ALTANA also cooperates with universities in efforts to recruit
young talent. Participation in the so-called Deutschlandstipendium
– Talent meets sponsorship program initiated
by
the federal German government is part of this commitment.
With it, every year ALTANA funds 20 students majoring
in natural sciences, business, or IT. Apart from financial
support,
they are given the opportunity to do internships at
ALTANA
or to complete their degree thesis at one of the
Group’s sites. Seminars and workshops round off the wide-ranging
mentoring program for the scholarship holders.
At a meeting that takes place annually at the Group headquarters
in March, they have the opportunity to meet and
exchange ideas with one another and with mentors about
projects and application areas.
ALTANA also continues to cooperate with Niederrhein
and Rhein-Waal Universities, which are located near the
Group’s headquarters. In 2016, the Group agreed to cooperate
even more closely with both of them on IT courses
of study.
Cooperation Supports Integration of
Severely
Handicapped Employees
At its Vétroz site in Switzerland, ECKART gained a local workshop
for the disabled as a supplier. Based on the pigment
manufacturer’s specifications, the employees there manufacture
some 4,000 pallets a year, which ECKART needs to
safely store and transport its products. Due to special requirements,
mechanical manufacture of pallets is too costly
and complex. So ECKART chose the workshop for the disabled
as a partner, and as a result is contributing to the
integration of handicapped people into the labor market.
Sustainability in Daily Life
Safety, health, and environmental protection are not only
playing an ever more important role in the companies’ management.
Employees are also called upon to get involved
in these issues – for example, in the context of the company
suggestion scheme (CSS). Within the framework of the
campaign “Big Ideas Wanted for Our Small Planet,” employees
around the world sent in some 800 suggestions for
improvement,
of which more than 300 were implemented.
Most of them concerned occupational safety and work
methods, as well as the issue of environmental protection.
Furthermore, so-called sustainability ambassadors
among the employees in Germany, Italy, and China are making
an important contribution to further sharpening
awareness
of environmental protection with their activities.
At the Wesel site, for instance, a campaign was launched
that informs employees about environmentally friendly and
safe printing of documents. At the suggestion of the
ambassadors, moreover, the company identified suppliers
for ecological office materials whose products can now
be ordered by staff in Germany.
92 Human Resources