Employees

Engaged and committed employees are enthusiastic about their work and dedicate themselves to the success of the company – every day. Implenia encourages this commitment through measures such as targeted training and development, a modern, family-friendly working environment, and a culture of diversity and integration. These efforts have been further strengthened by the 2025 Sustainability Goals.

Commitment to committed employees

A young carpenter had to give up his trade at the age of 27 owing to health problems. Following a second apprenticeship at Implenia he is still working at the company – as a junior controller. He is also studying business economics on the side.

And then there’s the explosives expert who took over project management of a tunnelling project for the first time, proving that you don’t need years of university study to progress in your career. Not if you’re brave, curious and passionate about your work – and are prepared to take on the challenges that Implenia can offer you.

And there’s the Iraqi civil engineer, who made his living as a pizza cook for almost 19 years before returning to the construction industry by training as a surveyor and doing an internship at Implenia.

It’s very personal stories like these that most clearly show why Implenia actively invests in its employees – it pays off in commitment. Recruiting and retaining committed employees is enshrined in the company’s 2025 Sustainability Goals. Implenia aims to achieve these goals with a range of existing and new tools.

Progress through training and employee development

Implenia is committed to professional advancement. It offers its employees the opportunity for long-term development and progress within the company through a variety of training and development programmes that are always geared towards new challenges. These range from safety training on construction sites to specialist skills training, education in new technologies to individual career development programmes, not to mention the digital eCampus, which has now been rolled out to all countries. Employees can now register for training or start an eLearning course with a click of the mouse.

In 2021 there was a particular focus on the ongoing development of management competencies among the Implenia Extended Leadership Forum (IELF), which comprises around 100 of Implenia’s top managers. Together with emba X – a new joint Executive MBA course run by the ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen (www.embax.ch) – Implenia created a development programme tailored to its specific needs. It consisted of several modules on topics such as change management, leadership and collaboration. The foundation modules were mandatory for all managers, while additional modules on important professional and personal topics could be selected by the individual. Participants could work through the topics interactively and to suit their personal leadership experience. Well-trained managers act as multipliers: they have a direct impact on the satisfaction and commitment of their employees.

Committed employees thanks to modern, family-friendly working conditions and a culture of diversity and inclusion

Shaping your working life to fit your own life: Implenia wants to make this possible for its employees. As an employer, Implenia actively lives up to its values, promotes cooperation in diverse teams and provides a framework in which employees can realise their different life plans. They should be able to arrange their working hours to suit their needs – with clear agreements. Implenia offers flexible mobile working and home working solutions where practicable. This cuts down on travelling and allows employees to spend break times with their families, for example.

Using direct contact and surveys to gauge feelings

It’s important to know how employees are doing. Particularly important, in Implenia’s view, at a time when the Covid pandemic keeps putting severe constraints on opportunities to interact in person. In 2021, therefore, Implenia introduced a new survey tool that quickly and easily allows all units in the Group to gauge how their workforce is feeling.

Being socially responsible together

Implenia is involved in social projects in many countries. These offer employees the opportunity to contribute to a good cause. A good example is the annual social project week arranged for Implenia apprentices in Switzerland in cooperation with Swiss Berghilfe: shortly before graduation, these apprentices work on a construction project that benefits the wider community. In July 2021, 19 apprentices and three supervisors went to the mountain community of Romoos and in just one week built a new playground, a meeting place and a machine washing station for a young farming couple.

On the global level Implenia has worked for many years as a partner of “Smiling Gecko”, an aid organisation that runs economically and environmentally sustainable projects designed to improve the living conditions of people in rural Cambodia. In 2021, Implenia once again dispatched an employee to support the local team for a few months. Further examples of our social commitment, for example in the field of education and promoting young talent, are described in our sustainability report.

Motivate through mutual recognition and praise: You matter!

And last but not least, initiatives such as “YOU MATTER!” make it clear that people are the most important factor in everything Implenia does. Projects can only be planned and implemented with the involvement of lots of different people; results are only achieved with the help of a wide variety of teams. “YOU MATTER!” is the recognition initiative launched in 2021 to encourage employees to praise their colleagues. A platform was created to host short videos as well as pictures and text. Recognition is especially important in an environment characterised by change.