Employees and Society
We take responsibility for around 9,000 employees at more than 90 sites worldwide.
The basis for a responsible HR policy is formed by Wilo’s global values in combination with internal standards such as the Code of Conduct and the Wilo Labour Relations Policy. Fair treatment, upholding employees’ rights at an international level and assuming social responsibility are key aspects of our HR policy.
The Wilo Group is committed to implementing worldwide standards when it comes to remuneration. This is based on clearly documented job profiles that are formulated uniformly throughout the Group and assessed on the basis of role and skills requirements. The remuneration system comprises fixed and partially variable salary components and additional benefits. For example, the Wilo Group assists its employees in their pension provision and offers pension benefits in line with the specific circumstances and regulations of individual countries.
In the annual salary increase process (SIP), we provide our managers with planning data in order to help them review the salaries of their employees. Market changes, macroeconomic developments, and the employees’ individual performance are taken into account in order to allow fair and performance-based salary adjustment.
The Wilo Group’s bonus system is based on a management by objectives (MBO) process. Targets are defined for various employee groups and combined in specific bonus plans. This incentivises group, team and individual performance in a way that benefits corporate success. The performance management process (PMP) also breaks down the company’s goals to employee level as an aid to goal-oriented employee management. It is a system in line with the company’s strategy that ensures that the results generated in the organisation match the objectives and requirements of the company. This way, the goals of the sustainability strategy are incorporated into formulating targets for the groups responsible.
Diversity
At Wilo, diversity management means appreciating and respecting individual differences within the company. Our goal is to encourage and take advantage of diversity in the company. One of the indicators we measure ourselves against is the share of women in management positions. We are aiming for a share of 20 percent. Naturally, diversity management does not just focus on gender equality within the company, but also includes all personality traits such as origin, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are particularly proud of the many different nations that work productively and effectively together at Wilo. An unbiased corporate culture helps every employee to feel valued and thus to deliver his best performance.
Wilo beyond bias
In 2020, we focused more on a corporate culture free from prejudice and on equal opportunities. “Wilo Beyond Bias” drew attention to automatically generated, subconsciously stored stereotypes that steer human behaviour. Such unconscious prejudices can arise in connection with all dimensions of diversity. “Wilo Beyond Bias” would like to shine a light on subconscious prejudices and top them from affecting our day-to-day activities.
Women in management positions
It is still a challenge in mechanical engineering to recruit female managers and develop them for the corresponding positions. In order to make further progress in achieving our goal, we offer various programmes to support women in their career development. Key measures include the systematic selection and the promotion of women in our global and regional talent pools. Furthermore, we are making our company more attractive with a number of options such as individual working time models, remote working and needs based training. We are thus promoting work-life balance, which is having a positive effect on career development for women.
Employee Development
The environment in which the company is operating is changing faster than ever before. One of the biggest challenges of our age is making sure that not one person gets left behind while these changes are going on. Our goal is to encourage and empower our employees to try out new tasks so that they can help shape the future with initiative, passion and courage. One of the ways in which we measure success is the extent to which we are able to promote internal employees to fill management vacancies. Our goal is a quota of at least 70 percent.
Career and talent promotion
A career at Wilo means that employees can develop both professionally and personally in a global environment. Wilo relies heavily on personal motivation as a career factor in order to actively support individual journeys. Wilo supports equal opportunities for all. For example, flexible working time models allow staff to balance their careers, personal lifestyles and private requirements.
We use a wide variety of measures to proactively prepare our employees for possible management positions. Our diverse digital training opportunities have shown that career and talent development is possible even during the coronavirus crisis. For example, digital development centres and testing methods were utilised. Management training was also offered virtually this year in order to further enhance our management culture. Virtual roundtables discussed the challenges of the current coronavirus pandemic as the “new normal”. This especially focused on sharing information and networking among international management. The global management development programme that promotes professional development and helps to establish strategic skills was also held digitally.
Occupational health and safety
One of the most important goals for Wilo is to create a safe working environment that is conducive to the health of all employees. This goal was entirely and absolutely determined by the coronavirus pandemic in the past year. Protecting the health of our employees was the highest priority, and extensive prevention measures were installed at Wilo sites to minimise the risk of infection.
Protecting health in the COVID-19 crisis
“People’s health is always the very top priority,” wrote Oliver Hermes, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Wilo Group, in a letter to staff in mid-March. Wilo adapted to the challenges of the pandemic very early on, and initiated extensive measures to protect its workforce. A central go-ahead task force coordinates the measures at the sites, issues group-wide specifications and provides support on all issues relating to COVID-19. The task force processed more than 4,000 e-mails from colleagues around the world by the end of the year under report. There has been and still is a wide range of prevention measures. First and foremost are of course the extensive hygiene and distancing rule.
Free face masks and hygiene kits, guidance systems inside buildings, restrictions on the use of meeting rooms and lifts and new occupancy plans for offices and restaurants are just a few examples. Thanks to our excellent IT infrastructure, it was possible for all employees whose work allows it to start working from home immediately.
