"We are clearly committed to Germany as a business location”
How does Germany remain competitive for ZF as a production and innovation location? In this interview, Dr. Lea Corzilius, Chief Human Resources Officer and Director of Labor Relations, talks about the future of the German ZF plants, sustainable investments, and the importance of smart manufacturing and development processes.
How important will the location Germany be for ZF after the consolidation?
Germany will continue to hold a leading position in the global ZF Group in the future as the base for our headquarters and home to major development and production locations. The consolidation involves making the German plants competitive over the long term so that they can secure new projects and protect jobs. At present we have a fragmented location landscape that results in inefficiencies. That’s why we aim to create lean and strong location networks that enable us to operate successfully as a business on a sustainable footing.
Dr. Lea Corzilius, Chief Human Resources Officer and Director of Labor Relations at ZF
That means we are clearly committed to Germany as a location and also intend to continue to invest up to 30 percent here. Being competitive doesn’t necessarily mean having the lowest wage costs, but calls for the smartest manufacturing concepts, the best development processes and the highest quality. For example, the Friedrichshafen location was able to win a second production line for the TraXon transmission system. And in Saarbrücken, we are investing several hundred million euros in a state-of-the-art, flexible production line for two additional electric passenger car axle drives.
The restructuring will make targeted use of the demographic structure of the workforce. How will you ensure that the Group retains its expertise?
Our corporate social responsibility aims to future-proof ZF. This also includes ensuring that the skills of those colleagues that leave ZF are retained and further developed internally. Over the past year we had around 1,750 internal appointments and promotions, thereby further developing the potential and the expertise of our employees in a targeted manner. We are continually investing in further training for our employees and have launched comprehensive training programs. Particularly in the current transformation phase, education and further training constitute a key factor in the ability to innovate and hence the long-term success of our company. Last year for instance, we used a digital learning platform to train over 36,000 employees in the areas of electric mobility, digitalization and sustainability. As part of this approach, it is down to our ZF culture to find solutions together with the employee representatives.
What distinguishes the ZF culture in times of transformation?
It’s all about community. Our transformation program and our value system ZF Way with its five principles define how cooperation and leadership are shaped within the Group. The principles are firmly embedded in the company and provide the framework in which we successfully implement our strategy. These principles are passion, anticipation, diversity, empowerment and accountability. We encourage our employees to be open and respectful, to assume responsibility and contribute their own ideas. We find that diversity inspires, and we are convinced that it creates the ideal conditions for creativity, innovation and permanent success.
All over the world, we promote a working environment full of appreciation and equal opportunities. Equally important – especially in times of transformation – is the feedback from our employees. Our second global survey “Hello, ZF Team!” was used by almost 70 percent of employees to express opinions, ideas and concerns – simply and confidentially.
