Covestro awarded Top Employer in China for fifth consecutive year

Materials manufacturer Covestro has been certified as a Top Employer in China for the fifth consecutive year by the Top Employers Institute. The company scored particularly high in areas such as well-being, work environment, diversity and inclusion.

“Covestro insists on being people-oriented and aims to enhance employees’ engagement, satisfaction and happiness through all-round care. Being named as Top Employer China for five years in a row is a great recognition of this,” said Covestro China President Holly Lei. “In the face of a complex and uncertain external environment, we will continue to support the sustainable career development of our employees, while increasing the resilience of the organization in times of crisis.”

When Shanghai was locked down due to Covid-19 last year, Covestro demonstrated just how much it cared for its employees by working with the trade union to deliver groceries and daily essentials to staff living across the city. The company also offered livestreaming fitness classes, psychological counselling sessions and exclusive online medical consultations during this period, fostering a greater sense of belonging and happiness among staff. In addition, Covestro facilitated transparent and effective communication between the management and its staff by holding several online townhalls and roundtables, thus paving the way for a smooth resumption of work following the lockdown.

Pandemic-related issues made the onboarding of new staff a challenge. In this regard, Covestro enabled remote onboarding by introducing a comprehensive guide and e-signing solutions for newcomers. The company also enhanced its new employee orientation program by moving traditional classroom training online and allowing newcomers to embark on self-learning. The newly designed offline sessions of the enhanced program allow new employees to better explore the key success factors of the company and experience corporate culture through gamification.

Covestro has embraced diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) in its culture and focused its activities on the following three pillars: colleagues, company and community. Last June, Covestro advanced DEI internally with the DEI APAC Week, during which DEI ambassadors, who are members of the management team, encouraged colleagues to practice DEI in daily work by sharing the company’s best practices and achievements in DEI through keynote speeches. Various employee groups also exchanged their views on this matter during roundtable discussions and book sharing sessions.

“Covestro values the work experience and total well-being of our employees. We believe that the success of a company cannot be achieved without healthy and happy employees. Covestro will continue implementing its people strategy to empower people development and contribute to corporate success,” said Lesley Lin, Head of Human Resources, Greater China, Covestro.

The Top Employers Institute program certifies organizations based on the participation and results of their HR Best Practices Survey, which covers six HR domains consisting of 20 topics, including people strategy, work environment, talent acquisition, learning, diversity, equity and inclusion, and well-being.

Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink said: “Exceptional times bring out the best in people and organizations. And we have witnessed this in our Top Employers Certification Program this year: exceptional performance from the certified Top Employers 2023. These employers have always shown that they care for the development and well-being of their people. By doing so, they collectively enrich the world of work.”