Diversity and inclusion at SCHOTT Pharma - A company fostering a culture that supports people to deliver their best contributions

We take a strategic approach to fostering diversity

With a workforce from over 65 countries, a female share of more than 40%, and various educational backgrounds and personalities, we already consider our diverse workforce one of our most significant assets. To further embed diversity in our organization and build on its advantages in our growth journey, we take a strategic approach to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and formalizing diversity in our Recruitment Policy.

At SCHOTT Pharma, we have realized that exempt leaders, namely supervisors in high- or middle-management positions, are critical in promoting cultural aspects throughout the organization. Not only are they central in directional decision-making, but they also make most recruitment decisions and strongly shape our corporate culture, for instance, concerning zero tolerance towards discrimination and harassment.

To embrace our diversity mindset among exempt leaders, we offer trainings on avoiding unconscious biases and encourage reflection and discussion among the management teams in our sites. Additionally, by increasing the share of women in exempt leadership positions from 24% to 30% by 2030, we are committed to developing a more balanced composition at this organizational level. In doing so, our objective is to better mirror diversity within our organization. With our measures we initially target the leadership teams. This way we utilize their impact on decision making, behavior and thus company culture to strengthen the promotion of equal opportunity across the organization.

Our leadership is embedded in diversity, as Almuth Steinkühler, CFO of SCHOTT Pharma, notes: “It's our responsibility to support female colleagues aiming for leadership positions.” To this end, “we focus on part-time and mobile work opportunities as well as attractive childcare offers. Additionally, we are piloting innovative concepts such as female mentoring, where aspiring female leaders can exchange insights and experiences with peers from within and outside SCHOTT Pharma,” Thomas Strasser, global HR lead at SCHOTT Pharma, explains.

Our recruitment policy formally integrates diversity at SCHOTT Pharma

To build the best teams and select the best people, prejudice and discrimination shall find no space or tolerance. For this reason, we have formally integrated diversity considerations not only in our identity, but ensured it through our Recruitment Policy, which clearly defines our recruitment methods and practices. Kurt Johnson quotes, “The new Recruitment Policy formally integrates and reinforces diversity aspects that we have followed informally for years.”

Starting with job advertisements, our Recruitment Policy provides guidelines on gender-neutral communication and imagery that strictly avoids favoritism and devaluation of any kind. Once a diverse set of potential contestants is pre-selected, our Recruitment Policy emphazises avoiding unconscious biases and supports interviewers to solely focus on a person's personal capability, experience and professional training to enhance an inclusive work environment. This also entails diverse interviewers and interview panels whenever possible, facilitating a broad range of perspectives in applicant evaluation. To ensure our Recruitment Policy is not only formally anchored, but also correctly applied in practice, recruiters and hiring managers regularly exchange their experiences to nurture continuous improvement of practices.

Notably, the key priority of our Recruitment Policy is to avoid biases to select the best candidates. As Allex Qian, HR manager in Jinyun (China), mentions: “At SCHOTT Pharma, we always try to hire the right person for the right position.” However, when two interviewees are equally suitable, the policy encourages the selection of the more diverse contestant. Thereby, we strive to enhance our diversity by bringing in new perspectives that challenge our current ways of thinking - helping us to become an even more inclusive and diverse company.

At SCHOTT Pharma, we firmly believe talent knows no boundaries and continuously aim to foster an inclusive work environment where everyone's contributions are valued, respected, and given equal opportunity. By engraining a diversity mindset in our exempt leaders and prioritizing diversity in our recruitment process, we formally anchor our dedication to a future where everyone's potential is recognized and embraced through our company’s diverse identity.