Attracting, enabling and engaging a diverse workforce

We strongly encourage the identification, hiring, and promotion of talented individuals from diverse backgrounds. We aim to achieve this by implementing robust processes—such as ensuring diverse interview panels for open positions, training managers on unconscious bias, and conducting pay equity audits for associates at all levels.

We are building a performance-driven culture with heart—where people are recognized for delivering impressive results, where all associates can thrive and be at their best, where open dialogue drives continuous improvement, and where high-performing teams create exceptional customer experiences that lead to strong business outcomes. Arxada’s  Behaviors reinforce these efforts and serve as the foundation for creating a great workplace.

Attracting & developing talent

As a vibrant and innovative company in a competitive sector, attracting and retaining top talent is essential to our success. In 2024, we continued to strengthen our people strategy by launching Arxada’s mentorship program, designed to foster leadership development through meaningful conversations, reflection, and actionable growth plans. We also introduced dedicated learning spaces for career development and streamlined our onboarding process to ensure a more seamless experience for new hires.

By cultivating a unique and inclusive culture—guided by recognized leaders in the chemical industry—we offer associates meaningful opportunities for career advancement and personal growth. This not only makes Arxada an attractive employer for new talent but also reinforces our commitment to engaging and developing our current teams. By valuing our workforce and providing purposeful work, we are building a strong, resilient, and thriving business.

To support both new and current associates, we offer comprehensive training and personalized development plans. All associates complete annual compliance training, including our Code of Conduct. People Leaders and large group contributors (1,000 associates) also have access to LinkedIn Learning to build job-specific skills and explore personal interests.

In 2024, talent attraction efforts were led by local and regional teams, including partnerships with organizations supporting women in STEM and early-career apprenticeship programs. We focused on inclusive hiring practices to attract a broad and diverse candidate pool—aligned with our goal of building a workforce that reflects the communities where we operate. A new Recruitment Policy was introduced to guide and support these efforts.

We also rolled out personalized development plans for all associates, supported by training on goal setting and feedback mechanisms. These initiatives provide greater clarity around expectations and ensure associates have the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Engaging associates

Associate engagement is essential to retention and long-term success—especially in a dynamic business environment. We prioritize listening to our people and ensuring they understand our purpose and values. In 2024, we enhanced engagement through acting on the feedback we receive through our specialized engagement surveys (twice a year). Every team discussed the feedback and agreed on actions to raise the engagement. We started recognition programs and intensified our communication to involve all associates in our strategic priorities, share learnings and celebrate successes. 

All associates have access to a regional handbook outlining relevant policies, practices, and expectations. It includes practical information on benefits, company culture, and how we address misconduct such as harassment and discrimination. This resource helps associates feel informed, supported, and aligned with our values. Learn more about our approach to business ethics, including our Code of Conduct.

To better understand and improve associate experience, we use Peakon, our engagement platform, to conduct the Insights2Action survey. This tool measures key drivers of engagement—such as recognition, workload, and role clarity—and provides an overall engagement score. Results are shared at both team and global levels, helping us identify areas that need attention and enabling local teams to develop targeted action plans. 

In 2024, our health and wellbeing score rose from 7.2 to 7.5 out of 10, reflecting growing confidence in our support for associate wellbeing. Our employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)—which indicates how likely associates are to recommend Arxada as a workplace—reached an average of 7.7/10, signaling strong engagement and satisfaction.

To further improve engagement, we introduced enhanced training for line managers to support more meaningful development conversations. Despite economic challenges, we saw an increase in engagement in 2024, driven by stronger communication, recognition efforts, and action planning.

We also focused on building a more connected and informal culture—encouraging open dialogue, creating moments for reflection and connection, and reinforcing the importance of taking time off for recovery. Additionally, we began developing a new Arxada Behaviors program to support cultural transformation and long-term engagement.

This year, female representation in our senior leadership team increased from 26% to 29%, exemplifying the ways in which we are encouraging women and creating a culture of inclusiveness at all levels.³⁴

For the whole company population, the representation of female associates increased from 26% to 27%.

Leadership Commitment to Global Inclusion

To demonstrate our commitment to maintain a culture where all associates feel respected, included, and appreciated, we began actively communicating key messages about inclusion to our Senior Management Community in 2022. Our Executive Leadership Team (ELT) remains deeply engaged and passionate about advancing awareness and progress in this area.

That same year, we established a Global Inclusion Steering Committee to champion inclusion at the operational level. This group continues to foster a culture that embraces diversity and promotes inclusive practices across the organization. These efforts have contributed to a 14% increase in female-to-male hires since 2022.

To attract and retain top talent, we are developing a comprehensive Talent Engine Roadmap. This includes workstreams focused on aligning job levels and performance measures globally, standardizing our early careers approach, and building a robust learning and development plan—complete with training for line managers. The roadmap is closely linked to our Global Inclusion goals, helping us build a more diverse talent pipeline through targeted partnerships and inclusive, gender-neutral job descriptions. 

In 2024, we continued to support Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are open to all associates. Each ERG has defined strategies and action plans tailored to the communities they represent. Through these groups, associates participate in educational sessions, virtual webinars, and meaningful discussions, while advocating for positive organizational change. All ERGs are sponsored by senior leaders, reinforcing their importance and visibility across the company.

Commitment to workplace safety, integrity and associate wellbeing

We are dedicated to maintaining a safe, dynamic and compliant workplace through comprehensive company-wide and local policies. Our internal guidelines cover critical areas such as living wages, integrity and anti-harassment, collective bargaining, and the labelling, storage and transport of hazardous materials.

We provide our associates with an Ethics & Compliance Portal and Hotline, enabling them to report harassment, ethical concerns, legal or regulatory violations or pose questions. Associates can remain anonymous. Arxada's hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They have the option to speak to a call center representative, file an online report or contact Arxada's compliance group who can address their matter appropriately.

Associate benefits

Arxada offers a comprehensive range of benefits tailored to local needs and designed to support the overall wellbeing of our associates. These include medical and healthcare services, life insurance, disability coverage, and retirement savings or pension plans. Associates and their families are supported through various life stages with location-specific, inclusive parental leave policies and childcare benefits.

While benefit offerings may vary by country, our commitment to providing essential support remains consistent across all regions. In some locations, we also offer additional coverage such as dental and vision care, and tuition assistance to encourage continued learning and development. We actively track benefit utilization and eligibility data to continuously enhance our offerings.

Commitment to pay fairness and equity 

Arxada is committed to providing fair and equitable reward opportunities for all associates. Our strategy reflects our desire to drive pay fairness and positively impact systemic pay disparities, as well as stimulate desire for action. Key initiatives include:

• Conducting annual living wage studies to identify and address potential disparities by location

• Regularly reviewing macro-level pay gaps

• Monitoring living wage benchmarks and trends

• Offering targeted training to ensure unbiased reward decisions based on compensable factors 

In 2024, we conducted a living wage study aligned with the latest International Development House (IDH) Recognized Living Wage Benchmarks (as of April 2024) and found no disparities. Arxada proudly pays a living wage in all locations where we operate.

Fostering a Supportive Culture

Our commitment to associates is reflected in our values and actions. We promote work-life balance and personal development through a variety of initiatives, including:

• The Bike to Work Challenge

• Racial equity lunch & learns

• Global Pride Month events

• Pay equity education for managers

• Book clubs

• Training on psychological safety
  Open discussions and training on how to manage your personal energy and (mental) health

• Blood and stem cell donation drives

• Local wellbeing activities

These programs help create a workplace where associates feel supported, valued, and empowered to thrive.

Looking forward to 2025

In 2025, we will continue our communication regarding the activities of our ERGs and further build on the foundation of a nurturing culture that promotes inclusion and respect for all our associates. Through our open communication channels, Engagement surveys and ERGs, we can extract the real voices of our associates and understand their motivations and needs. This input will help us build the supporting policies and practices required to reach our goals. We will continue to maintain a continuous feedback loop to ensure our associates feel heard and are helping to drive policies with their insights.

 

^{[31] Our senior leadership includes the following job roles: Associate Director; Director; Senior Director; Vice President; Senior Vice President; President; and CEO.}

^{[32] The data covers 100% of our workforce, including Arxada (legacy LSI), TROY and Enviro Tech.}