Advanced Training

We afford all our employees the opportunity to participate in additional training. Personnel development at WACKER seeks to cultivate employees’ strengths and to target specific groups. We encourage our employees to engage in lifelong learning and to remain open to change – especially since we have to adjust to longer working lives. At least once a year, employees and supervisors discuss development measures during performance reviews. This approach applies to all hierarchy levels.

In 2018, WACKER opened a new training center in Burghausen’s Lindach business park. The center combines the latest technology with a flexible approach to space utilization. This makes it possible, among other things, to adopt a variety of design thinking methods and to broadcast video transmissions during training.

Employees in Germany can select advanced training courses from the wide range on offer under the WACKER training program. We currently offer some 220 seminars and training courses for a very wide range of target groups. Approximately 150 of these seminars promote technical skills development. Topics range from safety and environmental protection, to quality or project management, and on to business administration and IT. We support employees whose work involves international dealings by offering them seminars on language-related and intercultural topics.

Employees have access to a variety of (advanced) training courses at WACKER’s international sites as well. For example, WACKER Greater China calculated that its courses were attended 42,814 times on 5,471 training days in 2018 (2017: courses attended 35,845 times on 6,292 training days). The introduction of digital projects meant that the number of training days and times that courses were attended thus multiplied compared to earlier years. At Wacker Chemical Corporation in the USA, some 1,650 employees participated in around 9,700 training days in 2018 (1,550 employees with 9,500 training days in 2017).

During the reporting period, the Group’s training system was introduced as a job-qualification tool at WACKER’s Shanghai site. WACKER Greater China employees can use this platform, for instance, to obtain training information quickly and easily or consult training documentation.

Training for a Diverse Workforce

Diversity and inclusion play a key role in our learning program. Female employees on all hierarchical levels can take part in programs developed especially for them. The development of women is specifically promoted in the seminars entitled “What helps women get on” and “Emotional intelligence: women, be more courageous!” Different generations working together is another important topic. We want to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by this and are offering, for example, a seminar on the cooperation between baby boomers and Generations X, Y and Z.

In Germany, WACKER invested €8.7 million in personnel development and advanced training in 2018 (2017: €7.9 million).