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Reflecting wider workplace trends, and an overall more dynamic working environment, Kuehne+Nagel has seen a slight increase in employee attrition in recent years — moving from a white-collar unwanted attrition rate of 8.7% in 2019 to 10.4% in 2021 and 2022. This continues to shape our goal of being the best company to work for.
We are proud of our organisation’s speed of response to the changing world of work: for example, we have introduced workforce policy models, structured methodology for employee engagement and hybrid team guidance post-pandemic.
Kuehne+Nagel is also supporting the ways in which employees can drive their own development. We have built a diverse learning ecosystem that focuses on experimental learning, social learning and formal learning with tools available to our employees. This leverages our own and external providers’ expertise to develop online learning platform content, and provides face-to-face programme delivery and virtual sessions, as well as leadership programmes and our Global Talent Programme.
During 2022, 697,788 completed internal and external training sessions were recorded through the company platform, an increase of 25% compared to 2021. Two noteworthy ways in which we are evolving our learning offering — and which further promote a feeling of belonging — are the introduction of cultural bias trainings, in particular for our HR community, and the continuation of our regional talent programmes.
At Kuehne+Nagel, we recognise the value of diverse teams that represent society and inclusive and equitable conditions that enable everyone to contribute and belong. We are currently on a journey to strengthen DEI, moving beyond gender in terms of diversity aspects as well as working to balance the different levels of maturity in our organisation. To support this, we have developed our Diversity and Inclusion policy as a guiding document.
When it comes to gender, although almost 40% of our workforce is female, only 10% of our top management is. Hence the following goal: double female representation in top leadership by 2030 (from 2021). To this end, we are focusing on improving our talent processes to decrease gender bias and continuing our Women in Logistics Leadership network. Starting in 2023, diversity and inclusion awareness training are planned for delivery across the organisation.
When it comes to generational diversity, our goal is to increase our intern intake by 15% by 2030 (from 2021). We are happy to report that we almost reached this goal towards the end of 2022 with a 14% increase of intern intake by year-end 2022. Of these, 25% converted to the global workforce.
* DEI = Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Human Rights Due Diligence
Kuehne+Nagel is committed to respect and adhere to all Global Human Rights principles issued by the United Nations and to prevent, end and minimise any negative impact on compliance with human rights within our global business operations.
In 2022, the company developed a comprehensive Human Rights Policy that consolidated existing guidance and includes and supports the following principles:
1) Prohibition of child labour
2) Culture of diversity and inclusion, free from harassment and discrimination
3) Employee rights and fair labour practices, including the prevention of forced labour
4) Freedom of Association and right to collective bargaining
Our suppliers are also obligated to respect internationally recognised human rights. This forms an integral part for our suppliers and subcontractors to making a commitment to comply with the Supplier Code of Conduct and to maintain its compliance (for more info, see “Engaging with our suppliers” in the Value Chain section). In 2022, we also appointed a Human Rights Officer who coordinates the annual risk analyses and assessments in accordance with legal requirements in Germany.
A risk analysis was carried out in accordance with the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Law (LkSG) and questionnaires were addressed to a multitude of relevant suppliers. In addition, we conducted a child labour protection regulations and risk-based review of selected sites.
Our short and medium-term aim is to accelerate work on Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) and roll out an internal awareness and training campaign for our Human Rights Policy. We also plan to amend our supply chain management system and revise the Supplier Code of Conduct.
At Kuehne+Nagel, we remain consistent with our journey to NO HARM, implementing trainings, reporting unsafe situations and launching a new Safety Anchor during 2022. The safety anchors were developed to raise awareness of safety and health in our operations and prevent incidents, following an analysis of risks and previous incidents in our operations and the industry. Our safety performance has reached an all-time high and the Lost Time Injury Frequency (LTIF) continues to trend downwards.
In terms of training, 2022 saw our No Harm Level 3 training launched in the US and Europe. This takes awareness of a NO HARM culture beyond HSE* staff and to an overall management level, expanding the scope of responsibility. This module focuses on the role leadership has in safety culture behavioural change. The target for 2023 is for every region to run this training. We will also be adding additional modules such as security and dangerous goods to the app. Regarding further goals, in the medium term we aim to include mental health and wellbeing within the company’s occupational health activities and targets. In addition, no reported HSE violations or prosecutions were recorded in the reporting year.
Our health and safety goals are underpinned by our management system and our documentation. The Safety and Health Management System (SHMS) covers all Kuehne+Nagel entities worldwide and is certified to ISO 45001. We identify the hazards applicable to our operations and activities within our premises, assess their risks and identify and implement mitigations to manage them. We also conduct internal audits to ensure compliance with local and company regulations and certification requirements. Where there’s a difference between legal requirements and Kuehne+Nagel requirements, the most stringent prevails. Finally, our Safety and Health statement underlines that the company is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy working environment for our employees, partners, customers and the communities we operate in.
* HSE= Health, Safety and Environment
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of fatalities in Head count (FAT)* | 0 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 1 (3) |
| Lost time injury frequency (LTIF) | 8.8 | 10.24 | 10.80 | 13.22 |
| Total reportable case frequency (TRCF) | 8.8 | 13.33 | 14.40 | 17.66 |
| Lost workday cases (LWC) | 1,468 | 1,688 | 1,834 | 2,434 |
| Lost workday (LWD) | 29,351 | 30,581 | 32,067 | 41,733 |
| Unsafe act / Unsafe condition | 63,730 | 44,302 | 36,271 | 43,522 |
* Fatality (x) is related to 3rd party accident on our premises
2021 saw the global rollout of the HSE app, and its use through 2021 and 2022 can only be described as a success. At Kuehne+Nagel, we urge employees to intervene (STOP) when unsafe conditions are seen and report them — and the easy-to-use app has facilitated this activity, enabling fully anonymous reporting.
In 2022, we further acted on these reports. Analysis of 2021 data showed that there was an increasing number of incidents where ergonomics played a role. As a result, a new Safety Anchor (our eighth) focused on ergonomics has now been added. Furthermore, global awareness training is ready to be rolled out in 2023, and the medium-term vision is for the app to be enhanced to record all incidents that may have an impact on health and safety, occupational illness, damage to assets and dangerous goods (for more info, see “Managing dangerous goods” in the Environment section).
