skilled professionals is becoming more acute, human resource management is set to become an even more important factor going forward. This is prompting us to strengthen our employer brand in keeping with our strategic thrust – «Employer of Choice» – both within and outside our own industry. In this context, we view our «learning organisation» culture as a significant advantage. This is a culture that encourages employees to continue developing themselves, their context and environment, and their area of responsibility so as to generate value in multiple ways, both for each individual and for the company as a whole. The cornerstones of this culture are safe and healthy workplaces, fair employment conditions, and mutual respect.

Progress and events in the reporting year

Strengthening our employer brand through communication

We took major steps to ramp up communication of our employer brand in 2022. Vetropack's brand as an employer has gained overall visibility and our presence on social media is looking strong. As the outcome of these efforts, we are receiving higher numbers of applications whenever job advertisements are posted.

Employees as recruiters

In the year under review, we launched a pilot project for an employee recommendation programme in Italy. Our employees there are actively taking on the role of ambassadors for Vetropack as an employer. If applicants are hired and complete their probationary period successfully, the employees who recommended them receive a bonus. The result: recommendations by our employees accounted for over 20 percent of new hires.

Key indicators employees

Disclosures

GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021

2-7 Employees

GRI 401: Employment 2016

401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover

401-2 Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-time employees

We adhere to the provisions of labour law and take account of customary remuneration practices in each country. In general, no significant benefits are provided to full-time employees that are not offered to part-time employees as well.

GRI 402: Labour/Management Relations 2016

402-1 Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes

Vetropack regards transparent communication as a top priority. All regulatory requirements for notification periods were observed in 2022.

Talent management

There is an increasingly competitive landscape for recruiting and retaining talented employees. This makes it essential for Vetropack to identify and develop employees with potential at every level across all areas of activity, and to retain them in our company. To achieve this, we took action by making qualified personnel resources available at Group level, allocating additional financial resources, and updating our processes and tools. We are focusing particular attention on selecting and developing candidates for management positions, because they constitute the foundations of our culture.

Given the worsening shortage of skilled professionals, we decided to elevate talent management to the strategic level in 2020. We put the first measures into practice in 2021. Consequently, this issue was accorded more importance in terms of organisation, and additional resources were allocated to it by creating three strategic Group functions: "Talent Acquisition", "Training and Development", and "Talent Management". A new process was also defined: the Talent and Organisational Review (TOR) programme, which helps to identify ambitious employees who are eager and willing to advance their personal development. The annual TOR process focuses on the company's top three organisational levels and comprises two parts:

• The Talent Review is where we identify employees who have leadership potential or unique expertise to support the company's strategy. To accelerate the development of our future leaders and equip them better going forward, we have developed a framework programme that offers all participants the opportunity to advance their own careers by providing them with the tools, support and encouragement they need to do so.
• The Organisational Review involves assessing whether our organisation is also sustainable in the long term. We evaluate the organisational structure and review our succession plans. In addition, we proactively seek to identify future needs and what they mean from an organisational perspective. One element of this process is continuous assessment of mission-critical positions within the Group, taking account of HR talent data trends: this provides the basis for the Group to align its strategy and launch initiatives.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) play a critical part in our professional talent management. Examples include talent retention rates, training costs, the percentage of internally filled management positions, and the internal promotion rate: targeted assessment of these indicators is now being implemented.

«SAP SuccessFactors» has been in place since 2021 to provide system-based support for our professional talent management processes. The HR Department has been using this platform for the last two years to manage employee data and recruitment. The «Performance and Goals» and «Succession and Development» modules are now in the implementation phase and will go into productive use for the first time in 2023.

By gradually digitising our processes, progressively reducing paper and bureaucracy, and by making information more transparent and accessible to everyone, we are supporting our strategic pillar: «Employer of Choice».

Progress and events in the reporting year

Standardised performance management process introduced

We began to introduce a standardised performance management process in the reporting year. This will provide a more transparent overview of talent development at Vetropack. Implementing the «Performance and Goals» module in SAP SuccessFactors gives managers and employees the ability to set and adjust key goals, appraise performance on a regular basis, and seamlessly create development plans. The objective is to bring more structure, alignment and transparency to the entire performance management process.

Proactive talent acquisition

Our various sites are adopting different strategies in their active efforts to alleviate the shortage of skilled professionals on the market and present Vetropack as the attractive employer that we actually are. In the Czech Republic, for instance, we organised Open Days for prospective future talents during the year under review. In Italy, we collaborated with the Adecco recruitment agency to stage a Recruiting Day for our new plant, under the patronage of the Commune of Boffalora sopra Ticino. The search for talents covered a wide range of job profiles, including specialists in mechanics and mechatronics as well as electrical and electronics engineers. We are stepping up our involvement at various universities and schools elsewhere to raise awareness of our company, culture, and attractive career opportunities.

Disclosures

GRI 404: Training and Education 2016

404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews

We currently have a process in place to conduct performance reviews for all our white-collar workers, who represent around 40 percent of Vetropack’s total workforce. We were not able to determine the exact percentage until now, but integration of the "Performance and Goals" module in SAP SuccessFactors will make this possible from 2023 onwards.

Employee engagement

Employees' engagement is closely related to their wellbeing at the workplace. Knowing this, we place great value on close relationships with our employees – through communication and dialogue as well as satisfaction surveys and actions derived from them. Our employees recognise and appreciate these continuous efforts, as evidenced by a noticeable increase in their motivation.

A transparent and open communication culture is a way of expressing appreciation for our employees, and it plays a key part in making them aware of the overarching objectives. This understanding of a shared goal then boosts the sense of belonging, motivation, satisfaction and integrity. Employees who are involved and motivated impact our company in many positive respects. They help to improve efficiency, profitability and quality of work – aspects that have a positive influence on Vetropack's long-term success. Moreover, motivated employees who understand how their work contributes to overall corporate performance are our company’s best ambassadors to customers, suppliers and potential employees.

Our communication provides crucial support for our employee engagement. It includes internal communication channels and surveys as well as formats of every kind for dialogue and exchange: employee events are just one example.

Employee engagement is a management responsibility

All management functions share responsibility for supporting and motivating our employees. Managers are tasked with strengthening employees' loyalty to the company and with identifying and developing talents. The HR Department is putting the Group-wide «Employer of Choice» strategy into practice.

One key element of this strategy is the «Great Place to Work®» certification. Vetropack sees this award as a cornerstone of our efforts to continue enhancing our workplace quality. For this reason, the «Great Place to Work® Trust Index» is one of our most important KPIs and is included in the scorecard Vetropack has developed for our Strategy 2030. The Bülach site already received this award in 2020, and plans are in place for all Vetropack sites to obtain the same certificate going forward.

Systematic employee satisfaction surveys

Once every three years, we conduct a survey at Group level to determine our employees' satisfaction and get valuable feedback on how we can continuously improve our working culture: the last one was in 2019. We always ask for employees' opinions about our company's strengths and weaknesses. We decided to postpone the employee survey scheduled for 2022 until 2023, due to COVID and the war in Ukraine. The surveys of our organisation for the “Great Place to Work®” certificate have also been deferred for the same reason.

Progress and events in the reporting year

Agility Scouts help to breathe life into our corporate culture

A supportive corporate culture is essential for the successes we aim to achieve with our Strategy 2030. Such a culture is generally entrenched in a company's objectives, roles, values, processes and behaviour patterns. We also aim to continue developing our corporate culture to support our evolution as an Employer of Choice. One example of this is the network of «Agility Scouts» that we set up in summer 2022. It comprises 12 employees from different locations and in different functions who are committed to playing their part in shaping Vetropack's corporate culture. Their understanding of their mission is expressed in these words: «For a working culture as transparent, sustainable and natural as our glass.» Their role is literally to «scout out» new approaches and try out new ideas so as to advance our corporate culture.

During 2022, they contributed practical suggestions for improving everyday meetings (both in-person and virtual). They also focused on making the importance of our employees more visible as an element of our strategy, and they had the chance to present and lead a discussion on this topic with all the company’s top management at our annual Group Conference in December. The Agility Scouts will move on to address other issues such as feedback culture and job rotation, so practical suggestions on these topics can also be expected.

Activities for employees

We put our commitment to our employees into practice in many different ways, as evidenced by the various employee events and activities that were organised at different sites in 2022. Examples include: "Bike to work" at Bülach and the «Open Days» in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As well as fostering a sense of solidarity, these events were aimed at achieving an impact outside the company.

Help for employees in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine is having various short- and long-term consequences for Vetropack, but what has touched and motivated us most of all is the personal predicament of all our employees in Ukraine. To bring some degree of stability to the situation – at least on the financial side – our entire workforce in Ukraine continued to receive their salaries until the end of May in the reporting year. In cases where we are no longer able to guarantee jobs, we continued paying the employees additional monthly salaries beyond the legally required period of three months.

It was also impressive to witness the solidarity shown by our international workforce, who became involved in various initiatives to assist their colleagues in Ukraine. Thanks to these efforts, we were able to provide support for many people who were in urgent need of help due to the war. We have set up a foundation to provide targeted assistance. The company doubled donations received from employees up to the end of September 2022. Through this foundation, we intend to continue providing support for employees affected by the war in Ukraine to the best of our ability. It took us longer than originally expected to clarify the legal details involved, but this was necessary in order to establish the foundation. Insofar as feasible, we aim to co-finance reconstruction after the military confrontations have ended. This endeavour also inspired a movement that has united our employees and lent added strength to our sense of community. Many people felt that it was a great honour to be part of an organisation where all of us take time out to help our colleagues, even though many of us are also experiencing difficult and challenging times at present.

Knowledge management and learning organisation

Our employees, their experience, cooperative working culture, know-how and expertise: these are the essential elements that give Vetropack its competitive edge. Knowing this, we endeavour to create optimal overall conditions for a learning organisation so we can continue to develop and strengthen ourselves from within. To this end, we are embedding a mentality of continuous learning throughout the length and breadth of Vetropack: a mindset that will benefit the company and every single employee.

Know-how is not an abstract concept at Vetropack. We link it directly to every individual employee: with their knowledge about Vetropack and their own areas of expertise, each one represents a unique wheel in the finely-tuned mechanism that keeps our operations running. Seen in this light, our employees’ knowledge is a key element of all our internal processes and procedures. Retaining and developing this know-how within the company is essential for our long-term success. This is why we accord such high priority to creating attractive working conditions and development opportunities for our employees. From this year onwards, investments in employee training will be a strategic KPI.

Vetropack's code of values integrates the continuous learning concept directly into the corporate vision. This shows our awareness of the entrepreneurial dimension of ongoing employee development – but we are equally mindful of its importance for every individual employee: for their employability as well as their personal satisfaction. For all these reasons, the goal of being an "Employer of Choice" should also be understood as a contribution towards achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 4: "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all".

Vetropack Training Centre and Vetrocademy

Our extensive learning infrastructure fosters the development of both hard and soft skills for our managers. When it comes to industry-specific expertise, a key part is played by our company's own Training Centre in Pöchlarn, Austria, where valuable know-how is passed on to the next generation of glassmakers. The focus here is on hard skills in glass production. Our Training Centre is a place where our employees have the opportunity to practice and learn with tools and machines. The manufacturing process can be replicated here, but in a controlled and safe environment.

Our Vetrocademy training platform, on the other hand, is designed to develop strategically important soft skills. The first Vetrocademy programme is aimed at all leaders in Vetropack's HR management organisation. It includes a wide-ranging curriculum embracing strategy, market trends, change management, leadership management and corporate governance. The platform offers modern interactive learning methods to unlock the potential of teams and help them deliver meaningful outcomes not only for their own development but also for Vetropack's sustainable growth. The first pillar of the Vetrocademy was developed in 2020 and launched in 2021.

Performance appraisals as a component of professional leadership

A performance appraisal is a systematic and regular process that measures an employee’s work performance against the established requirements of their job. It offers an excellent opportunity for managers and employees to align their priorities and expectations, and to define how an employee can contribute to the organisation’s overall strategy.

Implementation of the «Performance and Goals» module of SAP SuccessFactors at Vetropack gives us a tool that will make it much easier for employees and managers to keep track of what was discussed and agreed, and when – even in cases that involve remote working or work in a matrix organisation. It does not replace interpersonal communication but instead, helps to guide the process and ensures overall transparency. Although the only official requirement at Vetropack is for an annual review, we strongly encourage managers to talk with their teams as often as possible in order to maintain alignment and focus.

Progress and events in the reporting year

Optimised onboarding programme

More than 400 new employees joined Vetropack last year. To make it easier for them to begin working with us, we developed the basic framework for a global standard onboarding process together with an optimised induction training programme during the reporting year. For this purpose, we have adopted a mixed approach that combines eLearning, in-class instruction and on-the-job training. We created a new eLearning course in 2022: titled «Exploring Vetropack», it explains our history and values, who we are, and what we do in greater detail. The goal is to invest more in eLearning on all informative topics so as to offer more flexible opportunities for new employees to learn about Vetropack when they join us.

Developing the right mindset for exemplary leadership

Back in 2021, Vetropack's management made a start on integrating the "Leadership" pillar into the Vetrocademy. This features a wide-ranging curriculum that includes all areas, aimed at empowering our leaders to achieve success in their roles. Alongside the actual training we provide for leaders, we equip them with perspectives and instruments that will enable them to achieve greater impact as they fulfill their personnel responsibilities. All Vetropack managers took part in this programme during the reporting year. Also in the year under review, all our managers made a start on the in-depth "Mindset" module, which is designed to strengthen readiness for change and boost participants' confidence in their own abilities.

Active participation in training

The «Vetrocademy Leadership Development Program» continued in 2022 with a focus on the topics of «Building high-performing teams» and «The right mindset in times of change». 41 senior leaders from seven countries joined the sessions, and over 95 percent of the participants were satisfied with the training.

Vetropack invested in an extensive range of technical training courses for our production workers, as well as language training and training on subjects such as communication, resilience and presentation. In total, more than 70,000 hours of training were provided throughout the Vetropack Group (excluding the Republic of Moldova) in 2022.

Diversity, equality and inclusion

Vetropack upholds an inclusive corporate culture that offers equal opportunities to all employees and actively curbs discrimination. By taking active steps to maintain a diverse working environment that is free of discrimination, we can positively influence our employees' satisfaction, safety, security and wellbeing. This approach also allows us to help build a fair society where solidarity prevails.

A democratic society thrives on solidarity among its members. This goes far beyond an emotional bond, and is not limited to behaviour at the individual level. It also requires institutions such as companies to foster and implement diversity, equality, inclusion and solidarity in their microcosms. As a company that is part of society, Vetropack is mindful of this responsibility. From an entrepreneurial perspective, too, it is both important and valuable to promote diversity, equality and inclusion. By doing so, we strengthen our culture and help to reduce human conflicts. It is also a proven fact that a diverse workforce is more creative and innovative. This can have a direct impact on our company's success. And – not least – it also enables us to enhance our attractiveness as an employer. In all these ways, a diverse workforce in an environment where equality, inclusion and solidarity prevail plays its part in our company's long-term success.

At Vetropack, we pay particular attention to gender equality as defined in UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: «Gender equality». Equality of opportunities for women also impacts the issues of integration and promotion of diversity – especially as more men than women traditionally work in the glass industry.

Guidelines, policies, supervisory and control instruments

Cornerstones that support social sustainability, focusing on equality and fairness:

• Code of Conduct for the Vetropack Group
• Business Ethics Policy (BEP) for the Vetropack Group
• Supplier Code of Conduct

Progress and events in the reporting year

Initiatives to promote diversity, equality and inclusion

In the reporting year, the HR Department together with the Health and Safety areas initiated a commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.

Board of Directors becomes more diverse

During the reporting year, Diane Nicklas became the first woman ever to be elected to Vetropack’s Board of Directors. Now, with the 2023 Annual General Meeting in view, the Board of Directors has nominated a second woman for election in the person of Raffaella Marzi. She is to succeed Rudolf Fischer, who is retiring.

Integration of Ukrainian refugees

Nearly eight million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe since the outbreak of war in their country. In response to this influx, supporting the integration of the refugees as quickly as possible became Vetropack’s highest priority. Our company immediately assembled a team to coordinate all required support measures for our displaced Ukrainian employees and their families, and we were able to provide them with transportation, food, clothing, and much more. We also welcomed and integrated several employees from our Ukraine plant, together with their families, in the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia and Switzerland, where we provided them with accommodation and offered them new employment contracts.

Training on diversity and inclusion

Vetropack is committed to systematically training its leaders on diversity, equality and inclusion, and we have planned to include these topics in a dedicated module in our Vetrocademy Leadership Program.

Training of this sort on diversity and related topics has already been implemented in Croatia and Italy.

Integrating people with disabilities

We employ a large part of our workforce in production, or in areas closely related to the production process. Some of these jobs involve risks, and they often set high requirements for employees' physical or mental health. This limits the scope for employing people with disabilities in our plants. At our Nemšová plant in Slovakia, however, the high level of attention focused on this issue has now made it possible to employ seven people with various disabilities in the normal work process.

Professional requalification opportunities for disadvantaged people

Based on internally designed programmes, Vetropack Italy offered opportunities for professional retraining and employment to over 40 unemployed individuals, with a particular focus on people in severely disadvantaged categories.

Addiction awareness

Vetropack is committed to raising its employees’ awareness about addiction. In Italy, a dedicated training course was organised to make department heads and teams from Human Resources and Health, Safety and Environment aware of the problems of addiction.

Disclosures

GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016

405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees

405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men

The equal pay analysis carried out in 2021 by external experts in accordance with Swiss legislation proves that Vetropack complies with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, within the limits of the Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA) and the Federal Act on Gender Equality (GEA).

GRI 406: Non-discrimination 2016

406-1 Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken

There were no cases of discrimination in 2022.

Occupational health and safety

"Safety first" is embedded in the Vetropack Group’s DNA – in other words, our employees’ safety takes precedence. This is an axiomatic principle for Vetropack. In addition, there are comprehensive efforts to maintain and promote the physical and mental health of our employees.

Glass production involves high temperatures, high levels of noise and moving machine parts that pose substantial risks for the people who work in the industry. This is why we accord the highest priority to compliance with health and safety protection legislation, and also to promoting our employees’ physical and mental health.

Multi-tiered health and safety management

Our objective is a comprehensively sustainable business model – fully in line with our «Clearly Sustainable» strategic thrust. This also includes fulfilling our duty of care towards our employees. Our goals are to cultivate a safety culture and reduce workplace accidents – two critical factors in sustainable success. We translate these goals into action in our Occupational Safety Policy, which is managed at different levels: the Head of Corporate Development and the Integrated Management System (IMS) is directly responsible for quality, health and safety, sustainability and environmental protection at Group level; the Group Manager for Occupational Safety coordinates activities with the local Safety Managers, who in turn are responsible for these issues at our business units and plants. Team leaders and individual employees are then responsible for putting the defined safety standards into practice. We also have a Health and Safety Working Group in place: at this forum, our Safety Managers and the Group Health and Safety Manager discuss various issues relevant to all our plants, with the aims of developing safety concepts and planning their implementation.

Internal health and safety audits

Various measures are in place to complement the Occupational Safety Policy and our multi-tiered health and safety management structure: for example, all our production employees receive regular safety training and in most locations, near-accidents are recorded for the purpose of prevention. The Health and Safety Working Group also conducts internal audits to monitor the implementation of improvement measures.

Certified health and safety systems

Our goal is to have ISO 45001-certified occupational safety and health management systems in place at all our production facilities. Five sites are already certified (Pöchlarn, Kremsmünster, Kyjov, Nemšová and Hum na Sutli), with certification of Boffalora and St-Prex scheduled in 2023.

Progress and events in the reporting year

Nemšová site recertified

Our Nemšová site in Slovakia successfully completed the ISO 45001 recertification process in the current reporting period.

2022 – Year of Safety

We declared 2022 as our «Year of Safety», and we marked this by launching an ambitious project to improve safety and health protection featuring a new approach that encourages both employees and management to contribute to this key issue. This initiative focuses on improvements in three dimensions of safety: technology (i.e. safer equipment and protective devices), processes, and behaviours. One of the key goals is to raise employee awareness and bring about a far-reaching change in our culture and behaviour – as expressed by the motto: "I am more important than production".

Introduction of «Safety minutes»

In 2022, we introduced «Safety minutes» for production employees: these are briefings that usually take less than ten minutes to present concise and relevant safety information.

The Golden Rules

Another development in the reporting year was the launch of the «Golden Rules of Workplace Safety» at Group level. These are nine non-negotiable safety rules that every employee must follow, together with four safety principles that complement them. Implementation of the Golden Rules is to be ensured by briefings in the form of Safety Days, and regular training. To date, we have held Safety Days at Vetropack’s plants in Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with similar events scheduled across all locations in the near future.

Targeting zero accidents

We have gradually been able to reduce the number of occupational accidents at our sites in recent years. In 2022, we took another step forward by setting a zero-tolerance target for accidents and incidents.

Paying attention to mental health

In order to continuously improve our employees’ mental health – and to prevent burnout in particular – we have introduced controls of overtime working in management functions.

Provision of personnel resources at Group level

To ensure strategic control and coordination of measures related to occupational safety and health issues, we created the function of Group Health and Safety Manager at Group level during the reporting year.

Disclosures

GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety 2018

403-9 Work-related injuries

403-10 Work-related ill health

Key indicators occupational health and safety