Our objective:
To be the most appealing employer

Working even better together. In this spirit, the UNIQA Group is pursuing the ambitious objective of becoming the most appealing employer in the industry by 2024.

Specifically, implementation of the new UNIQA 3.0 Group strategy should also lead to significant improvements in personnel management. Based on a rating scale of a maximum of five stars in our Five Star Rating, we aim to achieve a minimum 4.5 star rating in terms of employee satisfaction and employee engagement by 2025. We have designed and already implemented a wide range of measures in order to achieve this, and further steps are being planned for the next few years.

Humanitarian aid for our employees from Ukraine

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine beginning in February 2022 also presented the UNIQA Group with a major challenge, as we are active in both countries through our local subsidiaries. Aid was provided quickly and efficiently, initially via spontaneous action that was subsequently implemented in a more structured manner. The intensive commitment shown by many employees and teams at UNIQA provided impressive evidence that our Guiding Principle of “Community” is genuinely put into practice at UNIQA.

The safety of our approximately 850 Ukrainian colleagues was the top priority with all of the measures that we implemented. UNIQA offered 124 colleagues and their families who had to flee Ukraine accommodation, financial support as well as psychological and legal assistance. A specially created buddy system brought more than 400 Ukrainians together with UNIQA volunteers in Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania and Austria. Following a settling-in period, more than 100 local buddies assisted families with registration, provided initial guidance, and helped find schools, long-term housing and new jobs. More than 160 volunteers (buddies and local crisis teams) from six countries provided an impressive example of solidarity across the Group.

At the same time, a fundraising campaign entitled “UNIQA Helping Hands” was launched to fund emergency aid in the crisis areas, which also included medical aid transportation and support for establishing reception centres at the borders. A total of €5 million worth of cash and donations in kind were received through this campaign.

Five key action areas for HR

Huge changes in the global environment also posed major challenges to our employees in 2022. The coronavirus pandemic, war in Ukraine and its repercussions, and significant inflation in all our markets are only the most significant of these challenges. At the same time, a new collective approach towards work is emerging globally, which has led to staff shortages and a “war for talent” in many sectors. This provides one more reason for UNIQA to ensure rigorous implementation of our strategic goal of positioning ourselves as the most attractive employer in the industry. We want to be a company where people enjoy working in a meaningful and productive way.

In order to achieve this goal, we defined five key strategic action areas for HR management throughout the UNIQA Group as part of UNIQA 3.0, and have continued to work actively on implementing these in 2022. For example, we continued to pursue the overarching goal of transforming our corporate culture, and we also improved the entire employee journey. There is now also a clear roadmap with further improvement initiatives for the next three years based on the positive experiences to date.

We are making continuous progress in the Employee Experience area, and this progress is also reflected in the satisfaction of our employees. We are continuing to raise our standards across the entire Group and are thereby working consistently to establish the UNIQA brand as a leading employer by making improvements in many areas of the “Employee Journey” and by continuously collecting feedback on this

We have defined the Employee Engagement action area more clearly in order to set out our target culture; at the same time, the newly created Culture Office has implemented initiatives across the Group. After defining UNIQA’s target culture in 2021, the focus in 2022 was on implementing projects aimed at cultural change. We empowered around 30 internal trainers for this purpose to run internal culture workshops that experiment with establishing new ways of working and behaving. More than 700 participants took part in these programmes in 14 countries and consistently rated these as very good.

In the Learning & Leadership action area, we continued to focus on “new learning” following the positive experiences over the last two years: We continue to rely heavily on digital formats such as webinars and e-learning for our comprehensive training and further education programmes. However, we also held face-to-face training sessions once again in 2022. A new Corporate Policy also regulates the support for external training and further education, courses and university training. A new Group-wide leadership development programme was launched in 2022 aimed at training our managers to become “Inspiring Coach Leaders” in line with the new leadership model developed in 2021. Numerous new offers and modules have been created for this purpose, including a tool for voluntary self-analysis and individual coaching. One new development in 2022 was #leader_ship, a learning strategy for digital skills that will be implemented in 2023. Strengthening the digital skills of all employees will be a general priority in the coming years. Other initiatives included expanding our mentoring programme and the introduction of a shadowing programme where employees can observe members of top management in their daily work.

Almost all projects in the HR area build on our initiatives in the Digital Skills action area. This is because HR is becoming more and more data-oriented, and all essential processes are automated and digitalised. Starting with an upgrade to the SAP system used in HR, we laid the foundation for the development of new analysis and analytics capabilities as well as the introduction of strategic workforce planning. Digitalisation facilitates all HR processes and gives UNIQA a better understanding of its HR-related data and facts and allows it to plan skills and resources in a forward-looking, future-oriented manner.

Finally, in the Future of Work action area, we continuously monitor technical progress in the workplace, analyse changes resulting from new trends and digitalisation, and offer guidelines for improved orientation in this new working environment. In line with our motto “Working better together”, we provide a wide range of information and tips on how our employees can make their home office as functional as possible, which meeting form is suitable for which occasion, and how our office space can be best used. Based on the findings from a pilot project to redesign one floor in the UNIQA Tower with various work zones, we have also created a concept for the conversion of four to six further floors in 2022.

• We are making continuous progress in the Employee Experience area, and this progress is also reflected in the satisfaction of our employees. We are continuing to raise our standards across the entire Group and are thereby working consistently to establish the UNIQA brand as a leading employer by making improvements in many areas of the “Employee Journey” and by continuously collecting feedback on this
• We have defined the Employee Engagement action area more clearly in order to set out our target culture; at the same time, the newly created Culture Office has implemented initiatives across the Group. After defining UNIQA’s target culture in 2021, the focus in 2022 was on implementing projects aimed at cultural change. We empowered around 30 internal trainers for this purpose to run internal culture workshops that experiment with establishing new ways of working and behaving. More than 700 participants took part in these programmes in 14 countries and consistently rated these as very good.
• In the Learning & Leadership action area, we continued to focus on “new learning” following the positive experiences over the last two years: We continue to rely heavily on digital formats such as webinars and e-learning for our comprehensive training and further education programmes. However, we also held face-to-face training sessions once again in 2022. A new Corporate Policy also regulates the support for external training and further education, courses and university training. A new Group-wide leadership development programme was launched in 2022 aimed at training our managers to become “Inspiring Coach Leaders” in line with the new leadership model developed in 2021. Numerous new offers and modules have been created for this purpose, including a tool for voluntary self-analysis and individual coaching. One new development in 2022 was #leader_ship, a learning strategy for digital skills that will be implemented in 2023. Strengthening the digital skills of all employees will be a general priority in the coming years. Other initiatives included expanding our mentoring programme and the introduction of a shadowing programme where employees can observe members of top management in their daily work.
• Almost all projects in the HR area build on our initiatives in the Digital Skills action area. This is because HR is becoming more and more data-oriented, and all essential processes are automated and digitalised. Starting with an upgrade to the SAP system used in HR, we laid the foundation for the development of new analysis and analytics capabilities as well as the introduction of strategic workforce planning. Digitalisation facilitates all HR processes and gives UNIQA a better understanding of its HR-related data and facts and allows it to plan skills and resources in a forward-looking, future-oriented manner.
• Finally, in the Future of Work action area, we continuously monitor technical progress in the workplace, analyse changes resulting from new trends and digitalisation, and offer guidelines for improved orientation in this new working environment. In line with our motto “Working better together”, we provide a wide range of information and tips on how our employees can make their home office as functional as possible, which meeting form is suitable for which occasion, and how our office space can be best used. Based on the findings from a pilot project to redesign one floor in the UNIQA Tower with various work zones, we have also created a concept for the conversion of four to six further floors in 2022.

Gemeinsam besser leben.

Living better together – initiatives for 2022

UNIQA puts its motto “living better together” into practice both in its positioning towards the outside world as well as consciously towards all employees. To this effect, once again we launched and continued a number of employee satisfaction initiatives in 2022:

• Fitness breaks online: “Fifteen minutes of health” three times a week with VitalCoaches, with face-to-face sports units resuming in 2022
• Massage service: Resumed again following the break due to the coronavirus
• Free advice and coaching for work-related and private challenges for all employees throughout Austria in cooperation with Mavie
• Mavie Health Hub: Massage, HealthCoach and symptom checker at UNIQA Tower
• UNIQA Choir
• Work/life balance: Children’s summer camp and supervised children’s day

UNIQA employer branding campaign 2022

UNIQA launched the company’s first official employer branding campaign in autumn 2022 entitled #startyourbetter. The aim was to continue to be able to attract the best talent to take up a career at UNIQA. This is because UNIQA is also affected by the current challenges on the labour market, including a shortage of skilled workers, demographic change and new demands on the working environment. Job seekers also frequently do not know enough about UNIQA’s qualities as an employer.

We wanted to change this with a major employer branding campaign. The aim was to position UNIQA clearly as an employer and distinguish it on the market and thereby to receive more applications, in particular more suitable ones. UNIQA is the choice for a better life. This pledge applies both to our customers as well as to our employees. #startyourbetter is a motivating appeal that applies equally to applicants and UNIQA colleagues: UNIQA is the place where anyone can start and actively shape their own individual “better” life.

Our flexible working options, the gradual modernisation of our offices, a wide range of offers for physical and mental well-being, the services of the Works Council and a number of other benefits such as employee participation and an increased meal allowance in 2022 all provide evidence of this promise. We also rely on a corporate culture that is heavily characterised by community and appreciation.

Broad external recognition

Numerous employer awards and seals of quality, such as “Forbes World’s Best Employers” once again in 2022, show that we are already well on the way to achieving our goal of becoming the most attractive employer in the industry.

Diversity & inclusion

Our employees are just as diverse as our customers. This diversity makes UNIQA a place for personal growth, development and meaningful engagement. We only consider our guiding principle “Living better together” to be fulfilled when equal rights and equal opportunities are actually given in their entirety.

This also means that we appreciate ourselves not only in our professional roles, but always also as human beings, in all our diversity. Committed employees continued to actively shape the customer experience and the working environment at UNIQA in 2022 as part of various networks. For instance, the results of a study carried out internally on the topic of generations were presented with measures developed based on this. A well-founded analysis of the customer journey from the LGBTQIA+ perspective offers starting points for some specific improvements in this area.

We reaffirmed our fundamental rejection of all forms of exclusion and discrimination in 2022 in many different ways. For instance, UNIQA celebrated the Day of Inclusion of People with Disabilities as well as International Women’s Day. A series of events organised by the women’s network attracted many people throughout the year. During Pride Month, in addition to taking part in the Pride parades in Vienna and Warsaw, the rainbow display at the UNIQA Tower and joining Pride Biz also provided strong signals in favour of promoting sexual diversity in the world of work.

Measures and objectives for 2022

UNIQA already appointed a Diversity & Inclusion Officer and set up a Diversity & Inclusion Committee back in 2021. We have now pursued our 2022 goals consistently within this structure. With the “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy” adopted by the Management Board in March 2022, two specific focal points in the core insurance business were defined by the end of 2023 and backed up with key figures: more women in management positions and higher-grade roles as well as equal pay.

• In the area of equal pay, we have already been able to reduce the inexplicable pay gap at the Austrian site to below 1 per cent through the measures implemented in the previous year. The aim is to continue to ensure fair pay and achieve a gradual reduction in the structural pay gap through a control loop of detailed analyses and concrete measures.
• The aim is to increase the proportion of women in management positions and higher-grade roles by 5  percentage points. We see the equality of women in expert roles as an important basis for equality in succession planning and equal participation in all management processes. Measures within various HR processes as well as mentoring, support for childcare, working from home and even greater flexibility in working hours should further improve the corresponding overall conditions.

At the same time, we have developed and implemented a standardised process for dealing with allegations of discrimination and started to develop a Group-wide Diversity & Inclusion Policy.

The inclusion of people with disabilities was also pursued consistently in 2022. UNIQA has actively addressed the issue of disability as a career factor by taking part in the myAbility Talent Programme. Networking with highly qualified students with disabilities or chronic illnesses is intended to gradually lead to more innovative and diverse teams. The newly designed floor at our headquarters was reviewed for accessibility as part of an audit. The aim now is to incorporate the findings into the overall planning, thereby supporting UNIQA in offering even more inclusive workplaces.

Priorities and challenges for 2023

In addition to the continued focus on equal pay and increasing the proportion of women in leadership roles, the agenda for 2023 includes increased transparency and continuing to raise awareness among managers. Plans include for instance a new indexation as part of the Women’s Career Index, as well as management discussions on various aspects of diversity and inclusion. These will be based on detailed analyses and new dashboards that are to be created.

In addition, the intention is to extend the radius further onto our core markets. In this context, a qualitative survey on diversity and inclusion is on the agenda for 2023 in the CEE and SEE countries. In our second home market of CEE, we will be focusing next on our large national companies in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, where we will also implement standardised and routine equal pay analyses and measures by the end of 2023.

The focus for 2023 will continue to be on promoting an inclusive and non-discriminatory work environment. We want to implement new concepts for increasing the flexibility of the framework conditions to strengthen the work/life balance on the one hand, while at the same time responding to the change in expectations of generations Y and Z. We plan to enshrine diversity & inclusion in our HR processes even further through appropriate training as part of the newly defined onboarding process. Training on equality legislation should also protect employees more effectively from discrimination and harassment.

More information on diversity management can be found in the Corporate Governance Report.