People & Culture
Employees of SIX have demonstrated extraordinary resilience and engagement over the last two years of the pandemic. Their safety and well-being is of utmost importance for SIX. Protecting measures were consistently adapted to the current situation. Fostering an open and inclusive workplace culture continues to remain a priority for SIX as well. It is a prerequisite to successfully executing the strategy.
To ensure business continuity and the stability of critical financial market infrastructure, the health and well- being of employees is of utmost importance for SIX. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, SIX deployed an internal “Corona Taskforce” that continuously informed employees about the development of the pandemic and took appropriate measures throughout 2020 and 2021.
With recurring waves of the pandemic, a large part of the workforce worked from home or in split operation for most of 2020 and 2021, while at the same time dealing with major challenges in both professional and private life. For example, the integration of BME into the SIX organization brought new structures, responsibilities, and processes for employees to get used to on both sides. At the same time, working from home required the reorganization of family lives and private daily routines.
As a consequence of the ongoing situation, topics like work-life balance – and related issues such as the compatibility of work and family, gender equality, and (mental) health – came even more into focus. SIX therefore offered free external assistance and confidential counseling to employees for both work-related and personal problems. In specific leadership training, SIX focused on employee care, including awareness and prevention of mental health issues, the promotion of a good working atmosphere, and collaboration. SIX also promoted community building among employees, for example with the peer coaching program parents@work, gender diversity and LGBT+ communities or sport and leisure clubs. In collaboration with the Advance network for “Gender Equality in Business,” SIX offers ongoing mentoring and education opportunities specifically for women.
Culture Transformation as a Prerequisite for a Successful Future
An open, inclusive and growth-oriented corporate culture, coined by the “SIX Spirit” values (Customer Focus, Collaboration, Ownership, and Trust) remains a top priority for SIX. It is a prerequisite for successfully executing on its strategy. With a long-term perspective, SIX works on three focus areas to develop its corporate culture. This includes leadership development based on new leadership capabilities, initiatives related to employee engagement, and organizational frameworks for employee performance, development and compensation to optimally support SIX Spirit values.
SIX fosters diversity, equity and inclusion. In this respect, SIX has set itself the goal increasing the percentage of women in middle and top management to a minimum of 25% by the end of 2023. In 2021, SIX was able to increase the proportion of women in management positions to 22.2% (compared to 19.3% in 2020). With Hannah Zaunmüller as new Chief Human Resources Officer, a second female joined the ten-member extended executive board in February 2021, while the representative proportion of women on the Board of Directors fell to 10% with the resignation of Sabine Keller-Busse at the end of April 2021 (see Corporate Governance). ■