Corporate Responsibility Report 2012 - Hempel

Our people
An innovative and enthusiastic workforce is essential for our success and the future
existence of our company. That’s why we strive to give our 5,000 employees a great
place to work and continuing opportunities for professional and personal growth.
With 5,000 employees spread across 80 countries, we are present in most parts of the world, and have
employees with a wide range of cultural backgrounds and experiences. We welcome this diversity, because
we believe that innovation comes from people thinking differently. We believe that ensuring equal rights and
promoting diversity will help us to attract the best people and so better serve our customers.
Equal rights for all employees
We are committed to eliminating any form of negative discrimination. This includes discrimination based
on age, disability, gender, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion, political beliefs, family responsibilities and
sexual orientation.
It is our policy to ensure that all decisions on employment and career
development are based on merit and support business goals. This
is achieved through the continuous review of workplace policies,
practices, procedures and behaviours to ensure that they enable all
employees to achieve their full potential.
We have implemented a diversity strategy for hiring into leadership
positions that requires executive search companies to present a
diverse list of external candidates.
Building for the future with the Hempel Academy
The success of our company depends on retaining an innovative and
skilled workforce – and we are committed to helping our employees
build their skills by offering a broad range of courses and development
programmes.
Taking care of our people
J.C. Hempel established
the Employee Foundation
in 1954 to provide financial
support for Hempel
employees or their relatives
who are in special
need of assistance, such
as those suffering due to
long-term illness, natural
disaster or other tragic
circumstances.
A global academy for training and development, with centres in Copenhagen and Shanghai, the Hempel
Academy develops and delivers training programmes for both employees and customers, ranging from
industry-specific paint technology courses to courses in leadership and finance. In 2012, Hempel Academy
conducted training for more than 1,000 people, including 120 customers following industry-specific
technology courses. In addition, close to 3,000 people followed e-learning courses run by the Academy,
with the majority taking the Hempel Code of Conduct course.
In March 2012, we opened a new Learning & Development Centre at our production site in Darwen in
the UK. The Centre hosted more than 3,000 people in its first nine months, including employees, local
school classes and special needs groups. Activities range from one-to-one training with key customers to
networking events for local businesses.
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