Eine Frau lacht in die Kamera, im Hintergrund sind Personen verschommen zu sehen. Eine Frau lacht in die Kamera, im Hintergrund sind Personen verschommen zu sehen.

People

The contribution of the companies of Schwarz Group to an appreciative togetherness

For us, the companies of Schwarz Group, people are at the center of our actions. That is why it is particularly important to us to actively get our employees and customers on board and involved in the topic of sustainability. As responsible employers, the companies of Schwarz Group want to offer their over 550,000 employees an attractive and healthy work environment founded on diversity and equal opportunities.

Targeted Empowerment

Eine Frau präsentiert etwas an einem Bildschirm

A changing world needs people who can help shape it. And to deliver that, we need to think ahead and evolve constantly. This applies just as much to career development as it does to the dialog on sustainability.

The companies of Schwarz Group consider education to be the most valuable raw material. That is why we promote our employees’ development both professionally and personally through targeted empowerment and support. We have also set the joint goal of empowering our employees to act more sustainably in their respective fields.

Our measures

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Diversity and cooperation

The companies of Schwarz Group value the diversity of their employees. This helps us grow and makes us better. Their aim is to create a motivating and diverse work environment that offers equal opportunities. The leadership culture focuses on cooperation and encourages employees to use their diverse skills, knowledge, experience, and perspectives in their work. After all, that is the only way to embed diversity as a value in day-to-day work. To support this commitment to the implementation of diversity in practice, Lidl, Kaufland, PreZero, and Schwarz Dienstleistungsgesellschaften have signed the “Charta der Vielfalt” diversity charter – a voluntary corporate agreement that supports diversity.

Eine Frau steht mit einem gefüllten Einkaufswagen vor einer Filiale und überprüft den Kassenzettel

Transparency

As companies of Schwarz Group, we also consider ourselves to be a reliable partner for society. We want to offer our customers information on the social, ecological, and health impacts of their purchasing decisions as a transparent basis for their decision-making. By the end of 2025, each of the companies of Schwarz Group will provide their customers with transparency on the social, ecological, and health impacts of their offerings in order to allow them to make conscious choices. The companies of Schwarz Group will jointly lay the groundwork for this by 2022.

Ein Mann und eine Frau machen eine Dehnübung.

Health

The companies of Schwarz Group consider their employees to be the most important success factor.  That is why the health and safety of our employees is a top priority for all companies of Schwarz Group. Holistic prevention includes providing employees with healthy food and sports opportunities. Depending on the location, the divisions (Lidl, Kaufland, PreZero and Schwarz Produktion) offer their employees a range of health promotion activities such as sports classes and medical check-ups – with a focus on both physical and mental health.

Ein Mann sitzt am Schreibtisch während das Kind daneben malt.

Work-life balance

The reconciliation of work and family life is not only a key component of an attractive working environment, but is also vital if we want to ensure equal opportunities. To achieve this, the divisions (Lidl, Kaufland, PreZero as well as Schwarz Produktion) and national companies of Schwarz Group are seizing the initiative. Parent/child offices are available at the central administrative locations of Lidl, Kaufland, Schwarz Produktion, and Schwarz Dienstleistungsgesellschaften, as well as in some Lidl, Kaufland, and PreZero countries, to support parents needing to bridge short-term lack of access to childcare. In addition, all divisions help their employees to maintain a healthy work/life balance with flexible working time models and sabbatical policies. To make it easier to work from home, new policies on mobile working have also been adopted for the respective administrative locations.

Portraitbild von Sandra Uwera

 

"The majority of products are still cultivated using conventional farming methods. This is one of the biggest impacts that the companies of Schwarz Group have. However, the companies started gradually increasing the number of sustainable food products in their portfolio many years ago and now offer a large number of products that are both environmentally friendly and produced in a fair manner."

 – Sandra Uwera, CEO Fairtrade International

Hands with different skin colors reach for the globe

Corporate due dilligence

The companies of Schwarz Group trade products from around the world. This means that the supply chains involve people from many different countries. The companies of Schwarz Group are conscious that they therefore have a particular responsibility to ensure that human rights are respected. The jointly defined standards for working and living conditions that are both fair and safe also apply to the supply chains. The companies of Schwarz Group advocate employment-related human rights and living wages. They pursue these goals predominantly through their Purchasing departments as well as by working closely with their suppliers.

More information on the topic of corporate due diligence

Please note: The words “we”, “us” or “our” or similar stand for all companies of Schwarz Group.