We actively foster diversity in our global workforce, believing it right and fair to enable people of different ages, genders, ethnicities and cultures to work together and realise their potential. This also helps us better reflect the great diversity found among our customers worldwide and build a more sustainable and effective workforce.

Mutual trust between our members at all levels of the business is essential. By openly sharing the direction of the company and changes in the business environment with employees, we build an atmosphere of trust. We encourage open, honest dialogue between management and employees day-to-day and through regular forums and work council groups at local, national and regional levels. Building trust also helps make people feel confident about identifying and responding to any problems, true to our principle of continuous improvement.

Safety is paramount in our operations worldwide. We enforce the highest levels of protection for the personal safety of our members and the communities around our production facilities. We comply with all international and local legislation requirements and enforce our own rigorous standards through formal education and procedures that are constantly monitored, reviewed and updated.

We value continuous improvement – kaizen – as a way of thinking and working. Everyone is encouraged to think about how they can improve the way they do things, both to help the business and their own personal development. This inspires people to solve problems and find better ways of doing things, as individuals and as teams.

We believe it is important that our employees are given the chance to increase their skills and knowledge. We provide training programmes to help them develop their general abilities and specific job skills, from the start of their employment and throughout their career with us. Courses are open to people in every area of our operations and they include training in our business principles and theory as well as vocational subjects. Most learning is through on-the-job development, where employees “learn by doing,” with their managers taking on the role of teachers. We have found it to be the most effective way to develop individual problem-solving skills and strong teamwork.