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. Comprehensive occupational healthcare includes preventive statutory occupational healthcare as well as medical care.

We also provide our employees with sport and cultural benefits and commuting benefits via the ePassi platform.

Target 2020 – 2021	Results in 2021
Zero accidents and occupational illnesses.	2 commuting accidents and 18 occupational accidents. Of the occupational accidents, 8 led to a brief sickness-related absence. 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.	Berner Oy Finland all 3.19%, production 8.38%, logistics 5.81%. The number of absences related to musculoskeletal symptoms increased. The figures for the other companies are reported on page 50 in our sustainability report.
No new cases of occupational diseases or work-related illnesses.	No occupational diseases or work-related illnesses.
An average score of more than 3.5 in all areas of the occupational well-being survey.	No results for 2021. The next occupational well-being survey will be  conducted in early 2022. In Sweden, the average score of the occupational well-being survey was 3.49 (on a scale of 1–4, 2020: 3,44).

 

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 2021
Men and women receive the same pay for the same job categories.	A wage comparison was conducted in Berner Ltd’s Finnish businesses in late 2021. The wage equality report was reviewed together with unit managers in connection with HR planning for 2022. This helped establish unit-level understanding of the current situation. Certain observations were highlighted for more detailed assessment and monitoring.
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  2021
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 2021 (Berner Ltd, Finland).
100% of our employees are covered by annual performance reviews and development discussions.	Finland 90.8%, Sweden 100%, Estonia 0%, Latvia and Lithuania 100%.

 

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 2021
The leadership index will be at least equal to the Finnish supervisor index average (74.2) and the Executive Board’s leadership index score will be at least 75.	The leadership index for Berner Ltd’s supervisors of Finnish operations was 82.1. The Executive Board’s leadership index was 82.0.
All new supervisors have been provided with the necessary skills for managerial work.	In 2021, all new supervisors participated in orientation training for new supervisors, and we introduced online orientation training for supervisors (Berner Ltd, Finland).
Employee turnover is not attributable to the quality of supervisory work.	The exit interviews held in 2021 did not indicate that the quality of supervisory work was a factor in departing employees’ decisions to leave the company (Berner Ltd, Finland).