We care about our employees

Our employees are the cornerstone of our success. Their wellbeing is our top priority – we therefore conduct our anonymous employee surveys on a weekly basis to identify and tackle any issues at an early stage.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we work. Even under these new conditions, however, we managed to achieve considerable success:

Employee Net Promoter Scores
(range –100 to + 100)
1 February 2022 1 April 2020
42 15

 

Below-average fluctuation rate[1] 2021 2020
3.5% 3.0%

More flexible working hours and working models

We offer our employees the opportunity to work remotely – and for four weeks per year even from anywhere in the world. Staff can freely arrange their contractually fixed working hours (trust-based working hours). Where requested, we also offer the possibility of part-time work, which can be converted back to a full-time position if required. Being able to take time off for special occasions makes it even easier for our employees to plan ahead. For working models, see also: p.32 of our Annual Report.

Health promotion

In order to prevent work-related illnesses, our desk workplaces are ergonomically designed and optimised. In addition, we subsidise the use of sports facilities and offer proactive stress management as a prevention strategy. More information can be found on p.33 of our Annual Report.

Attractive remuneration

We pay a competitive salary in line with prevailing market rates which is regularly reviewed. Moreover, we provide an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)[2] for our permanent employees. Participation packages are offered in annual one-off purchase amounts ranging from €900 to €3,600, whereby ZEAL grants employees a fixed gross rebate of 20% (including taxes and duties) on the final amount invested. For more information, please refer to p.33 of our Sustainability Report.

Training opportunities

We offer numerous in-house training courses for our employees. In addition, an annual training budget of €1,500 (€2,500 for managers) is allocated to each staff member. For more information, please refer to p.34 of our Sustainability Report.

Recruiting talent

We offer our employees an attractive overall package of competitive remuneration, generous continuing education opportunities and a corporate culture of partnership as equals. In 2021, we hired a total of 26 new staff.

Diverse working environment

We embrace a culture of mutual respect at ZEAL. This culture ensures equal opportunities regardless of gender, age, origin, sexual orientation, disability or other discriminatory characteristics.

We strive to keep language barriers as low as possible (English is the company language) to ensure good cooperation between our employees.

Number of employees 31 December 2021 31 December 2020 31 December 2019
ZEAL in total 167 178 218
Of which women 57 62 85
Of which part-time employees 35 35 59
Average age of the workforce in years 38 37 36
Nationalities 23 25 25
Employees (full-time equivalents) 157 161 181

 [1] https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/joerg-schmidt-arbeitskraeftefluktuation-im-jahr-2020-pandemie-hinterlaesst-spuren.html
[2] An Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) is a company-run programme under which participating employees can purchase shares in the company at a discounted price.

Win for our employees