Sandvik defines itself as a world, high-tech engineering group, one with a broad portfolio of actions that’s troublesome to summarize in a single line. With greater than 41,000 workers worldwide and gross sales of practically $12 billion in 2023, it’s actually one of many greatest – if not the largest – industrial tech firms you’ve by no means heard of.
However whereas friends and opponents would put fastidiously curated images of their equipment, merchandise or buildings on their firm entrance web page, Sandvik did one thing daring and surprising as a substitute: it put a mosaic of 12 of its workers’ offsprings on its web site homepage, resulting in a 37-second video inviting web site guests to “meet our workers’ wonderful youngsters.”
It sends a transparent message: its workers are its most treasured asset. I can not consider a extra highly effective assertion of intent from a multi-billion greenback firm seeking to promote the introduction of a 14-week international parental depart. That’s proper, any worker who turns into a dad or mum will have the ability to stick with their new child for as much as 98 days.
Certainly one of our strategic aims is to be the employer of alternative
“Certainly one of our strategic aims is to be the employer of alternative,” mentioned Stefan Widing, President and CEO at Sandvik. “We imagine that it’s essential for us to achieve success as an organization; to have the ability to entice, retain and develop our workers. And we imagine that work-life stability is essential for that. With this profit we predict we are able to enhance the work-life stability for brand new households and other people whose households are rising.”
A win-win
The gender-neutral parental depart program will provide 90% of the bottom wage to all workers in nations the place no equal or higher profit already exists. Such a characteristic, in response to Dr. Richard Petts, professor of sociology at Ball State College and an professional in parental depart insurance policies, is a “win-win” for employers and workers alike.
“For workers, it supplies time away from work to regulate to parenthood, recuperate, and bond with their new little one,” he mentioned. “For employers, it results in elevated employee productiveness, job retention, and satisfaction. When workers really feel supported by their employer, they’re extra invested of their work.”
You possibly can hear the remainder of the dialog Dr. Petts had with Sandvik’s Nidhi Gokhale on this podcast. Within the US, whereas federal legal guidelines imply that public sector staff stand up to 12 weeks paid parental depart, non-public sector workers are in a worse place. Data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in September 2023 confirmed that solely 27% had entry to paid household depart advantages, a big anomaly – within the Western world – given the widespread help, worldwide, for paid maternity (and paternity) depart.
Look nearer on the numbers although and one thing placing crops up. The 27% is a mean and within the “pure useful resource, development and upkeep” occupational group the place Sandvik operates, the state of affairs is much more dire, with lower than 20% of workers accessing household depart advantages.
So in a nutshell, when you’ve obtained itchy ft and are wanting both to discover a household or increase your present one, then Sandvik affords a compelling bundle for potential dad and mom and present ones, steps that I might like to see others emulate.
- Sandvik affords profession alternatives in many alternative job areas worldwide. Collectively we create smarter options for our clients and construct sustainable progress. Find out more here.
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