Employees

In order to meet its economic and strategic corporate objec-tives, the H&R Group needs qualified employees for both its production sites and refining locations. The orientation of these goals is as clear as they are simple: We want to fill all open positions in a way that the profile requirements of the position and the skills profile of the employee fit together as best as possible. Human resources work therefore focuses on employee recruitment and retention. We use a differentiated approach to recruit employees. Open positions in the com-pany are advertised internally in collaboration with the em-ployee bodies. In business and administrative departments, we utilize online platforms and job fairs. For vacant executive positions, professional human resources consultants assist us with the search and selection.
When making our final decision in interviews, we take a com-prehensive look at the skills of the applicants and consider subject knowledge as well as social skills.
One of the main areas we focus on is recruiting young employ-ees as apprentices training to become chemical technicians or laboratory technicians. With regard to this, at the start of 2022 the H&R Group began to test innovative approaches, such as the Instagram account initiated by our current train-ees at the two refineries.
For new employees, the supervisor responsible for them cre-ates onboarding plans and qualification matrixes which detail job-specific aspects as well as instructions for site-specific systems such as an introduction to the IM system. Instruc-tion from qualified individuals on topics such as occupational safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency, operating dangers, accident protection, and how to act in the event of an alarm continue to be obligatory for new employees.

Our performance-related remuneration models and flat hierarchies also make us an attractive employer for experienced professionals. At the German sites, most employment con-tracts are subject to the terms of collective bargaining agree-ments. In addition, we offer our employees flexible work-ing hours (part-time arrangements, honor-system working hours), which – to the extent possible, given the processes and operating needs, such as shift work – they also take advantage of. During the pandemic in particular, the Group expanded its options for working remotely, i.e., not on-site or in the office.
The H&R Group operates the improvement suggestion man-agement system “Fit for Future” in Germany. The goal is to utilize the motivation and will of the workforce to make improvements, thus increasing corporate success and contrib-uting to job satisfaction. The task of all senior executives is to take suggestions from employees seriously and support these once they have been evaluated.

As we can only compete internationally if we have superbly trained employees on board, we consider our spending on advanced training and professional development to be an investment in the future of our Group.
There are currently no Group-wide target figures for the number of trainees. This is due to the structure of German apprenticeships, which combines academic and on-the-job components, unlike in most companies. For the two refinery sites, conversely, target figures were defined for 2021 for the fields of chemical technicians, chemical laboratory assistants, warehouse logistics specialists and office managers and filled as follows:

Protecting the health of our employees is firmly anchored in the Group’s corporate policy. Motivated, qualified and, above all, healthy colleagues at all levels and in all Group companies contribute to the success of the company. This principle is part of our integrated management system. Its components – primarily the safety and risk management system – regulate how we define processes to uphold health and occupational safety within the Group and monitor their effectiveness.
The major legal regulations that govern the actions of our German Group companies as binding guidelines include the requirements of ISO 45001 on occupational health and safety, the law on company physicians, safety engineers and other specialists for occupational safety – the German Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) for short – and the German Social Accident Insurance Regulation 2 (DGUV V2). The organization of ap-pointed officers ensures adherence to these and monitoring of the relevant processes, training on this matter and report-ing to the executive level responsible.
Throughout the Group, the implementation of the corporate policy is carried out through observance and implementation of local laws and regulations.

In general, we act under the principle that all errors, be they accidents, damage to property or injuries, are preventable. Our goal is therefore a zero-accident approach. Events that occur nevertheless which are relevant for the health or oc-cupational safety of our employees as recorded Group-wide according to the standardized criteria of indicators LWIF (lost workday injury frequency – number of work accidents with at least one day lost for every one million working hours) and LWIS (lost workday injury severity – number of days lost per work accident). These are then reported to Group management.

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