Diversity & Inclusion

Valuing Innovation and Creativity of Diverse Minds

We are a global organization with a workforce of around 70 different nationalities, and we feel proud of the diversity of our people in gender, age, sexual orientation, appearances, abilities, religions, and cultures. Our strength in diversity allows the opportunity to learn and collaborate with people offering different perspectives, skills, and experiences. In addition, it allows the opportunity to create innovative and creative solutions that add value to our company and for our customers all over the world.

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) is one of the cornerstones of Vibracoustic’s strategy and one of the company priorities. Through our D&I Council, we raise awareness about the topic and integrate it into the DNA of the company, to be a natural part of who we are and what we do!

Diversity comes with Inclusion

At Vibracoustic, we are committed to driving a culture of inclusion that encourages authenticity and a psychologically safe environment. Together we aim to create an environment where everyone is accepted and respected and can feel inspired, engaged, empowered, and valued in every manner of their being. Where our employees are empowered to manage their careers and lives in a way that contributes to their long-term mental and physical well-being.

We believe that everyone plays an important role and can have a positive impact on our company. This is why we address all aspects of D&I on local, regional, and global levels in collaboration with our management teams in each location, our Business Units and Corporate Functions, supported by the active involvement and commitment of our top management and CEO.

By 2025 we aim to have

30 %

women at all levels of the organization

We cherish our people who belong to

70

different nationalities

We are convinced that diversity is an essential factor in building successful teams. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, we create a culture of innovation and creativity. Every person should feel included and encouraged to bring their full potential to work. When employees thrive, the business thrives.

Frank Mueller, CEO

Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of our strategy. We are committed to growing and developing in this field, and we are fortunate to have the involvement of countless colleagues all over the world who share our ambition. We are excited to see the positive impact on our people, our culture, and our business.

Carolin Gleichmann, EVP Human Resources

D&I Activities

Diversity & Inclusion Council

At Vibracoustic, we are proactively driving a diverse and inclusive workplace. That is why we have formed the Vibracoustic Global Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Council – a group of passionate employees and top management representatives who are dedicated to strengthening D&I within our company. It aims to make Vibracoustic a more interesting, dynamic, and innovative place to work through positive policies, incentives, programs, and support.

Our goal is to make diversity and inclusion a fundamental part of Vibracoustic’s company culture and identity. As such, the Council’s primary focus is to increase the representation of women in management positions from 19.5 % in 2021 to 30 % by 2025, as well as increase the representation of women – at all levels of the organization – by 50 %.

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The D&I Council is made up of six different workstreams, each of which is led by a dedicated Workstream Lead and supported by a team, including HR representation. These workstreams include Talent and Performance, Recruiting, Inclusive Employee Resource Network, Career and Live, Learning, Training and Mentoring as well as Culture of Inclusion.

We are excited to have our CEO Frank Mueller and the Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Carolin Gleichmann, both on board as sponsors of the Council and are working on the continuation of this important conversation.

Gloria Carmichael  |  Recruiting

Reviewing our current recruiting processes, provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate the unconscious biases with the intention of bringing them to light and implementing tools to reduce them.

Stefan Oehmke  |  Talent and Performance

We focus on inviting our people to develop and grow within Vibracoustic considering their rich and diverse backgrounds.

Marina Cacciutti  |  Career and Live

To foster an engaged and high performing workforce that delivers tangible results, you need to create a culture and environment where employees can bring their authentic selves to work and feel supported as they manage their careers and private lives.

Ian McLeish  |  Learning, Training and Mentoring

We focus on two main areas where we believe we can have a real impact. Onboarding and mentoring. By doing this we want to encourage and empower minority employees to achieve their career goals.

Hans Windahl  |  Culture of Inclusion

One of our initiatives is to improve our meeting culture by identifying specific actions that can help us create a healthier communication style. In turn this will enhance psychological safety in the workplace and foster a more inclusive environment.

Zehra Ucak  |  Inclusive Employee Resource Network

A trusted group of people who support one another and celebrate one another’s successes is important for self-development, growth, and productivity at work. With our employee networks, we focus on the historically underrepresented communities.

Lex Hoogstad  |  Topic Lead

Diversity & Inclusion are integral to the success and growth of a company. By embracing and valuing differences, we are making a stronger and more innovative workplace for all employees.

Seemal Saeed  |  Topic Team

Bringing your true self to work allows you to explore your potential. Valuing each other’s differences creates unity. Differences of opinion help change perspectives. There is so much opportunity for success by being a diverse and inclusive company.

Making Diversity & Inclusion a topic of discussion.

Fostering an Inclusive Work Environment

For us, creating a culture of inclusion does not end with a strategy paper. We are taking small steps in our daily lives to bring Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) to life. It all begins with making D&I a topic of discussion. Our D&I Team conducted interviews with many colleagues all over the company with the purpose of activating thought processes and broadening focus with regards to the different topics of D&I, increasing awareness and creating understanding. We encourage steps taken by our colleagues at our different plant locations by sharing their activities as best practices to promote an inclusive work environment.

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Inclusion starts with an “I”

There are many simple ways everybody can influence inclusion: Using gender-appropriate language; including gender pronouns in email signatures; planning lunch with someone one hasn’t spoken to before. Developing understanding for shy or introverted people creates a work environment where they feel psychologically safe and are more likely to speak up in meetings. Asking questions regarding different perspectives allows us to understand different cultures and opens more opportunities for growth.

Learning Opportunities

To strengthen awareness about Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), Vibracoustic regularly holds events, workshops, and trainings, with ongoing support from the HR colleagues for the D&I Team. With ongoing workshops in our locations around the world, the D&I Team works to continue discussions around these topics. Colleagues also have opportunities to learn about D&I through our digital channels. For example, short videos to discuss important topics with the purpose of sharing knowledge on topics such as equity, culture of inclusion and sexual orientation, among many others.

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To celebrate Pride Month, we invited D&I experts from the LGBTQ+ Community Cristina Săracu from Romania and João Carlos Rocha from Brazil, who shared stories of their personal and professional journeys with Vibracoustic colleagues joining from all over the world. They discussed how one can become an ally of the LGBTQ+ community at the workplace and create a work environment in which people feel comfortable to openly talk about their private lives without fear of being judged or discriminated against.

Furthermore, our people are driving actions at a local level. For example, a team at our plant and Tech Center in Nantes, France, have colleagues from different departments, ages, and genders forming a D&I community which focuses on developing D&I activities and initiatives. Similarly, the local team in our plant in Bursa, Türkiye, has many D&I activities in place, one of which included a football match organized for women with the purpose of breaking biases and stereotypes.

Increase Gender Diversity

At Vibracoustic, we recognize that achieving gender diversity at all levels of the company is important for both our employees and the long-term success of our business.

Our goal is to ensure that women occupy 30 % of the roles within our global workforce by 2025, all making valuable contributions to every area of the business. We also understand that actions speak louder than words, so we’ve come up with concrete actions that will help us to realize these gender equality ambitions.

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Change: Unconscious bias

Despite the best intentions, nobody is perfect. That is why we are working to ensure that all our HR processes take unconscious bias into account, from recruitment to performance reviews. Implementing Diversity & Inclusion into all our processes will make it an integral part of our company and deliver long-term positive change.

Together: A new and empowering network

We launched the Women@Vibracoustic Network. This resource network is designed to enable and empower women throughout the company, linking them together to share their experiences and support one another.

Mentor: Dedicated guidance and support

Sometimes all we need is inspiration, guidance, and support from someone that understands. To that end, we are developing a new mentoring program at Vibracoustic. Available to women from across our company, this program includes regular communication and exchanges with experienced Vibracoustic managers and will help to develop and support our less experienced employees. Discussions will cover a range of important topics, including organizational culture, resilience, networking, intercultural collaboration, self-marketing, and finding the right work-life balance.

A long-term commitment

We understand that achieving gender diversity is not a one-time action or an overnight fix. Reaching our 30 % gender goal will require ongoing dedication, effort, and the evolution of our company. Nevertheless, we are committed to making progress and will continue to adapt, taking more concrete actions to support the development and success of all our people.

D&I Stories