June 14, 2024
Quality seals create trust – including on the job market. Partly for sought-after external specialists who choose their jobs very carefully. Such a certificate can make it easier for them to opt for a particular company. And partly for the employees themselves: A company with an award like the “Top Employer Certificate” promotes an attractive working environment and has an interest in constantly improving working conditions.
Creating an “excellent” working environment is a top priority for Fresenius Kabi. In order to attest to this, the company has been evaluated in 18 countries by the Top Employers Institute, a world leader in the certification of HR work and renowned within the industry. The result was published at the beginning of the year: Nine of Fresenius Kabi’s national subsidiaries were named Top Employer 2024: China, the Dominican Republic, India, Austria, the Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and the United States.
The results are based on an external evaluation. The Top Employers Institute sets high standards here, and the approach is considered by experts to be particularly well-grounded, which is why the evaluation process regularly involves a great deal of effort.
Each participating country individually conducts a survey of HR practices, processes, and strategies. This is based on more than 250 questions covering six subject areas. It is worth noting that this is a comprehensive and objective evaluation of implemented HR practices rather than a subjective survey among the workforce about their individual everyday experience at work.
Experts from the Top Employers Institute then evaluate the company by conducting an external audit, during which the information provided in the survey is rigorously checked on the basis of additionally submitted documents, while errors are proactively corrected. Digital audit dates have been scheduled for the audit, with each country given its own date. In the course of these audits, responses are sometimes challenged if they cannot be clearly proven by the company.
If a country manages to achieve at least 60 percent of the total score in the HR Best Practices Survey, it is awarded the Top Employer Certificate. “Certification of nine countries represents a great start to the first year. This shows that our colleagues around the world are highly committed to making Fresenius Kabi a fantastic employer,” said Laura Wessely, Global Head of Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding. “We are already very well positioned when it comes to key criteria. At the same time, the evaluation has afforded us a high degree of transparency in terms of revealing the areas where we can further improve in the future and, above all else, where we can learn from each other,” adds Wessely.
Fresenius Kabi achieved the highest scores in the “Ethics and Integrity” category, which includes the company’s Code of Conduct and confidential reporting channels. The results in the “Business Strategy” and “Organization and Change” categories were also above average. Wessely sees this in the context of Fresenius Kabi’s “Vision 2026” strategy program, which is an integral part of #FutureFresenius: “The results illustrate our ongoing efforts to create an attractive working environment, drive change within the company, and provide excellent services for patients.”
These standards can only be upheld if employees feel comfortable and can play to their strengths, stressed Fresenius Kabi CEO Pierluigi Antonelli in a video statement. “This certification underscores our dedication to fostering an excellent working environment for our colleagues,” said the CEO. “After all, our employees play the biggest part in ensuring we remain successful in the long term.”
The employer quality seal has been awarded since 1991 by the Top Employers Institute, one of the world’s most renowned certification providers for employers. In 2024, the Top Employers Institute certified over 2,300 organizations in 121 countries. Besides having a clear strategy, companies must also have structures and processes in place that optimally support the development of employees before they can be awarded the quality seal.
Author: Brigitte Baas