Why we care
The products we sell are only as good as the people behind them. To attract and retain talented and committed staff, we aim to offer an appealing and inspiring workplace culture, promoting health and safety, diversity, employee satisfaction and development, as well as equal opportunity. Employee satisfaction and workforce development are essential for both the wellbeing of individual employees, and for the overall success, growth, and sustainability of our company in today’s competitive business landscape. Global economic and political uncertainty, inflation, and ongoing labor shortages are also significant factors in the shaping of this landscape.
Lindt & Sprüngli takes great pride in employing over 15,500 people (headcount) worldwide and contributing to the livelihoods of their families and communities. We recognize and are committed to respecting the human rights of our employees and contractors, and strive to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is vital to our business because we perform best when workplace safety is everyone’s priority and responsibility. All of our employees and contractors have the right to a safe working environment that is conducive to good mental and physical health. Additionally, we are mindful that any incidence of not maintaining such an environment could have a negative reputational impact on our business, as well as legal consequences, reduced productivity, and financial loss.
Our HR teams focus on elements of our Business Code of Conduct, together with our global company Credo. Both are acknowledged and respected by employees directly engaged by Lindt & Sprüngli. To complement our permanent workforce, we rely on seasonal temporary production and retail workers. They are paid on an hourly basis and make up approximately 15% of our workforce. Our success depends on many other people too, such as contractors, distribution partners, wholesalers, and third-party retailers.
How we care
Our overarching approach to managing employee issues is based on our Global Guiding Principles framework. These Principles outline Lindt & Sprüngli’s purpose, mission, and common values – which are innovation, excellence, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. The responsibility pillar highlights sustainability and our commitment to act with integrity, treat everyone with respect, and care for the environment. The collaboration pillar underscores our goal to support each other throughout the company.
Our Global Employer Value Proposition is managed by our Human Resources teams worldwide. The teams are supported by a number of tools and resources, adapted for local needs. These include a company-wide framework that defines specific expectations and offers a list of “Dos and Don’ts” related to our values, our Business Code of Conduct, and our Lindt & Sprüngli Global Talent Management workbook. One focus of this workbook is the foundation of our work culture of respect, trust, non-discrimination, and fairness. It describes the values, competencies, and behaviors expected from all our employees. Periodic employee surveys and other forms of feedback and engagement are important tools to reflect, manage, and improve our overarching management approach (see Employee satisfaction and development).
We conduct a Global Employee Engagement Survey every three years to get employees’ anonymous feedback. The questions it contains are reviewed and approved by Lindt & Sprüngli Group Management. Any actions and activities applicable to the Group deriving from the results of the survey are decided together with Group Management. At some subsidiaries, additional yearly surveys are conducted to monitor local topics.
Priorities identified in the global surveys, along with other business priorities related to our employees and potential candidates, which are mandatory for the entire Group, are embedded in the Lindt & Sprüngli Global Transformation Program (GTP). This Program underscores the importance of people at Lindt & Sprüngli and focuses on three areas: 1. Purpose Mission Values; 2. Learning and Development; 3. Diversity and Inclusion. The appointment of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) as a new member of Group Management in 2023 also demonstrates the important role that people play in our business strategy.
Our approach to Occupational health and safety (OHS) is guided by our Health and Safety Policy. Our OHS systems enable us to monitor our performance while minimizing safety risks, and the Lindt Performance Way (LPW) efficiency framework is designed to ensure that our OHS policies and standards are applied at our production facilities worldwide (see Occupational health and safety). We adopt a proactive approach to preventing work-related injuries and illnesses in our factories.
The section Occupational health and safety focuses on policies and initiatives mainly pertaining to the people directly employed by Lindt & Sprüngli. To learn more about our efforts regarding safe and fair working conditions for workers along our supply chain, please refer to the Improving livelihoods chapter. We also depend on distribution partners, wholesalers, and third-party retailers to sell our products. However, processes and responsibilities adopted by these sales channels are out of the scope of this report.
Our employment and occupational safety related documents
- Business Code of Conduct
- Health and Safety Policy
- Human Rights Policy
- Speak Up Policy
- Supplier Code of Conduct and Compliance Declaration