Shared responsibility

Competent, motivated and happy employees are the backbone of a company. The Uelzena Group is securing its future workforce and supporting its long-standing employees within the business with its sustainable personnel management. Specific measures were taken to increase shared responsibility and communication within the company group.

Fit for the future

There was still a need for skilled employees in the reporting year. In 2023, the total number of employees rose by 13 people to 845. Finding new, skilled employees and retaining them in the long term – that's a challenging task for employers. A strong and authentic employer brand and a positive application process – referred to as the candidate journey – are therefore extremely important. A corporate culture of appreciation and transparent communication provides the basis for this. Effective in-house professional training via the dual vocational training system is therefore particularly important when securing personnel as well as their long-term development through measures that improve skills. The option of leasing a bike through the JobRad scheme created an environmentally friendly mobility concept and employee health benefit which also helps to increase the appeal of Uelzena as an employer. 

Reinforcing a positive attitude

Another forward-thinking project was initiated in the course of constructing the new contract-drying tower. As a high-care area of food manufacturing, the spray drying of infant food ingredients poses new requirements along the entire process chain. The “mindset” project aims to enhance the ownership of every individual with regard to their daily work and improve how mistakes are handled. New concepts have been developed to further raise this awareness for topics such as safety, diligence and vigilance. Another project “Production OC 2025”, which is running at the same time, supports elements of this process.

Wir: Gemeinsam. Transparent. (Transparent together)

An initiative by management to embrace the topics of communication, appreciation and leadership, provided the starting point for an extensive leadership skills project, which actively involves everyone with managerial responsibility. In facilitated workshops, participants developed guidelines with a focus on five core elements: Shared responsibility, appreciation, transparency, reliability and a willingness to embrace change. Various practical seminars were held in 2023 to bring the company closer to these goals and implement the guidelines in practice.

Outlook for 2024

Strategic projects will continue to be progressed in 2024. The mindset project, for which a pilot project has begun, will be rolled out to all the sites. The  Transparent Together project is also being expanded to give every employee the opportunity to take part in workshops. The aim is to promptly incorporate the insights gained into actions. The Group plans to use additional recruiting tools to expand the opportunities to reach applicants and also aims to further develop the employee recommendation management system. 

Sustainability context: Why a sustainable employee strategy is important

The workforce at the Uelzena Group has been constantly growing for many years – the company has recorded an increase in employee numbers of seven percent within in the past three years. In order to continue to grow in the future, the company needs specialist workers. However, in the future, there will be fewer skilled workers throughout Germany, as the number of people available on the labour market has been declining for the last 15 years. Up until 2013, it has decreased by approximately 2 million people. According to calculations by the Federal Institute for Population Research, a further 2 million will be lost by 2030. This demographic change is a challenge for German industries because it intensifies the competition for skilled workers on the labour market.  In addition, there are fewer people willing to do shift work; flexible working time models are instead in demand.  As the Uelzena Group is a company where employees are constantly needed to work in shifts, this is an aspect that makes the search for specialists even more difficult.

Another major challenge is the enormous technological upheaval that is taking place at ever-shorter intervals because of digitalisation and automation. Knowledge is becoming obsolete much faster with new skills being constantly needed resulting in lifelong learning becoming indispensable. The Uelzena Group is ready to face these challenges.

Our management approach: Employees

The ‘employees’ action field comprises the following topics: Employment, occupational safety and health, further education and training, as well as the relationship between employers and employees. The way that the Uelzena Group manages these areas, the objectives it has and how these will be implemented is of interest predominantly for employees, but also for members of the Uelzena Group and local politics.  See also: Stakeholder results.