Arbonia’s employees are the driving force and at the same time ambassadors and implementers of Arbonia’s goal, namely to supply its focus markets with energy-efficient, high-quality and durable products for buildings to promote energy-efficient new buildings and renovations for a resource-efficient future. The employees show themselves to be committed, determined, and reliable in their everyday work.
As an internationally active company, Arbonia is aware of its responsibility for respecting human rights and avoiding child labour. In all countries in which it is active, it complies with the United Nations' General Declaration on Human Rights, the UN Convention on overcoming discrimination against women, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and additional international humans rights protection standards. In the reporting year, Arbonia also initiated the accession to the UN Global Compact and has committed to supporting the implementation of the ten principles in the sub-areas of human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and fighting corruption. The accession was initiated in 2021 and confirmed in January 2022.
As regional employers, the companies of Arbonia have a central importance: They create and secure jobs, generate income, and pay public levies in the form of taxes. They are thus an important economic factor in the respective regions. Many Arbonia companies have significantly influenced their environment: Because most employees live in the direct vicinity of the operating sites, the companies leave behind a reflection of their respective corporate culture in the regions. The stated goal of the Group is to permanently ensure the attractiveness of its sites, thereby increase employee retention further, and secure valuable know-how and many years of experience. The measures for this are varied and range from strengthening employer branding, to cooperation with schools and colleges, up to regional measures in human resources marketing, for example, through trade fair appearances and sponsorships.
In order to demonstrate innovative strength, social commitment and a positive impression for employee recruitment to the outside world, all companies of Arbonia maintain permanent relationships with their local stakeholders. To remain attractive as an employer, Arbonia relies on long-term capacity expansion: It aims to increase efficiency not only through investments in infrastructure but also through increased digitisation measures and synergy effects within the Group. The increasing automation of routine tasks further increases the quality of the jobs. Arbonia thus provides its employees with modern facilities and offers them attractive, future-oriented workplaces as well as a wide range of development and career opportunities.
The companies of the HVAC Division are basically pursuing the following goals in creating and securing jobs: A consistent use of the regional labour market and a fast identification of potential employees, for example, through internships, is intended to further strengthen workforce at the respective sites in terms of quality and quantity. These goals can be checked quickly and easily: They have been achieved when jobs can be filled, when the employee numbers remain constant and when the site remains competitively attractive.
In the HVAC Division, material availability was maintained even during the pandemic. With the introduction of innovative new products, the number of employees and highly qualified experts will increase further in the coming years.
The companies of the Doors Division are clearly committed to their respective sites and are aware of their great economic and social responsibility in creating and securing jobs. To increase its own attractiveness as an employer, Garant offers various employee incentives, such as easier access to e-bikes or reduced admission to fitness studios and swimming pools. A specific integration management allows employees with health restrictions to return to the workplace. HR development is being further strengthened and expanded with a new approach that is currently in the development phase. Invado, for example, also maintains a close and effective cooperation with the state employment agency, which has a positive effect on the local labour market and has already reduced unemployment in the region. In addition, the company has good experience with a recommendation programme.
Overarching goals of the companies in the Doors Division are to secure and strengthen the respective site through increased employee retention and effectively filling vacant positions. Indicators for checking these goals are the vacancy filling, the competitiveness and the attractiveness of the respective site. Garant measures its success with regular comparisons of relevant KPIs such as fluctuation and illness rate as well as by comparing progress in the establishment of new management systems in the area of human resources. At Invado, the progress is regularly checked in the context of internal and external audits.
At Kermi and Bekon-Koralle it was possible to keep the employment figures constant in the reporting year as well – despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a demanding situation in relation to material availability. The development of workplaces – including connection for mobile working – has progressed further. The number of employees will increase further with the launch of new, innovative products. Measures for managing the COVID-19 crisis included, among others, the introduction of home office in administration and the introduction of performance reviews in the entire company. The strengthening of employer branding turns out to be the greatest challenge: In light of the very tight recruitment market, a clear and distinctive profile is necessary to recruit enough qualified employees in the future as well.