Corporate culture

Relevance

Employees significantly contribute to the success of Alpiq. For a long-term, successful position in the market, innovate solutions, technical expertise and values are key. Alpiq sees the diversity and equality of the people who work together to identify and develop customer-oriented needs as an opportunity to achieve positive results with the help of different mindsets.

Management approach and assessment

Alpiq supports the personal development of employees. The company offers a wide range of internal training courses and supports individual training and further education. High employee satisfaction is also very important for Alpiq, as this is an important driver of innovation, commitment and good performance.

Alpiq is a new member of Advance. Advance is the leading trade association for gender equality in Switzerland. The network comprises more than 120 Swiss companies that are committed to increasing the proportion of women in management positions. A workplace with gender equality is a win-win situation for everyone: men, women, companies and society.

Advance’s mission is to achieve a sustainable proportion of women which amounts to at least 30 % at all management levels and in all member companies by 2030. Alpiq supports this goal, which is why it joined the association.

As a member, Alpiq benefits from a programme in four areas:

• Skill development workshops
• Cross-company mentoring
• Networking and further education
• Exchange of best practices

Alpiq cultivates work relationships based on trust and self-discipline. This also applies to flexible working models. Alpiq does not use People Analytics Tools and has no plans to introduce them in the future. People Analytics Tools are surveying technologies that could be used to identify, categorise and analyse employees and their social relationships.

Based on the Employee Survey 2020, an adapted partial survey was conducted again in the reporting year with an external partner. The findings from these two surveys serve as a basis for identifying and subsequently implementing further measures. Periodic ‘pulse checks’ are planned for the future. Their results are easily and quickly available; measures can be taken even more efficiently and in a more targeted manner.

Alpiq conducted the pay equity analysis in Switzerland using the federal government’s standard analysis tool (Logib) in the reporting year and had it audited by an independent statutory auditor. The analysis showed that there is no gender effect with regard to the person-related and job-related characteristics. Overall, Alpiq conducted equal pay analyses for 68 % of its employees during the reporting year.

In order to reinforce the employee culture and the health of the employees, as well as to make a contribution to the community and the environment, Alpiq launched the ‘Alpiq Employee Challenge’ in the reporting year. The initiative was a great success: From 13 September to 5 December 2021, a total of 300 employees from six different countries took part in the ‘Alpiq Employee Challenge’. They gathered in teams, taking part in 2002 hours of sporting events and 280 hours of voluntary work to raise money for good causes. The result: Alpiq donated CHF 42,000 to ten environmental associations and charities throughout Europe. The initiative also helped to promote the international culture within the company. Participants established contacts and shared their experiences with colleagues abroad via specially organised online events.

Values as a basis for corporate culture

During the reporting year, Alpiq relaid the values foundation to further develop the culture and cooperation within the company. Alpiq opted for a collaborative approach. When actively shaping the corporate culture, the Alpiq Values were not defined for employees, but with employees. A rough framework of these values was developed by the Executive Board and has since been discussed and finalised with and among the employees in a large number of so-called values workshops at all hierarchy levels and across all locations in Europe. This process ultimately leads to the Alpiq Values, which are based on common ideas and ideals of our employees and with which they can identify.

As soon as the Alpiq values are defined, they are integrated in the company policies. A cyclical, iterative approach is chosen for this process. There are a variety of possible implementation topics for each value that are brought into the organisation in different iterations. The values become tangible and palpable in the organisation thanks to the various measures, and they can be experienced by the employees throughout their entire time at the company.