Employees
Apart from the qualification and performance of the employees, the economic success of the CEWE COLOR Group is also decisively dependent on the motivation and commitment of everyone involved. In order for these significant key factors to fully take effect, CEWE COLOR offers a wide range of development potentials for its employees and shoulders responsibility. This responsibility begins with the training period and extends over the entire career with further training and staff development programmes. In the daily work process CEWE COLOR also ensures a high degree of job security and promotes health protection.
The employees of CEWE COLOR
In the year 2009 the share of female employees in Germany came up to around 53 % (last year: 51 %), the average age of the employees was 40.3 years (2008: 43.3). The low rate of fluctuation – only 11 % in 2009 – reflects the high employee satisfaction (last year: 12 %). Every fifth employee has been working at CEWE COLOR for more than 20 years, the average period of employment was eleven years in 2009 (last year: 13 years).
Training ratio continues to be high
Both the Board of Management and the entire executive level of the CEWE COLOR Group take particular pride in enabling young people a start into professional life full of prospects by a qualified vocational training. CEWE COLOR has been educating beyond its own requirements for many years, in order to facilitate the start into professional life for as many young women and men as possible, and to equip them for their future profession with a sound vocational education. Despite the economic crisis CEWE COLOR ranked among the largest employers and trainers in the photographic industry in the past year as well. In the year under review the number of apprentices in Germany with 76 training places in eight different professions even rose in comparison to the preceding year (88). This corresponds to a training ratio of 5 % of all employees in Germany.
The range of occupations requiring training is large – starting from various commercial professions such as male / female industrial clerk to warehouse logistics specialist, photographic media laboratory technician, photo laboratory technician or photographer, as well as industrial engineer, bookbinder and IT specialist up to the dual university programmes Business Administration and IT Specialist. The apprentices have particularly good chances of being hired by the company after having completed their training in technical occupations such as IT specialist and bookbinder.
The examination results of the apprentices reflect the good quality of vocational training at CEWE COLOR. Year after year the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) honours the CEWE apprentices for their excellent performances. As a new project CEWE COLOR provides its apprentices with the regional daily Oldenburger Tageszeitung NWZ in order to improve their general knowledge. A supplementary online quiz carried out by the NWZ tests the contents of the material read.
In addition, CEWE COLOR offers numerous trainees – including trainees from other European countries – the opportunity to become acquainted with the company and the different occupational tasks, in order to make the right choice for their own profession.
Targeted selection of employees
In the selection of executives CEWE COLOR attaches particular value to leadership skills and team spirit. “Performance-based leadership skills in efficient structures” is one of the cornerstones of corporate strategy. The company stands for performance, change and innovation at all levels. According to this strategy CEWE COLOR is concentrating on the following main elements within the scope of human resources management:
- Group-wide identification of talents and promotion and development of leadership skills in our company,
- Accompanying advice in the implementation of the process-oriented and organisational change generated by the reorganisation of the markets,
- Permanent qualification and further development of all employees. The employees will be trained according to the existing demands of the respective areas.
The main elements lie in conveying of competencies in the areas of digital processing of image date, marketing as well as IT and printing.
Continuous further education
Within the scope of the continuous qualification programme CEWE COLOR offers its employees and executives numerous in-house and external education and training options.
In the starting phase of their activities, newly hired executives are given the opportunity to familiarise themselves intensively with both the corporate structures and the range of products, and to become acquainted with the production process. This will be rounded off by an event headed by the Board of Management, during which the corporate strategy is explained to the executives, the participants introduce themselves and present their current tasks.
Apart from the required ongoing further-training seminars, management seminars are conducted. Individual coaching is also a part of human resources development. Within the scope of the project CEWE Wissen (CEWE knowhow) CEWE COLOR i. a. offers in-house and external language and EDP courses free of charge for all employees.
Cost-efficient and sustainable development of employees and processes is achieved by regular in-house and external reviews in all segments, mainly carried out by own staff, and knowledge is transferred within the group.
Close cooperation with the universities and universities of applied sciences in the proximity to the respective production sites, particularly in the north-west, ensures a high level of the different disciplines such as, for example, IT or marketing. In Oldenburg CEWE COLOR cooperates with the university in the newly established course of study for innovation management.
Diversity and equal opportunity
No discrimination of any kind, positive or negative, is practiced at CEWE COLOR. This concerns both gender and other possible factors of discrimination such as colour of skin, nationality, age or religion. The company guarantees equal opportunities for all.
Health management and industrial safety
Safety and health are of high priority Regular inspections of the workplaces secure a high standard at the workplaces. Industrial safety plays a central role particularly in production and is secured by regular medical care. As in the previous years, CEWE COLOR carried out risk analyses, rescue trainings and flu immunisations.
The group is distinguished by a persistently low sick leave of 3.6 %.
CEWE COLOR supports leisure time sports. A special offer is the cooperation with a regional fitness studio association offering attractive membership rates to CEWE COLOR employees.
Moreover, a CEWE Health Day was held at the largest production site in Oldenburg with sundry offers regarding the topics of health, sports and fitness, in February 2009. The response of the employees was very positive and it is planned to repeat the event in March 2010. A CEWE Health Day with various activities offers many inducements regarding leisure time, sports, nutrition and fitness for the employees.
Fringe benefits and employee profit-sharing scheme
The employees of CEWE have the opportunity of making private provisions for retirement by means of an employeefinanced pension plan. The company supports this plan with subsidies as collectively agreed upon. The employees are able to purchase CEWE shares by means of an annual staff share programme, which is supported by a financial contribution on the part of the company; this contribution is exempt from taxes and social security contributions. The staff share programme which was started in 2005 was continued in 2009 as well. The preferential price amounted to 6.66 euros; 411 employees took advantage of this opportunity.
