Dorothee Trompeter
We move people – Dorothee Trompeter by interview
Together with her colleagues from People & Organization and in collaboration with the works council, Dorothee promotes a better work-life balance.
“For me, working at Umicore means having a very varied journey in my professional life behind me, but especially in view of the upcoming transformation, also having an exciting road ahead of me.”
| The health and wellbeing of employees is close to Umicore's heart. This commitment has been consistently rewarded with the "workandfamily" Certificate since 2007. What makes Umicore a special employer? |
| "Work and family issues have been important to us for a long time. The question of what we can do to ease the burden on parents so that they can pursue their desired career path was on our minds early on. In cooperation with the works council, we were able to bring about our Umikids day care center, for example. At a time when care for the very young was still very unusual. For a long time, our motto was officially "Enable!" and today it has become a matter of course. I still believe that this attitude is a basic prerequisite particularly for women to be able to do their jobs with equal rights. Today Umicore is also characterised by the fact that one of our strategic goals is 'Zero Harm'. This means that all employees should be able to return home unharmed after their work is done. This requires the attention and efforts of everyone - regardless of hierarchical level." |
| With Umikids - the company daycare center near the site - and the annual holiday activities, Umicore thinks about childcare. Umicore also supports its employees in exceptional family situations such as caring for relatives in need of care. How else does Umicore provide support - can you give us a brief insight into what is offered? |
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"We have had a flexible annual working time arrangement without core working hours for decades, and the starting times in the shift system are usually also relatively flexible. We can also take time off hours or days using the time account. This makes it very easy to take care of doctor's appointments or visits to the authorities. In addition, Umicore allows us to work in a home office two days a week if the job is fitting. The collectively agreed RV 80 scheme allows us to temporarily reduce our working hours to 80% in special exceptional domestic situations in return for full pay compensation. Not to forget the company pension scheme co-financed by Umicore, which ensures that the loss of income in retirement is - if at all - tolerable if the employee has been with the company for a correspondingly long period of time. I would also like to mention the comprehensive training and further education opportunities. Ultimately, these serve not only the company, but also the colleagues. They range from internal seminars on topics like time management or mental health to certified degrees or courses of study." |
| In a fast-changing world of work, there will continue to be changes in the future and work-life balance will continue to play a major role. How will Umicore support colleagues locally in the future? |
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"We are currently considering initiating a fathers' network. Networks can help to advise and support each other in difficult situations. Strengthened fathers can better support their partners in care work and thus open up better professional career paths for them. A subject that will hopefully become obsolete in a few years. The topic of caring for relatives will certainly take up more space in the coming years and thus also make itself felt in a transformed world of work. Finding the appropriate individual framework in consultation with all those involved will be a challenge. The topics of remote work, part-time work, temporary leaves of absence and job sharing will play a greater role here. Further training opportunities in formats such as e-learning and webinars are increasingly established. With all these things, it is important that employees also recognise and take their share of responsibility. Only what is disclosed can be taken into account. We have to find and agree on the solution together." |
