ASSMANN in the IHK sustainability network
“Just like everywhere else at ASSMANN, sustainability is a high priority when it comes to Human Resources. This lays the foundation for the company’s high degree of employee loyalty and personnel development,” says Susann Mädler, CSR consultant at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for Osnabrück – Emsland – County of Bentheim. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce connects around 63,000 companies in the region and supports them in implementing sustainable corporate management. ASSMANN has been working closely with this body for years. “Our aim is to create the best possible conditions for a sustainable business location,” explains Susann Mädler. The cooperation with ASSMANN is promising for the IHK: firstly, new training concepts are being developed and implemented in the family-run company, and secondly, ASSMANN acts as a role model within the IHK sustainability network due to its expertise with regard to the three pillars of sustainability. “We are delighted with our collaboration with ASSMANN and with the experience the company brings to our network in areas such as sustainable HR concepts,” says the CSR consultant enthusiastically.
Modern concepts for a pleasant working environment
As part of its sustainable corporate strategy, ASSMANN puts contemporary concepts into practice that meet its employees’ needs and create fair conditions: mobile working and flexible working hours are as much a matter of course in the administrative areas as desk sharing in attractively designed work zones. At the same time, ASSMANN offers individual planning options: with flexitime accounts, all the company’s employees can adjust their working hours in line with their current life plans, regardless of whether they are working towards early retirement or a sabbatical, for example. However, if an employee requires a change due to family circumstances, this doesn’t need to affect their flexitime account. “In the course of their working lives, everyone will be faced with challenges outside of work. At times like these, we want our employees to see us as a partner they can rely on,” explains HR Officer Maren Thiemann. With this in mind, employment contracts at ASSMANN offer scope for temporary adjustments to working hours due to childcare or family care.
Another area of focus is the training and education of specialist staff. “We want to offer our employees opportunities so that they can remain in a career they are passionate about for a long time,” says Maren Thiemann. The high priority assigned to matters such as education and personal development at the company that manufactures modern working environments is reflected in the wide range of opportunities ASSMANN offers to its workforce, most of which can be accessed via the company intranet. There are numerous programmes that enable staff to acquire hard or soft skills, such as training courses for senior executives and IT programmes.
Proximity to employees
Managing Director Dirk Aßmann is committed to maintaining a trusting relationship with his employees. “Respect and appreciation have been part of our philosophy for over 80 years. Lots of our employees have been with us for many years, and that brings us closer together,” he says proudly. Even though staff growth of 11.5 per cent (2019–2023) and an average length of service of 13 years speak for themselves, ASSMANN regularly initiates studies to capture the mood within the company, such as the Great Place to Work® survey in 2023. “The feedback, which is collected anonymously, shows us our strengths and weaknesses and allows us to reflect. We’re pleased that the survey indicates that the general mood among our employees is so positive: 83 per cent of our employees say that ASSMANN provides very good jobs. This figure is 15 percentage points higher than at comparable companies in our industry,” explains Maren Thiemann, who is generally a big fan of these kinds of studies. In ASSMANN’s case, the study confirms the company’s own observations and provides new impetus, for example in production. “It’s no surprise that ASSMANN has a higher proportion of male colleagues in the workforce overall due to the proportion of staff in production, a physically demanding area. However, it is crucial that we react to this,” the HR manager notes. The modernisation of production processes and the increased use of technology, such as in the automated carcass furniture assembly line, have reduced the amount of physical labour required in production. “In addition to the economic benefits, this investment enables other groups of employees to enter this field and keeps our workforce healthy – which in turn boosts employee satisfaction,” reports Maren Thiemann on the survey results. “This feedback also shows us that we are on the right track!”
People – our results in detail
Employee key figures
ASSMANN employed a total of 436 people in 2023, 422 of them in Germany. The largest group of employees works in production. New employees were mainly hired in the commercial area. As in the previous year, the unplanned fluctuation rate was 6.6 per cent. Contract workers were still not employed, but there were 42 fixed-term employment contracts. These are usually concluded in production, extended if performance is satisfactory and ultimately converted into a permanent contract. We are particularly pleased about the increased return and retention rate after parental leave, as it is important to us to offer our employees the best possible work-life balance. Another positive development is the improvement in the proportion of women, which has risen from 22.8 per cent to 23.5 per cent within a year. The average age rose from 41 to 45 in the last year, mainly due to a lower number of under-30s in both the industrial and commercial sectors. This is due to planned departures (after training) and the ageing of existing employees. Furthermore, the age of the applicants does not play a role in the selection process. In addition, the age group of 50 years and older in the commercial sector increased by 4.3 per cent relative to the total number.
Training and education
Of the 436 employees, 16 were trainees in a total of five different professional fields, including industrial clerks (11), mechatronics technicians (2) and IT specialists (3). The number of trainees has fallen almost continuously in recent years, mainly due to a decline in the number of applicants.
ASSMANN attaches great importance to further training and is increasing efforts to promote it. As part of the annual meetings on development and potential, employees’ further training needs are discussed together with their line manager and implemented where possible. Since January 2024, training courses have been accessible via the new intranet.
Occupational health and safety
Our occupational health and safety management is organised in accordance with ISO 45001 requirements. Among other things, there are training courses, an occupational health and safety committee and an Occupational Health and Safety Officer, as well as other safety officers in several areas of the company. Nevertheless, accidents at work cannot be completely avoided in a production plant. There were 17 accidents at work in 2023. This number is identical to the previous year. All accidents were recorded and analysed by the Occupational Health and Safety Officer and, in the case of avoidable accidents, measures were taken to better protect employees. While only four accidents could have been avoided by taking certain precautions, carelessness on the part of employees is a frequent cause of accidents. In order to investigate this cause further, a mental health risk assessment was carried out at the end of 2023 using the Great Place to Work® survey so that the risk of such accidents can be identified and reduced.
Benefits
It is important to us to be an attractive employer for our employees. We want not only to implement modern working environments for our customers, but also to offer our employees modern working conditions. The basis for this is our company pay scale, various pension schemes and ergonomic workplaces. Building on this, we offer flexible solutions for organising working hours and the option of mobile working. The latter will not only save us capacity in the office building, but also emissions by eliminating commuting (almost 100 tonnes of CO2 in 2023). The introduction of a four-day week is also to be given greater focus in 2024. In addition, our employees are compensated for their ideas and commitment by means of bonuses, for example if they submit successful suggestions for improving the company. Other initiatives such as company parties, gym subsidies, bicycle leasing and employee tickets for VfL Osnabrück matches round off the programme.
Supply chain: working conditions and Code of Conduct
Compliance with laws and striving for more sustainable and employee-friendly business practices is just as important to us amongst our suppliers as it is in our own operations. This is why the Code of Conduct, in which suppliers commit to complying with laws and directives such as the ILO core labour standards, was introduced eight years ago. The current compliance rate is 87 per cent. Our goal is a rate of 95 per cent in order to guarantee the sustainable use of resources and people throughout the supply chain. Employees who are responsible for suppliers are trained with regard to compliance with the Code of Conduct and its content.
Our targets for the future
| Area | Target | Unit | Key fig. 2022 | Key fig. 2023 | Target 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training courses | Increase the number of training courses held by 10 per cent | Number of training courses held | 42 | 60 | 66 |
| Internal communication | Improve communication between senior executives and employees and check it using the approval rating of the internal employee survey | Approval percentage | No record | 56 | 62 |
| Code of Conduct | Compliance rate | Per cent | 91 | 87 | 95 |