We value diversity, create equal opportunities and do not tolerate discrimination under any circumstances. Where our staff come from is not relevant, nor is their wider educational background, their age or any special needs that they might have. We respect each person’s unique personality and want to benefit from the different individuals at RAG and their personal experiences, and see every one of them as a driver of growth and innovation. The diverse range of cultural backgrounds and languages spoken by our people have played a significant role in opening up new growth opportunities in international markets and helping to shape them.
The different approaches, values and levels of experience found in often mixed-age teams at the company allow us to overcome various challenges thanks to the divergent insights of the individuals involved. We currently employ people from eleven different nations and four continents. In addition, four of RAG’s employees have certificates of disability. Fully integrated at the company, they are deployed according to their abilities and the opportunities at hand.
We became a signatory to the Diversity Charter in December 2021. Signing the charter is a public, voluntary statement recognising that diversity is a defining characteristic of Europe – both in terms of its history and its society. The charter identifies and underlines the value of the advantages and opportunities brought about by this diversity. Adding our signature to it and making a public undertaking to implement specific measures at our company was among the key objectives laid out in RAG’s 2020/21 Sustainability Report.
This also helps to underline the culture we already live by at our organisation, one that is based on creating an appreciative working environment for all employees – regardless of age, ethnic origin and nationality, gender and gender identity, physical and mental abilities, religion and world view, sexual orientation and social background. Recognising and capturing the potential of diversity creates commercial benefits for our organisation. And we want to use this approach to establish a climate that is characterised by mutual respect and trust.
In 2021, an internal diversity officer was appointed at the company as a central point of contact for stakeholders, ensuring that equal opportunities and anti-discrimination measures are embedded in all recruitment and HR development processes.
In order to strike the best possible balance between work and individual needs, we offer our employees a wide range of options when it comes to organising their working hours. In addition to flexible part-time working models and a compressed four-day working week, they can also take sabbaticals. Besides a month off for fathers, we offer paternity and maternity leave as well as targeted support to help set up part-time parental working options. Thanks to our flexible models, we are in a position to offer the majority of employees highly individualised arrangements and optimal flexibility in terms of working hours and place of work.
We help our older employees to make a flexible and smooth transition into the next phase of their lives through various pre-retirement part-time working schemes. These are just some examples of how we are attempting as an organisation to respond to the individual needs of our employees in the different phases of their lives. Currently, around 8 % of employees have taken up our alternative working time models (beyond the existing part-time working models).
Media brand freundin and rating platform kununu created a joint ranking of the most family-friendly companies in Germany and Austria in 2022. We are very pleased that RAG Austria AG was cited among the top performers of the year in Austria.
Over the years to come, our goal is to continue to build on the company’s, especially for the female target group. To help us achieve this, we plan to apply for the equalitA seal of approval in 2023 and berufundfamilie certification in 2024. In addition to these measures we will be participating in the Vienna Daughters‘ Day for the first time in spring 2024, a scheme under which young women between the ages of 11 and 16 can find out more about technical and scientific professions.
As a responsible employer, promoting and maintaining the health of our employees is particularly important to us (see also ‘Occupational health and safety‘). And as part of this we promote part-time reintegration working models and personalised reintegration programmes for our staff. Our managers not only received training related to the introduction of workplace reintegration; another focus was personal and attentive management of integration and inclusion of the employees affected in the team.
The EAP offers people in challenging personal situations systematic support to help restore their full capacity to work. Our employees and their families all have access to psychotherapists, psychologists, lawyers, mediators, management consultants, qualified life coaches and social counsellors free of charge.
In emergency situations, our employees can turn to the company and expect help. We offer quick and uncomplicated solutions, both in terms of material support (such as emergency loans of up to EUR 10,000) and organisational assistance (e.g. reducing or restructuring working hours, etc.). Through these measures, we provide all employees with a flexible framework that gives them the security which comes with knowing that they are an important and valued member of our organisation.
