Development opportunities
Committed employees guarantee success
Employees are indispensable when it comes to implementing the “Swiss Post of tomorrow” strategy. That’s why Swiss Post supports and encourages its existing staff. And it is actively looking for new talent – supported by strong employer branding.
The working world is changing rapidly and inexorably due to digitization and automation. Job profiles are changing, and new professions requiring new skills and qualifications are being created. And these specialists are in demand: the labour market is highly competitive.
People are still irreplaceable
Fewer applications per job, more time until positions are filled – Swiss Post is also feeling the impact of the nationwide labour shortage, which is being exacerbated by the wave of retirements among the baby boomer generation. Despite all the technological changes, one thing remains constant: the heart of Swiss Post is its employees. Without them, Swiss Post could not fulfil its public service mandate.
Swiss Post is powering a modern Switzerland. Its employees, who work in more than 100 professions, keep this motor running. Mail carriers climb the steep steps to a stone cottage in a remote mountain village. Sorting center employees sort consignments by hand whenever they can’t be processed by machine. And customer advisors find a tailored solution for a business customer’s problem. Digitization and automation might be able to support and accelerate our processes and activities, but they can never replace staff members. It is people who keep everything running smoothly, and this will remain the case.
Skills for the Swiss Post of tomorrow
Ongoing digitization has already changed many job profiles, and this transformation will continue accelerating. “For Swiss Post as an employer, that’s why it’s all the more important to support staff and offer them the necessary development opportunities at the right time,” says Valérie Schelker, Head of Human Resources. Swiss Post is committed to continuous development and targeted assistance. For this reason, it prepares leaders for their role as coaches who support their employees with progress meetings and targeted development measures. Swiss Post offers numerous options for help with this, including on-the-job development, expanded responsibilities, temporary job changes and targeted IT and language courses – or even certified leadership courses.
Creating an attractive employer brand
In order to attract and retain the best workforce, Swiss Post consciously aims to position itself as an attractive employer – both within and outside the company. Fair employment conditions, an appreciative corporate culture, supportive leaders, meaningful work content and appealing development opportunities are the most important elements in fulfilling this ambition. Swiss Post relies on credible and unique employer branding to achieve optimum positioning for its innovative future issues, diverse job and development opportunities and attractive working conditions. The central claim, “Paint the future yellow”, forms the framework for all staff recruitment and retention measures.
Collective employment contracts (CECs)
A strong social partnership
Swiss Post places particular value on attractive and fair employment conditions. For this reason, it has cultivated a solid social partnership with the union syndicom and staff association transfair over many years. Their joint task is to establish modern employment conditions for staff that also enable Swiss Post to be economically successful. These provisions are set out in seven collective employment contracts (CECs) that govern working life. The current CECs for Post CH Ltd and PostFinance Ltd and the agreement for the umbrella CEC expire at the end of 2024. Negotiations for these agreements began in autumn 2023.
Industry-wide CEC for 40,000 mail carriers
The 40,000 or so employees currently working in the delivery sector supply the whole of Switzerland with parcels, letters, newspapers and advertising every day. Previously, there were no uniform minimum standards for their employment conditions. In 2023, the largest employers and organizations in the Swiss logistics market, the union syndicom and the staff association transfair completed and ratified negotiations for an industry-wide CEC for delivery in Switzerland. The Federal Council will make the final decision. If it declares the agreement generally binding, the industry-wide CEC for delivery can come into effect.
Non-Financial Report, page 48What Swiss Post offers its staff
Flexible working hours and environment
Whether it’s mobile or remote working, part-time employment, job sharing, sabbaticals, part-time with older age work or gradual retirement: Swiss Post helps all employees to balance their personal and professional lives. Between now and 2030, Swiss Post will develop around 12 centrally located, modern and needs-oriented “office hubs” across Switzerland, encouraging face-to-face interactions, networking, innovative strength and integration for new employees.
Boosting diversity
A career at Swiss Post should be open to anyone, no matter their gender, language, background, disability or age. Swiss Post is committed to diversity, inclusion and an appreciative, discrimination-free working environment for its staff. Regular events and training courses for leaders and employees are designed to raise awareness and promote open-minded interactions. Employees can also join various internal networks to share their experiences and thoughts.
Non-Financial Report, page 44Lifelong learning
Swiss Post helps staff to take responsibility for their own professional development. It supports lifelong learning through a varied range of options, such as certified specialist and leadership courses, informal opportunities for discussion and online learning formats. Employees can strengthen their digital skills through the “Digital Champions” programme, which offers self-learning modules, expert sessions and networking opportunities.
Non-Financial Report, page 46Equal pay for equal work
Swiss Post is committed to pay equality and transparency. For this reason, it now states starting salaries and potential salary ranges in all advertisements for CEC-based jobs – one of the first companies in Switzerland to do so. One of Swiss Post’s top priorities is equal pay for different genders. As the current pay analysis shows, the unexplained pay difference in all organizational units is significantly below the Confederation’s tolerance threshold of 5 percent: a very good result that Swiss Post wants to make even better.
Non-Financial Report, page 44Embedding an understanding of management
Trust, customer centricity and commitment: these values are the basis for Swiss Post’s corporate culture. Through the Group-wide leadership programme “En viadi”, geared especially towards the transformation, Swiss Post is embedding its new understanding of management in the company by supporting and empowering leaders. After all, leaders shape the operational framework, create an appreciative environment and challenge and promote their staff according to their strengths – which gives them a particular responsibility for effective collaboration.
Non-Financial Report, page 39Encouraging good health and motivation
Swiss Post wants its staff to be physically and mentally healthy – and to remain motivated as a result. However, absences have risen in recent years, both in Switzerland and at Swiss Post. For this reason, Swiss Post is investing in preventive measures, including training for leaders. Thanks to the StayFit platform, employees can now contact Swiss Post’s social and career guidance service via an anonymous chat function (initially available only in German). A wide range of information is also available there.
Non-Financial Report, page 42