In May 2020, following an extensive survey by "Great Place to Work"®, we received an award for our outstanding workplace culture. For our employees, we are more than an employer - and that makes us proud. The circumstances are not perfect, but we're working on them together.
An extensive survey such as the one we carried out with “Great Place to Work”® can produce a lot of results. And so it should. After all, as is the case with most companies, the time we have for internal dialogue is scarce. On the one hand, this is due to the nature of the work that we do, which often takes place off the premises and is divided across various teams. On the other, it is due to the fact that we are a service company. Our focus is on the customer, and we constantly need to remind ourselves that everything begins with us.
This is why we have brought in external help to obtain a clear picture and a barometer of the mood of Habegger as a place to work. The experts from “Great Place to Work”®, carrying out a staff survey, leadership questionnaire and audit, have looked at six factors: mutual trust as the basis of the working culture, values in practice, quality of leadership, the extent to which all employees develop their potential and the resulting innovative strength and added value creation.
In brief: The mood is good. Very good, in fact. This is especially evident in teamwork. We are all pulling in the same direction, supporting each other if something goes wrong, and celebrating successes together. This great human interaction also extends to our customer projects. CEO Jürg Schwarz agrees: “Each individual employee at Habegger contributes to our success through their talent and passion. This is why it’s important to me that people are at the heart of what we do. Only if our employees are satisfied can they communicate their enthusiasm to our customers and inspire them anew every day with our ideas. In this way, we are working together to ensure sustainable development of our workplaces.”
In-house events, such as the monthly “Last Friday” aperitif, the summer party and the Christmas dinner, are popular platforms for people to exchange ideas and also get to know each other better in person.
“Cultivating Wow” is more than a claim. We practise it every day. We’ve already “cultivated” many things successfully, as this survey has shown us. For example: Working independently and delegating responsibility. This is all part of what we do, and is very much valued by the majority of our team members. We rely on trust and we avoid excessive control.
We like coming to work. The survey also showed this, confirming the friendly working environment with stars and glitter. We like to keep things uncomplicated and friendly, which most people like. Also, with us, you can be yourself. Certainly, stress and pressure can lead to tension, and sometimes even mistakes, but all this is part of the innovation process.
Something that is especially important to all of us and which the survey also showed is that around 94% of our team are proud to be able to tell other people that they work for us. This is the greatest asset for us, and in turn fills us with even more pride. We are grateful that we are able to count on such loyal and passionate employees.
In our employees’ eyes, we are already doing a lot of things right. However we are still a long way from our goal. Of course, we have some things in the pipeline that we don’t want to keep a secret from you.
The old industrial building in Regensdorf inspires us with its charm and encourages us to reach ever new heights of creativity. However it also has its flaws. The insulation in the hall is insufficient, which means that we sometimes end up sweating in summer. The hall’s days are numbered, however. It’s due to be demolished soon, and we’ll be moving in the foreseeable future. We also have some catching up to do in the field of leadership and the encouragement of further training opportunities. These issues are important to us. This is why we have set up leadership training courses and want to give more support to those employees who want to further expand their expertise.
So, yes, we still have some work to do to take the title of “Great Place to Work”® to the next level. We take these matters seriously and regard them as homework of the highest priority. We’re pleased to have you on board with us.
Find out more on our “Great Place to Work”® profile.
