Colors are passion, emotions and personality. At Siegwerk, inks and coatings are our specialty and we use color to bring the packaging and products of our customers to life.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Sustainability
Our commitment to a diverse workforce and supportive work environment
A satisfied and motivated workforce is a key driver for success, making the creation of a supportive workplace, in which all employees can thrive personally and professionally, an indispensable factor for any organisation. In this regard, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are paramount as they are essential for creating such a respectful and supportive work environment. In other words, DE&I is a critical enabler for the overall health of a company; both from a business perspective - by increasing productivity and enabling success - and from a human perspective, by creating an atmosphere in which employees feel respected and motivated to give their best.
Siegwerk’s understanding of DE&I
As a global company with around 5,000 employees in more than 30 countries worldwide, we trust in the benefits of multi-national and intercultural collaboration. Diverse teams bring together multiple experiences and perspectives, enabling disruptive thinking and the breaking of old patterns, which at the end helps us to stay innovative as company. For us, expertise knows no gender, cultural background, or any other personal orientation. We appreciate the diverse cultural influences, personal backgrounds, and individual knowhow each employee adds to our global family of Siegwerkers – and that’s ultimately what drives us forward.
We believe DE&I is a valuable success factor for creating and maintaining a supportive working environment, in which everyone feels respected and included with the same ability to grow. This, combined with the fair and equal working environment we continue to build allows for all employees to have their voices heard.
What do the different DE&I dimensions mean?
People often just talk about diversity, but this falls too short because all three components – diversity, equity, and inclusion - are required in equal parts if true synergy is to be created.
Diversity
Who is represented in the workplace
Diversity is the presence of differences and similarities within a given setting, such as an organization. The dimensions of workplace diversity include not only gender and gender identity, ethnic origin, and nationality as well as physical and intellectual capabilities but also sexual orientation, religion, age, and social background of people.
Research shows that diverse teams increase individual productivity and creativity. The mix of different experiences, skills and perspectives enables teams with high diversity to jointly develop new approaches to solutions and sustainable innovations. Harvard Business Review for example found that diverse teams can solve problems faster than cognitively similar people. Other scientific studies have shown that companies with more diverse leadership teams not only bring more innovations to market than those with homogeneous leadership teams, but also statistically achieve above-average business success.
So, there is a proven impact of workplace diversity for both employer and employees. For the employer, a diverse workforce can bring new perspectives and ideas, increase productivity, and lead to improved creativity and innovation. For employees, workplace diversity can help to exceed their own expectations, increase career opportunities, and finally lead to an improved job satisfaction.
Equity
How we ensure fairness and equality of opportunity
Equity means to ensure fair treatment and equal access to opportunities, information, and resources for everyone, while striving to identify and eliminate unfair biases, stereotypes or barriers that may inadvertently exclude underrepresented employees. So, it is about providing processes that ensure all workplace procedures are impartial, fair and provide equal opportunity for all employees. Exemplary equity lenses are for example promotions, recruiting and performance management.
Inclusion
How the workforce experiences the workplace
Inclusion describes the achievement of a work environment where all individuals feel respected, accepted, supported, and valued to the degree to which diverse individuals can participate fully in decision-making processes and development opportunities within an organization. In other words, inclusion is a practice of ensuring that employees feel welcomed and connected. Aspects of inclusion range from fair treatment and recognition to respectful interaction and a sense of belonging.
All in all, a diverse and inclusive workplace can lead to higher employee commitment and reduced employee turnover. Because when employees feel valued and included, they are firstly more engaged and secondly more satisfied with their job and therefore stay longer with the company. A win-win for both sides.
Why does DE&I matter?
To summarize
Together, diversity, equity and inclusion offer numerous benefits for the health and productivity of a company as well as the satisfaction and career of its employees. Various studies worldwide have already proven that DE&I can have a measurable impact on the performance of companies and individuals.
Siegwerk’s approach to DE&I
As part of our sustainability agenda, we are committed to diverse, inclusive, and equitable communities both inside and outside of Siegwerk. We recognize that DE&I plays an integral part here and are ready to actively tackle change, put our own structures to the test and adapt the organization accordingly.
We continuously strive for equal opportunities and fair representation, because we are convinced that this will also help us to take better decisions, drive innovation, attract great talent and increase team and business performance. We are striving to make Siegwerk a place with an inclusive culture, where people feel empowered to share their ideas knowing that their opinion is valued.
In this regard, gender diversity is one of our main focuses. As a company in a classically male-dominated industry, increasing the female representation at all levels is a key component for us. Therefore, we have set ourselves the goal of doubling the proportion of women at management level by 2025. We are reviewing and, where necessary, adapting our talent management and recruiting processes while considering hidden bias in the ways we operate. We intend to actively improve our working environment to specifically attract more women to management positions at our headquarters and thereby contribute to break through industry structures.
To learn more about Siegwerk as an employer, our corporate culture, and open vacancies: