Safety and
well-being

Table: Employees and well-being

This program is about the impact of leadership on culture and results. A total of 180 managers from the Netherlands and Belgium are following the Dutch-language version and 60 managers in other countries are following the English-language version. The program, which began in June 2023, will run for nearly two years. This investment in our leaders helps us achieve the winning family culture.

During the program – which takes about six to eight months – managers learn about leadership; who you are, what style suits you, how do you shape your leadership and how do you get results. Another part is about how to connect with your team and other stakeholders. Leaders gain tools and insights into how leadership affects culture in the organization.

Many issues that affect employee well-being are a direct result of good leadership. Good leadership goes hand in hand with having “the honest conversation.” When you engage in the honest conversation together, you see and hear each other, make each other better, express expectations, address issues at hand and make improvements. Through this conversation, you will move forward together. Therefore, “having the honest conversation” is an important part of the leadership program.

In 2023, we worked behind the scenes to further improve the structure, arrangements and processes within HR. We worked on a system that is less error-prone, more user-friendly and future-proof.

The remuneration policy of Royal Swinkels Family Brewers is inextricably linked to our business strategy and is based on transparency and balance. We reward on the basis of performance and in line with the market. Through job evaluation, we strive for an objective and balanced remuneration for our employees. Growth in development and performance are important measures of this remuneration. We regularly conduct comparative studies to ensure that we maintain a middle position in the labor market. For us, this is an important pillar of being a good employer.

The variable remuneration within Royal Swinkels Family Brewers is linked to the company’s results and is largely determined by them. The objectives are based on our company’s multi-year strategic plan. In addition, a smaller portion of the variable remuneration is based on the department’s and employee’s annual individual performance.

The above principles also apply to the Executive Board (EB). The remuneration of the EB is determined by the Supervisory Board (SB). Once every two years, the remuneration, both the target remuneration and the actual remuneration, is compared to that of a relevant peer group. This peer group includes organizations that are similar in nature, such as size, number of employees, complexity and international footprint. Based on these objective data, the SB sets the target level of remuneration. Again, a middle position in the peer group is the goal here. In respect of variable remuneration (short- and long-term), the SB sets the targets based on the multi-year strategic plan. This translates the interests of the organization into objectives for the members of the EB. When the results are known at the end of the year, the payment of the variable remuneration of the EB is determined by the SB. The realization of the stated objectives are the starting point for this.

The Pulse measurement is a short questionnaire for all our employees that we send out twice a year. The measurement also includes one or a few targeted questions about a current topic in our organization. With the questions from the questionnaire, we measure employee satisfaction.

In 2023, additional attention was given to the importance of pulse measurements by the HR and Communication departments. As a result, the response rate to the measurements was higher than in 2022.

We believe that, based on the results of pulse measurements, we can start the conversation with our people. Together we can look for targeted and structural improvements. We encourage managers to challenge their teams and staff to come up with improvement activities to which they themselves can also contribute. Improvements suggested by teams, and implemented, have a great effect on the impact this tool has on our organization.

We expect to further increase employee satisfaction in 2024. We already saw some nice, successful examples of this in 2023 at some parts of our organization, such as the warehouse in Lieshout. The warehouse scored low at the first measurement of 2023, but significantly higher at the second measurement after a number of improvement actions.

The winning family culture is one of the foundations of Royal Swinkels Family Brewers’ strategy house. This manifests itself in different ways within the different parts of our organization.

The difference between a family culture and a winning family culture is the result-orientation of our organization. In order to continue this winning streak, it is important to set clear, ambitious and realistic goals and focus on them. We derived individual goals, departmental goals and corporate goals from the strategic long-term plan. Our employees’ variable renumeration is determined on the basis of the results at all three levels. The focus we provide this way leads to better results.

Leadership development
Winning is easier when you have good leaders in your organization as well as employees who are result-oriented in their work. Hence, leadership, and its further development and improvement, is very high on the agenda, as are performance rewards to reward result orientation.

Challenge and develop
A family cares for each other, but also challenges each other to keep evolving. To move forward. This is why we are also becoming more development-oriented; we give employees clarity about their strengths and about their opportunities for advancement. If you know what you are good at, and what you can get even better at, you can also develop and show your best side. That makes for a win as well.

In all these ways, when we add the element of “winning” to our well-known and cherished family culture, we create great added value.

A winning family culture comes with values. Values and principles that suit us, that guide us, that characterize us and bring us the future. In 2023, we closely examined our existing values of “entrepreneurship,” “collaboration” and “focus on results.” We involved employees, managers, the Works Council and the Executive Team in several sessions. Together we looked at what drives and makes us, as an organization, and where we want to go in the future. We also talked about what exactly desirable leadership behavior is. Matters that emerged included having the honest conversation, taking initiative, finishing what you start and celebrating successes. All input from the sessions was clustered and filtered. This process resulted in five new values, the five Cs; be curious, be collaborative, be committed, be courageous and be cheerful. These are values with which we confidently head into the future. These are the leadership behaviors as well as the behaviors of the people in the workplace. In 2024, these values will be further introduced to the organization.

We strive to maintain an inclusive recruitment and selection process. Furthermore, we are aware that our organization employs a proportionately high number of men. To make us attractive as an employer to a diverse group of applicants, we choose inclusive job postings.

The leadership program launched in 2023 includes a module called “Me and My Team.” In it, we pay attention to trust within teams, inclusive thinking and psychological safety. It is important to us that everyone feels welcome in our organization and that everyone knows that their contributions are valued. We also believe it is important to discuss behavior that does not feel right.

No concerns were raised on the international SpeakUp platform regarding Royal Swinkels Family Brewers. The internal confidential advisers received three notifications relating to the internal Code of Conduct. Talks were held with those involved and agreements were made to prevent a recurrence.

In the new collective bargaining agreement (CAO), we took measures to reduce the burden on employees with heavier work and older employees. We believe it is important for our employees to reach retirement age in a healthy way and are working with our people to find smart ways to do this. In the coming years, our population will continue to age and we will continue to pay attention to this.

Continuation leadership program
The leadership program, kicked off in 2023, will continue in 2024, where we will start phase 2 after the summer. In February 2025, the last group of leaders will complete this course. In this leadership program, leaders are challenged to take a step forward on a number of current topics such as GenZ, strategy and diversity. Managers from our locations abroad will also engage in this process in two groups.

Employee development higher on the agenda
We are becoming more development-oriented; the group of employees who are given goals for the year will also be given a development challenge starting in 2024. In this way, we make the personal development of our people even more part of the conversation between managers and their teams, and employees gain more insight into their development opportunities.