Equipping our workforce for the future

Our employees are at the heart of being a ‘force for good’.

It is through their determination that we will strive to make progress on our Net Zero Roadmap and advance regenerative food systems at scale. Their health and well-being is our priority. We respect and encourage all our employees and value their potential regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and different abilities. Nurturing inclusivity ensures we leave no one behind and makes us more productive and innovative.

How we’re building a respectful, supportive workplace

30.2 %

9.3 hours

108830

Creating a progressive working environment

We are working hard to create a healthy, positive and ethical working environment – one that empowers employees, brings benefits to individuals and helps us as a business. We are building on the progress we have made to improve cultural diversity and inclusion, toward a workplace that is gender-balanced and offers equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

We recognize employee health is fundamental to a strong business, particularly with more remote working: healthier people tend to be happier, more engaged and more productive. We are also recruiting for the digital and artificial intelligence skills we will need in the future.

1. Talent management

Attracting, developing and retaining talent while preparing our workforce for the needs of our future business.
2. Diversity and inclusion

Building a better business that reflects society at large and is inclusive and equal for genders, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ communities and all races and ethnicities.
3. Employee health, well-being and safety

Inspiring and empowering our people to choose healthier futures for themselves and their families, while providing a healthy working environment.
4. Employee relations and engagement

Supporting Nestlé in its goal to be a company where employees are treated with mutual trust and fairness, and where they feel engaged with our purpose, values and principles.
5. Organizational design and change management

Using our Corporate Business Principles as the basis, our culture is supported by regularly updated policies and communicated through our training.
6. Compensation and benefits

Providing employees with fair and competitive salaries and benefits and conducting regular performance reviews.

This work builds on other efforts designed to support particular communities, such as respecting and promoting the rights and expectations of people in our supply chains and creating opportunities for young people entering the workplace.

Managing talent

We strive to attract, hire, develop and retain the right candidates to try to ensure we are a ‘force for good’. Our talent acquisition and retention approach is outlined in our People Strategy 2025 for building a future-ready workforce; developing leadership that is inspiring, disruptive and inclusive; and fostering a culture that is agile and purposeful. This approach is aligned to our business strategy, Corporate Business Principles and our purpose and values.

Diversity and inclusion

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is geared toward building a better business and has five key pillars:

Gender balance
People with disabilities
The LGBTQ+ community
Race and ethnicity
Generations

Our inclusive culture leverages the differences of our employees and better reflects the society and communities in which we live. In addition, our innovations consider the diversity of consumers and customers when we make and distribute products.

A critical factor in building a more inclusive workplace is understanding intersectionality, or the fact that different social categories can overlap. For example, people can be part of the LGBTQ+ community and have a disability, or be a single parent and come from an ethnic minority background. One example is our work to support young people with disabilities through our Nestlé needs YOUth initiative

Employee health, safety and well-being

Our employee health vision aims to inspire and empower our people to choose a healthier life, while respecting the principles of privacy and personal choices, in an environment of caring leadership.

We encourage informed decision-making and for people to take responsibility for themselves, their families and our business. At the same time, we work to anticipate and mitigate workplace health risks, we offer health and well-being programs, and we support employees during and after injuries or illnesses.

Employee relations and engagement

We work collaboratively with our employees, their representatives and organizations and external labor stakeholders to ensure that the needs of our workforce are addressed while contributing to the success of our business. Our vision is to ensure that employees are treated with mutual trust and fairness and feel engaged with our purpose, principles and values. We aim to provide a work environment that is contemporary and flexible, contributing to openness and inclusiveness in all our interactions. For example in 2021, we launched a new Policy Against Discrimination, Violence and Harassment at Work (pdf, 3Mb).

Organizational design and change management

We manage and promote our purpose and values at a global level, providing our markets with the support and guidance they need to ensure a consistent culture throughout our business.

In line with our Corporate Business Principles, our purpose and values are based on the same ideas as when we develop our products: fairness, honesty and a concern for individuals, families, pets and communities. We also recognize the world changes fast, so we constantly evaluate the external environment, taking local legislation, cultural and religious practices into account, and adapt where necessary.

Challenging, inspiring and transformative are the words that define my experience at Nestlé. Working on inclusivity projects, employer branding and youth engagement was an opportunity to hone my professional and personal growth.