Basic training to raise sustainability awareness
Interactive SharePoint as a sustainability knowledge platform
In order to further promote awareness of sustainability among our employees, the uvex group has launched a new, interactive knowledge platform on SharePoint. This Sustainability Information Centre can be accessed by all employees and serves as the central point of contact for all queries related to the topic of sustainability.
The SharePoint covers a vast array of group-wide sustainability topics, including:
· The uvex sustainability strategy
· Important documents and certifications
· Profiles of sustainability officers in the company
· A comprehensive glossary and FAQ section
Our aim is to impart sustainability knowledge from the basics all the way through to more specialist knowledge. The platform grants access to department-specific working documents as well as the current sustainability report, ensuring that employees have the information they need at their fingertips at all times.
We encourage our employees to make active use of the Sustainability Information Centre in order to find out about group-wide sustainability initiatives and to continuously expand their knowledge. Through this platform, we create transparency and promote a commitment to a sustainable future on the part of our employees.
Workplace health management
Health management at the uvex group, also known as uvex health, encompasses a broad range of programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting health. These are based on the following five pillars:
- Workplace Health Promotion
- Personnel management
- Occupational health and safety
- Company integration management
- Social services
The uvex group's Health steering committee is establishing a systematic health management structure to ensure that the workplace and organisation are geared towards sustainably promoting the health and wellbeing of employees. Based on the five pillars outlined above, the following aspects were offered and implemented in FY 2023/24.
Fürth office run
In total, 100 uvex group employees took part in the Fürth office run 2023. We therefore once again took the gold medal for most participants from a single company. Starting and finishing at the open-air swimming pool located on Scherbsgraben, the runners and Nordic walkers successfully completed the course of just under 6 kilometres that tracked the meadows along the Rednitz and Pegnitz rivers.
stg employee counselling
In partnership with stg, the uvex group offers all employees as well as their families in Germany free, professional and anonymous employee counselling. When an employee is facing challenges in their personal life, immediate help can be provided by way of telephone counselling. Following this, further professional help can be organised and, if requested, can be continued to support employees until the situation has been resolved/improved.
Issues for which stg counselling can provide support are listed below:
- Stress, fatigue, burnout
- Conflict with colleagues, managers and other employees
- Addiction (e.g. alcohol, drugs, betting, working)
- Physical and mental illness
- Work-life balance issues
- Relationship crises, separation, divorce
- Dealing with conflict/illness in the family
- Support and care for relatives and (potential) debt issues
- Personal crises (bereavement, death)
Actions related to workplace health promotion
In FY 2023/24, there were again numerous opportunities in relation to workplace health promotion. Below is a selected overview of the offering in this area:
- Monthly health tips
- Bicycle leasing
- Discounted memberships at all FitX, McFIT, GOLD’S GYM, JOHN REED, High5 and John & Jane’s fitness studios
- Online seminars from our health partners, the ias Group
- ias health portfal
- Company sports groups
- Flu jabs
- Covid vaccines + flu jabs
Collaboration Experts
Communities such as the collaboration experts, first launched in FY 2016/17, offer knowledge exchange across different departments and locations. They are internally trained disseminators of digital working methods and tools, who form the interface between IT and business, generating ideas and feedback for digital working and the modern world of work. At present, the community has a total of 111 members. During FY 2023/24, a further 16 colleagues qualified as Collaboration Experts and joined the community. The Collaboration Experts are represented at all German-speaking uvex sites. In FY 2023/24, we were particularly pleased to be able to invite the entire community to attend an in-person meeting for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Collaboration Day on 9 November 2023 included a range of workshops, which provided the community with ample time and opportunities to discuss current topics relating to digital working methods and to engage in personal exchanges. The Collaboration Day itself and the fortnightly online meetings have equipped the Collaboration Experts with a wealth of insights, and they are able to apply these within their respective departments. In this way, they are actively helping to shape the future of collaboration at the uvex group.
Personnel development
With our personnel development measures, we support and challenge our employees specifically according to their individual needs - professionally, systematically and personally. With this, we are not only widening the spectrum of core competencies within our business, contributing to its success as a result, but we are also enabling our employees to keep up with and proactively advance developments in their professional areas.
During FY 2023/24, employees were also able to independently book external further training measures again in just a matter of clicks via the Employee Self Service Semigator. Moreover, there are several centralised, internal further training options for employees to take advantage of. These include the ProjectManagement@uvex training courses, in which the participants are taught the fundamentals of project management in addition to internal uvex project management frameworks. More than 100 employees have already taken part in these courses. Another new format launched in FY 2023/24 are the team leader training courses, in which more than 60 team leaders are taking part.
The uvex group as a vocational trainer
With a total of 17 different vocational training programmes and four dual study courses, the uvex group offers a varied and educational experience for our apprentices as they experience work in a wide variety of departments, thoroughly equipping them for working life. Our approach aims to facilitate a successful career start once our apprentices have completed their training. In the past financial year, all trainees successfully completed their training and those that wanted to stay with uvex were subsequently taken on.
Family
The uvex group ensures that working life at the company reflects our protecting people philosophy by offering various family-friendly initiatives and measures. Across all locations, there is an opportunity to hold personal discussions to gain further information on topics such as caring for relatives and parental leave. Moreover, we like to offer our employees across Germany a gift to mark the birth of their child in addition to a little something to occupy the kids on the Day of Prayer and Repentance. With the schools closed in Bavaria on this day, employees are free to bring their children into the office, where a fun bag full of arts and crafts is provided to keep them entertained while their parents are working. We also put on a wide range of events, where we offer our employees information on family-related topics. A regular, monthly family tip provides employees with great ideas for leisure activities suitable for the whole family. At our Fürth site, we have partnered with an AWO Fürth childcare centre, which also offers its services during the Easter and summer holidays.
uvex thinktank: our ideas management
In 2022, we launched the uvex thinktank to promote innovation within our business group. We are delighted that so many employees have got involved with this initiative. After all, they are the most important source of ideas and contribute to improving processes across the group. Of course, the company benefits from this, as do our customers and all employees.
The uvex thinktank has been rolled out internationally and offers numerous tools to support the process of generating ideas. These include video tutorials, step-by-step explanations of the idea management software and a comprehensive FAQ section. In addition, our employees have access to idea coaches who offer methodical support for their ideas.
Through these measures, we are creating a culture of openness and creativity that enables us to continuously grow and develop. The uvex thinktank is an important step on our journey towards a sustainable and innovative future.
uvex thinktank in numbers
