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ZF Way - It’s About Community ZF Way - It’s About Community
CompanyStrategy ZF Way - Our Principles

Our Principles

It’s About Community

ZF is pursuing the ZF Way. In times of transformation, when the pace of change continues to accelerate, the Group-wide and long-term program provides ZF employees in all functions, divisions and regions with orientation towards the future.

ZF Way: Powered by Teamwork

Winning Together in the Race for Future Mobility

The ZF Way is a transformation program for the organizational development of ZF and describes the “how” behind the company’s strategy. It formulates the way we do things as an organization, expresses what the people at ZF stand for and how, together, they will win the race for tomorrow’s mobility.

Our Principles

How do we successfully transform our business? Our method is based on the five proven and timeless principles that helped ZF rise as a company and organization over decades to become a leading mobility specialist on global markets. They are: passion, anticipation, diversity, empowerment and accountability.

Passion

Strong will to succeed!
We work with passion to achieve outstanding results through bold decisions that are in the interest of our customers.

Anticipation

Excel & Explore!
We recognize changes at an early stage, look for new solutions and work continuously on improvements.

Diversity

Team beats silo!
We act as a team and use the advantages that arise from different mentalities, ideas and geographical regions. This is how we generate a culture of creativity.

Empowerment

Engage!
We work as a team in a collaborative and committed manner, sharing tasks and creating an atmosphere in which everyone can expand their own competencies.

Accountability

Promise made! – Promise kept!
We act pragmatically and feel accountable as a team for the promised performance as well as for the result. We act in accordance with the law and our company policies.

Intrinsic motivation

ZF Way in Practice

The ZF Way describes the implementation of our strategy with five principles that are lived and breathed within the company. It’s a concept that works. One proof point for this is the internal ZF Excellence Award. Since 1995, ZF employees worldwide have had the chance to receive internal recognition by submitting their creative and meaningful projects and ideas. The quality competition has thus far encompassed five categories. 2021 saw the addition of another – The ZF Way.

Numerous divisions, regions and functions submitted projects with the aim of winning the coveted award. All the ideas demonstrated a high level of commitment, creativity and determination. The projects submitted show that the ZF Way has been embraced by employees across all hierarchies and locations.

The winning team of the ZF Excellence Award in the category “ZF Way”.

The winning team of the ZF Excellence Award in the category “ZF Way”. The team from Chennai, India, got awarded for the "Novel Lightweight Alloy Development". The winners aim to develop a novel material for non-ferrous metal casting (NFMC) and walk the ZF Way.

ZF Way Excellence Award: The Winners

The award is hugely important to ZF employees. In 2023, 680 creative ideas in six categories were submitted from all over the world. Here is the selection of the winners. The virtual Award Ceremony took place in the beginning of 2024:

Learning Organization

Group-wide Qualification Campaign

How VUCA and Megatrends are Influencing the Working World

The abbreviation VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It describes the challenges in a world affected by rapid and unpredictable changes. This also applies to the working world and the industry in which ZF operates.

E-Cademy: Skillshub

In addition, megatrends are changing entire societies and forcing companies to realign their visions, structures, business models, processes, offers and communication.

ZF is also in its transformation, but we do not only want to master these challenges but also turn them into business opportunities. As a central component during the transformation, ZF supports its employees in acquiring new competencies so that they can use them in their daily work.

From E-Mobility to Digitalization to Sustainability

It all started with the so-called E-Cademy – a qualification initiative of the Electrified Powertrain Technology Division to get prepared for the requirements of the future in the field of e-mobility. This initiative was very successful and established a new learning culture that greatly enriches us as a company. In today's world, it is a decisive factor to be able to understand trends and follow the transformation. With this knowledge, everyone can actively contribute to shaping change.

The successful concept is now available to around 92,000 ZF employees with PC workplaces under the name "Skills Hub". In addition to the learning content for e-mobility, the offer was expanded to the megatrends of "digitalization" and "sustainability".

In the "Skills Hub" ZF employees find a common place of learning with learning formats that are tailored to different needs. They can also exchange ideas for transformation with their colleagues worldwide.

The concept has proven to be popular with more than 33,000 employees who have now started their learning journey on the Skills Hub. And that number continues to rise.

The ZF Way - From the Past Into the Future

For more than 100 years we have empowered and grown our ZF family. We are proud of the people who shaped our successes in the past, who do it now and will do so in the future.

Further Information

ZF Strategy: Next Generation Mobility

Our mission for clean and safe mobility – automated, convenient and affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Code of Conduct

The code of conduct underpins ZF’s principles of business behavior.

Careers at ZF

Find out entry opportunities, vacancies and good reasons for ZF here.