With employees of 65 different nationalities, Hager Group is a global player dealing with diversity on a daily basis. In 2012, we decided to take this approach even further and
formalised our approach to diversity
“Applied to companies, diversity is the variety of human profiles that may exist within the organization (country of origin, region, neighborhood, patronymic, culture, age, gender, physical appearance, disability, sexual orientation, qualifications, etc. …).”
This definition highlights a reality today: every company is faced with diversity and the
challenges it represents. Hager Group has chosen to encourage diversity by seeing it as an advantage. Since its beginnings, the company, has quickly established itself in different local regions and abroad, seeks to capitalise on this asset.
“Beyond a humanistic approach, we believe that diversity is essential for us to be successful in our various markets. Proper management of diversity at all levels of our organisation and in cooperation with our partner networks is now more than ever a genuine lever to support our business” explains Daniel Hager, CEO, Hager Group.
Our diversity approach is part of our E3 sustainable development initiative as well as our ethics charter. This choice led us to name a diversity manager to identify and drive a strategy based on four main pillars which now guide the Group’s diversity mainstreaming: multicultural lever, gender balance, disability, intergenerational lever.
Hager Group is currently developing and rolling out a series of actions in this line with this
approach, the idea being to make our employees sensitive to diversity and the lever it can be to support our business. To encourage and support the four main pillars, below are some examples of the various actions in progress:
· specific cultural training for better understanding and more efficient working regardless of the origins of the employees. This training has, already helped to educate and train several
managers regarding cultural particularities. These managers have now become internal trainers and will continue to deploy this training within the group. China was chosen for this pilot project because this country is now key for our company – in 2013 it entered our top 5 major markets.
· parking spaces have been created for pregnant women closer to the entrance of the worksite. Initially set up in Obernai in Spring 2013, this initiative will also be rolled out across the Group to make more comfortable for expectant mothers.
· as part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Hager Group will launch a global action for its employees worldwide, thus encouraging a better understanding of disability.
· a “Forum Séniors” was organised in France in 2011-2012, with the assistance of our social partners to assist employees over the age of 45 dynamise the second stage of their career and encourage them to further develop their employability, motivation and involvement; age diversity being essential to the competitiveness and sustainability of the company.
These specific examples are just a few of the many developed by Hager Group today: the
company will set up more than ten concrete actions on the theme of diversity by late 2014.
For more information about diversity at Hager Group, visit: http://www.hagergroup.net/sustainability/ethics/our-diversity/12223.htm
