Even as a large, multinational company, Sika has maintained its agility, which allows the company to implement business opportunities quickly. To ensure that this remains the case, employee knowledge must keep up with current trends and market demands. That’s why Sika invests in its employees to promote business resilience by improving their skills, knowledge, and expertise as well as attracting diverse talents, in terms of age, gender, and culture. 

Talent Attraction and Retention

The attraction, retention, and development of talent is key for future Sika growth prospects. Therefore, talent shortage is deemed as one of the top risks for Sika in the Enterprise Risk Management framework. Sika's fast growth and the diversification of the markets will demand numerous management and technical talents, so highly targeted hiring and retention measures are very important to mitigate another risk: the loss of the unique Sika culture.  

To mitigate such risks, the company implements several measures which are reviewed and updated yearly.

Attract Measures
  • HR marketing and branding initiatives, such as the global employer branding campaign called “Going Beyond. Together” to emphasize Sika’s work environment, where employees generate a meaningful impact, have a safe place to work, and enjoy a great team spirit.
  • Implementation of SmartRecruiters, a new recruiting system which enhances candidate experience and increases recruitment efficiencies.
  • Establishing the new position of Global Head of Talent Acquisition to strengthen and further develop the Talent Acquisition function within Sika.
Develop and Retain Measures
  • Alignment of people strategy with Sika Strategy 2028 and people initiatives between Corporate and Regional Management (i.e., people engagement initiatives, succession planning, talent reviews, etc.).
  • Global initiatives on culture, people, and leadership such as the People & Culture Campaign “One Team. Many Voices”, the Global Employee Survey, the Leadership Commitment framework, Sika Day, and the Women of Sika campaign.
  • New approach to performance management with the continued roll-out of the Performance Debrief Dialogue (PDD) process focusing on employees’ key achievements, aspirations, and development needs.
  • Fostering international careers by offering attractive opportunities to work abroad and supporting assignees with customized agreements based on the international assignment framework and guidelines.
  • Targeted development with means of a comprehensive and scalable development portfolio available to all levels of employees, enabling knowledge sharing and developing skills for the future.
  • Activating an Internal Opportunity Marketplace to upskill and unlock the potential of internal candidates, to enhance mobility across regions and functions, and to foster a talent sharing culture in Sika.

Talent Development and Leadership Program

Talent development is a strategic imperative to ensure a high-performing and sustainable organization. Sika takes pride in a comprehensive leadership development portfolio at global, regional, and local level to boost the talent pipeline. The portfolio is constantly growing as the company needs to stay on top of the requirements of the business and adapt the offering to employees’ needs to succeed. The current offering includes annual and bi-annual programs:

  • The Global Leadership Program (GLP), empowers the next generation of senior leaders by cultivating leadership competencies that align with Sika’s areas of focus: innovation, sustainability, and customer centricity.
  • The General Manager Program (GMP), which is dedicated to newly appointed General Managers and focuses on training and sharpening business operational skills to confidently head and govern a Sika subsidiary. It is tailored specifically to General Manager role needs.
  • The Regional Leadership Program (RLP), which is designed to enhance the required capabilities portfolio to fill large country, area, or regional positions for the purposes of stocking the talent pipeline for business-critical key positions.
  • The Leadership Accelerator Program, which is dedicated to first-time managers and middle management employees to expand managers’ leadership competencies and increase their individual and team performance.
  • Young Leadership Programs, which are delivered to help young employees in building future perspective, as well as engagement, and exposure.
  • Executive Development Program (EDP) is a bi-annual, exclusive, and fully customized program for Senior Managers, Regional Senior Managers, and Corporate Senior Managers, focused on fostering leadership excellence and strategic acumen in Sika’s key business fields.

Sika Business School and Academies

The Sika Business School offers sales training, professional skills training, and support to Sika academies in the areas of procurement, operations, and sustainability. Future managers are trained at various levels, either through continuous training initiated by the respective national organization or provided by the Sika Business School, Sika Academies, and external education partners. Sika cooperates with various business schools and universities, where the company provided training for talented employees with the potential to assume Senior Management positions.