Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

For Zühlke, diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) means that all our people, regardless of gender, age, religion, ethnicity, social and cognitive background, physical ability, and sexual orientation, receive equitable treatment and opportunities, feel valued as individuals, and are celebrated for their performance, contribution, and impact.

We believe that a highly diverse and cognitively varied workforce, together with an inclusive culture, enables us to realise our full potential. It allows us to attract, develop, and retain the best talent. It also underpins our company values of integrity, courage, performance, and customer success. This is a strategic priority and an undisputed condition for our long-term success. That's why we're committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can be at their best and feel they belong.

As such, we have committed to the UN Global Compact Forward Faster Initiative. As a part of this initiative, we have committed to equal pay for work of equal value by 2030.

Fabrizio Ferrandina
' Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in our unique culture and our ability to innovate. Different perspectives are the key to moving forward. '
Fabrizio Ferrandina
CEO Zühlke Group
More about our commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion
Download the Zühlke DE&I Policy

  • DE&I positioning

    We promote a culture and an environment in which people are valued for their performance and contribution. We give equal opportunity to excel at Zühlke irrespective of their diverse background. For us diversity is a business driver that increases our performance and therefore we consider advancing our diversity and inclusion agenda a strategic priority.

  • Diverse workforce for a challenging world

    We know that in a service business only people will make the difference. We want to attract and retain the best people. Best for us means the ones that share our values and aspirations and are ready to go above and beyond for the success of our clients. People must feel psychologically safe and speak up when they feel they want to and need to. We cultivate discourse and value different opinions. We expect our employees to contribute, to take different perspectives and to question what is already in place. The different backgrounds and orientations must never influence who we hire, develop and promote.

    We must increase our awareness on unconscious biases and focus uncompromisingly on individual behaviour, contribution, and performance. Mutual support, kindness and cordiality, respect, professional behaviour are non-negotiable. We are tough in the matter, but always humanly convincing.

    We believe in the value of all types of diversity. Our near-term focus is on improving gender, race, and age diversity. This focus does not mean other types of diversity are less important. We strive for all people to feel included.

  • Equal opportunities

    We hire the best person for the job. In doing so, we ensure that we have the best possible diversity in our workforce. In the recruitment process, we consciously look to strengthen ourselves where we are underrepresented. We want to be able to tap into as large a talent pool as possible and not exclude individuals based on gender, age, religion, race, social and cognitive background, physical ability or sexual orientation. The same applies when it comes to promotion and development of our staff. Everybody is invited to apply for an internal opportunity.

  • Leadership

    Our leaders are required to share and support our ambitions and drive the diversity agenda in their areas of responsibility. This means creating an environment where people feel safe and included, encouraged to speak up, different opinions are valued and considered when making decisions and above all, our leaders genuinely must aim to be mindful and overcome biases.

Prerequisites

  • We define annual goals and measures to drive our diversity agenda forward.
  • We are guided by the 70% rule. We do everything so that we can put together mixed teams. It is important to us that we aim to ensure that no group or level has more than 70% of the same gender, nationality, or age group. 
  • It is mandatory that every person involved in the recruitment of new colleagues has completed an interview training that addresses the topic of unconscious bias.
  • The annual salary and promotion process in each location must meet DE&I minimum requirements. These are: Calibration rounds moderated by HR or an independent person, evaluation of DE&I metrics prior to acceptance of final budgets (e.g. average raise per gender, promotion rate per gender, average length of stay per gender at the respective grade).
  • Each Zühlke company prepares an annual diversity report for the attention of the Board of Directors. 
  • Each Zühlke company must conduct an equal pay analysis at least every two years. The results must be included in the diversity report of the corresponding year. If diversity effects are identified, measures must be taken immediately

Our goal - our agenda

Baseline

Measure the diversity in all Zühlke Group Companies

Gender

Increase the number of women in general

DE&I Process

Rework and adjust our process and ensure consistency with our policy (recruiting, development, salary, promotion, vendor/partner selection, staffing, talent management, succession etc.)

Origin

Increase the cultural diversity

Leadership

Our own quota (e.g. at least 30 % women in Excos, GEX, Boards)

Teams/staffing

Represent diversity of clients, ensure mixed teams

Internal projects

Ensure diversity in internal projects

External vendors /ecosystem partners

Request DE&I policy from all vendors and partners