Focus on people
One of the key factors that drives success in the hearing care industry is continuous innovation in products and services. Whether the goal is to boost the performance of a hearing system or give customers better advice, motivated, dedicated and creative employees are an absolute must. Preserving and enhancing a unique corporate culture based on flat hierarchies, respect for all employees, an approach oriented to performance and goals, accountability for one's own actions, a high level of transparency, and open communication is thus a high priority at Sonova.
Sonova has a Group-wide employee mission statement that gives primary importance to people. Personal success by employees also means sustainable success for the company as a whole, and the added value the company offers is based to a large extent on team effort.
Personnel development is a high priority
Sonova fosters employee development within the Group over the long run and continuously offers different types of training. A central aspect of HR development is having a professional employee assessment system in place with integrated career planning that ensures that more than 70% of all key positions can be replaced by potential internal successors.
The training programs derived from career planning are conducted either internally by the Sonova Academy or by external institutes. This training focuses on leadership, personality development, sales, and understanding the company as a whole. Group-wide training programs are regularly held for various management levels. The training groups are usually comprised of international participants so that, in addition to just the specific content of the training, experiences can be shared across borders and cultures. In addition to the broad spectrum of training courses, the newly introduced microlearning platform “Bridge2know” makes a significant contribution to promoting the exchange of knowledge.
In financial year 2010/11, some 4,000 employees attended training and professional development courses.
The focus is on value creation
The effectiveness of all HR processes is subject to systematic measurement at Sonova. Every individual employee’s performance and development is documented and evaluated in a systematic assessment process. The performance and
effectiveness of the employee is measured using among others the Human Return on Investment (HCROI), which is calculated with reference to total sales generated and total costs and separated into HR-related and non-HR-related costs.
For financial year 2010/11, Sonova's HCROI was 1.480. This means that every CHF invested in an employee generates CHF 1.480 in returns. By way of comparison, the pharmaceuticals sector generates an average of 1.10 and general
industry 1.02 per invested currency unit (European Human Capital Effectiveness Report, PriceWaterhouseCoopers). With above-average results, Sonova has also been significantly ahead of its competitors for some years now.
Human Capital ROI of Sonova
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Human Capital ROI = (Sales – non-HR-related costs)/HR-related costs.
Employee Code of Conduct
The values and rules of behavior for Sonova Group employees are set down in an employee Code of Conduct applicable across the Group. Proper ethical conduct is a regulated component of the corporate culture as it strengthens the Group’s reputation and establishes it as a reliable partner for the long term.
The Code of Conduct is binding for all employees working in the Sonova Group. Web-based training programs are continuously held across the Group. Sonova also operates a Compliance Hotline which gives all Sonova Group employees the opportunity to voice their concerns anonymously. Calls are answered by independent specialists and routed to the relevant office within the company for further processing.
Employees by activity 2010/11
Following the expansion of company activities, the Sonova Group employed a total of 7,840 (previous year: 6,843) staff as of March 31, 2011, which represents approximately 15% more than the previous year. The increase in headcount can mostly be attributed to organic growth in the distribution companies and in production. The sales and marketing organization has been further expanded to improve market coverage and meet the increased demand for hearing solutions.
New jobs were created in operations to keep up with the increase in the Group’s sales volume. The consistently high importance of research and development is reflected in an increase in headcount in this area from 481 employees to 525.
