Future-oriented employer

Competent, productive, and enthusiastic employees form the basis of the Aurubis Group’s commercial success and further development.

We have set the target of creating a work environment for good, close cooperation and promoting involvement and creativity. We form a team that passionately works toward the company’s progress.

All overarching activities related to our employees are managed at Group level by Human Resources (HR), whose management reports directly to the CEO. HR is particularly involved with the HR strategy of the entire Group, as well as the implementation and monitoring of the resulting strategic HR instruments, especially those related to organizational and staff development, compensation and fringe benefits, employer branding, and supporting change processes. The work of the local HR departments is oriented toward the standards of the central HR division and local conditions.

Our HR strategy is derived from the Group strategy and is based on the corporate values. It is developed continuously and takes changes, especially in the labor markets and in society, as well as trends that influence HR work into account. One particular focus is on the lack of qualified workers due to the demographic shift, as well as the search for young employees and apprentices, which is becoming more and more difficult.

To address these challenges, we offer our employees an attractive work environment and pay attention to the balance between work and leisure time. We enable modern and flexible working-time arrangements, as long as this is consistent with the individual work area. We regularly identify our employees’ needs to develop modern and sensible working-time models. We prioritize good cooperation between all stakeholders in the company and offer attractive, gender-neutral compensation in line with the market. Our employees’ social security is regulated by law to a great extent because most of our production sites are located in Europe. At our only production site outside of Europe, Aurubis Buffalo, we assume 85 % of the employees’ health insurance contributions.

Compliance with the internationally recognized core labor standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) is of fundamental importance. We also refer to them in our Group-wide Code of Conduct, which each employee receives with his or her employment contract. Our participation in the UN Global Compact underlines our commitment to the ILO core labour standards.

Strong collaboration between our employees and the company management is the basis for the Group’s success. Close, constructive cooperation with the unions active in the company and the elected works council members is thus an established principle for us. Our employees are informed regularly and promptly about current developments. We are committed to employee participation in decision-making. On the corporate level, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, which also includes employee representatives, work closely together as the highest governing bodies. On the plant level, the interests of the employees are represented by works councils/unions according to country-specific regulations. An elected European Works Council has been in place at Aurubis since 2009 and represents all of the European sites.

In the United States, working conditions are subject to state and national labor laws. Because of the close cooperation between our site in Buffalo and the union active there (United Steelworkers International Union), an exclusively negotiated collective agreement specifies the working conditions.

Diversity in the personnel structure is important to us. We consider diversity to include not only cultural aspects and international representation, but also diversity in terms of specialized skills and age groups, as well as a gender balance. The Code of Conduct and our corporate values serve as the basis for respectful cooperation.

Staff development and feedback are key elements of our leadership culture, which we are constantly working to improve. We concluded our 360° feedback program in 2018. Personal developmental targets and measures were derived from this program and documented in personal action plans in order to sustainably improve managerial performance. The personal plans are monitored in direct dialogue between employees and supervisors.

Key measures of the Sustainability Strategy 2018–2023 and their status in fiscal year 2018/19

• Improving the “health” (OHI¹) of the organization with ­strategically aligned HR instruments and services, as well as ­individual development tools
  The Transformation and Business Improvement department was set up in early 2017. The department’s Business Improvement Guides support internal projects and the implementation of the Aurubis Operating System (AOS) as internal consultants. Starting in fiscal year 2019/20, this department will be divided into the departments AOS and Group Process Management. AOS is a management system designed to improve processes continuously and sustainably. Programs introduced in the last several years, such as a workshop series to develop managers’ skills, continued during the reporting period. Within the scope of AOS, we are introducing so-called qualification matrices in different pilot areas to record required expertise and qualification needs in a structured manner. This will enable us to recognize potential for structural improvement in the training and continuing education of our employees and translate this into defined training programs.
• Regularly identifying employees’ needs with respect to working-time arrangements
  The flextime program was developed further during the reporting period. Furthermore, a new shift model was initiated. A new planning process for personnel placement enables better shift planning. The home office and mobile work options, among other things, were expanded with the intention of improving the balance between work and family life. Overall, our working-time models are becoming progressively more flexible and modern. In the process, we are taking new laws, such as those regarding temporary part-time work in Germany, into account and training our supervisors accordingly. The proportion of part-time workers, including in production, is rising continuously and is supported by Aurubis as an employer.
• Developing a diversity policy
  International teams are already working together as part of the reorganization and AOS. The development of a diversity policy (including age structure, international character, and gender distribution) is planned for the coming years. As the labor market is becoming increasingly international and globalized, we are recruiting employees from all over the world, leading to a broad representation of different nationalities at Aurubis that enriches our everyday work.

¹ The OHI indicates the “health” of a company, e.g., how well a company is equipped to react to changes in the market and thus to achieve economic success sustainably. Key influencing variables include leadership skills, innovation, and willingness to learn, as well as company culture and climate.

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