To us, the well-being of our employees is a matter of pride. That is why we invest in safety, equality, good leadership and personal possibilities for development.

Responsibility for employees is based on our values

Our HR practices and principles are based on our values – work, integrity and humanity – and they form the foundation of our responsibility for employees. Our common practices guide our operations with regard to recruitment, orientation, leadership, personnel development and remuneration, among other things. Berner Group’s Code of Conduct reflects our values. The Code of Conduct guides all of our day-to-day operations in every country we do business in.

Occupational safety and well-being at work

Looking after the safety and well-being of our personnel is of primary importance to us. Berner offers comprehensive occupational health services to all of its employees in Finland.We also provide our employees with sport and cultural benefits and commuting benefits via the ePassi platform.

Significant steps were taken at our Heinävesi production facilities to improve occupational safety. All of our production facility personnel completed the occupational safety card training in the autumn of 2022. The production facilities have also begun process review and development in accordance with the Lean Six Sigma principles.

Target 2020 – 2021	Results in 2022
Zero accidents and occupational illnesses.	4 commuting accidents and 11 occupational accidents. Of the occupational accidents, 7 led to a brief sickness-related absence (Berner Ltd). No accidents were recorded in the other companies.
The sickness absence rate stays under 3%. In production and logistics, the sickness absence rate is at most 5.5% Reduction in absences related to musculoskeletal symptoms.	All 2.04%, production 7.01%, logistics 3.31%. Absences related to musculoskeletal symptoms decreased significantly compared to 2021 (Berner Ltd). The sickness rates for the other companies are reported on page 41 in our sustainability report.
No new cases of occupational diseases or work-related illnesses.	There were no occupational diseases or work-related illnesses in 2022 (all companies).
An average score of more than 3.5 in all areas of the occupational well-being survey.	The average score of the employee survey to assess the atmosphere and well-being of the workplace community was 3.9 (1–5) (Berner Ltd). In Sweden, the result of the occupational well-being survey was 3.49 (1–4).

 

Equality and diversity

Equality and non-discrimination as well as the effectiveness and performance of the workplace community are key objectives for Berner’s human resources management. Berner respects and values all employees regardless of their gender, beliefs, age, sexual orientation and health.

We expect everyone at Berner to be supervisors, colleagues and subordinates who act in accordance with our values. We have a zero-tolerance policy with regard to inappropriate conduct and harassment.

Target 2020 – 2022	Results in 2022
Men and women receive the same pay for the same job categories.	Every year, we conduct a business unit-specific pay equality survey reviewed with the head of the unit at the beginning of the year. If the report reveals an unexplained pay gap, it will be addressed. The pay reviews for the early 2023 are still pending (Berner Ltd).
No incidents of discrimination.	No harassment or discrimination cases in any of the companies.

 

Competence development

We want to ensure the competence development of our personnel.  Every Berner employee has the right and the obligation to participate in an annual development discussion. We aim to further strengthen our development discussion process and its documentation as well as make more systematic use of career and development plans in
competence management. Our remuneration practices are based on the targets set for work.

Target 2020 – 2022	Results in  20222
HR plans have been prepared for each business area, including a concrete plan for competence development.	HR plans were created for each business unit in 2022 (Berner Ltd).
100% of our employees are covered by annual performance reviews and development discussions.	According to the data stored in the HR system, 85.8% of our permanent employees had a performance review in 2022 (Berner Ltd). The figures for the other companies are reported on page 41 in the sustainability report.

 

Leadership development

Good leadership at Berner refers to operating in accordance with our values and allocating human resources appropriately to support the achievement of business objectives. We take the diversity of people and tasks into account in our management and we want to be a work community that appreciates the strengths that enable diversity.

We support the success and development of our managerial work through supervisor training and by conducting regular 360-degree leadership appraisals.

Target 2020 – 2022	Results in 2022
The leadership index will be at least equal to the Finnish supervisor index average (78.2) and the Executive Board’s leadership index score will be at least 75.	No results for 2022. The next 360 measurement of management and managerial work will be carried out in 2023 (Berner Ltd).
All new supervisors have been provided with the necessary skills for managerial work.	In 2022, all new supervisors participated in orientation training for new supervisors online or in person (Berner Ltd).
Employee turnover is not attributable to the quality of supervisory work.	One exit interview held in 2021 indicated that the quality of supervisory work was a factor in the departing employee’s decision to leave the company (Berner Ltd).