At Clariant, a diverse workforce is an essential driver to deliver better results. Employees are not only considered as human capital, but 17 442 employees from more than 90 nationalities are expected to act as a global team, jointly collaborating across the globe to bring Clariant forward. Bringing up performance while keeping the proper interests and needs of our people in mind, Clariant’s employees are a topic of ongoing conversation at the various Clariant premises around the world and a permanent priority for the Global Management of the company. Clariant’s Head of Region Latin America (LATAM), Monica Ferreira Vassimon, and the Region Human Resources Head for Latin America, Alberto Mendes, spearhead this conversation regularly – often acknowledging Clariant’s strategies to recruiting, onboarding, and engaging employees as essential to the success of the organization.

Strategy shaped and driven by engagement

At Clariant, engagement follows clear principles and measures, and it often manifests itself as a spirited exchange. In fact, that is exactly what it sounds like when Monica and Alberto discuss engagement in LATAM: To Monica, »employee engagement, coupled with motivating leadership, drive innovation and entrepreneurship at Clariant. To diagnose the current work environment and identify actions to leverage the engagement of our population, Clariant uses the employee engagement survey. Feedback from surveys provides insights for Clariant’s team, and the results from the latest survey held in 2016 will serve as a basis for planning and implementing further changes that create value for employees and the company moving forward.«

In Alberto’s terms, the survey that almost 11 000 of Clariant’s employees participated in globally, »is certainly an effective tool. Clariant tends to approach this survey like it’s a diagnosis, and the global and regional engagement strategies developed thereafter are the prescription. In other words, the survey takes the temperature of Clariant’s current workforce and working environment to identify what actions could help drive employee performance.«

Ongoing engagement

Strategies that engage employees even further are ongoing and growing at Clariant, including in LATAM. In Brazil, for example, a nominated Committee analyzed the results from employee engagement surveys to understand the improvement areas. This led the local committee to collect over 500 ideas on engagement initiatives among employees, and to generate an action plan for several projects grouped into three clusters: Social Dimension, Communication, and Organizational Development. Moreover, on a regular basis, the committee members assumed the role of communication agents to get our employees’ view and to understand what motivates them. Monica reinforces that »it is important to have a robust structure like the Engagement Committees, as well as planning and discipline for execution. Nevertheless, the most impacting factor is listening to our employees and building up together with them the best solutions for the improvement areas. People make the difference, and our employees must actively contribute to drive the changes within our organization. The leadership team plays a crucial role by supporting and encouraging our people in this process.«

Recruiting and onboarding the right people, faster

If you ask Alberto and Monica about finding the right people to join Clariant’s team, they speak enthusiastically: Alberto describes how »Clariant jumps at the opportunity to attract a new member of the team. Our recruiting model helps walk applicants through a smooth interviewing process that leads them into our onboarding program. Our recruiters also use a toolkit of online platforms – including Clariant’s MyRecruitment and MyCareers web programs, and external platforms like LinkedIn. These tools help us find the right people for Clariant faster, while supporting our initiative to be a preferred employer in our industry.«

Clariant encourages current and future employees to embody a culture of excellence, an openness to change and opportunity, and an attitude of respect and appreciation.

For Alberto, recruiting at Clariant is also about being proactive in preparing for change. »We see demographic change as a relevant factor for Clariant – especially in LATAM. With a flourishing local population of young adults in LATAM and a number of employees close to retirement, we have to think strategically about keeping the right balance in age and experience.« With employees that vary in age, gender, position, location, and skills, Clariant strives to continue supporting and growing its diverse team.

Setting the stage for new employees, and for Clariant as a whole

Onboarding and training employees is vital to their long-term success – and affect Clariant’s performance. The organization helps new hires adjust to their jobs smoothly so that they are capable of performing efficiently upon starting. Alberto has seen the approach to onboarding first-hand, commenting »Clariant’s goal is to help new employees hit-the-ground running as soon as they start. A buddy-system that pairs new employees with experienced mentors also helps them feel included as part of our company and remain for the long-term. We have attracted differentiated professionals to our teams, who have quickly delivered on results and challenged the organization in a very positive way.«

Beyond established and recently enhanced engagement strategies, Clariant continues to explore the changing needs of current and future generations while maintaining open dialog. Whether in LATAM or across the globe, employees are invaluable assets that drive Clariant’s success – making them an extremely high priority and worth supporting through all engagement, recruitment, and onboarding processes.