Diversity

We have identified diversity as one of our four core principles. Our teams aim to understand customers' needs on the ground, know the local market, and appreciate and respect different cultural identities. Our diversity management programme enables us to take advantage of the opportunities presented by a diverse range of staff.

Our priorities:

Internationality: We rely on the intercultural experience and competence of our teams for our success in global markets.

Promoting women: We have set ourselves two targets: The proportion of women in the first management tier below the Executive Board should rise to 18 percent by 2022. In the second management tier below the Executive Board, Linde wants the proportion of women to be 22 percent by 2022.  In order to meet these targets, Linde ensures female applicants are given due consideration during the recruitment stage. Furthermore, we are supporting various employee initiatives promoting women. These include cross-departmental networking events and training programmes for women with management responsibility or leadership potential.

Health and performance: Our commitment to equal opportunities also includes integrating employees with severe disabilities or health issues. At Linde, a works agreement has been in place since 1995 governing the reintegration of employees into working life after an extended period of disability.

We want to fill open positions with the candidates best-suited for the job, regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or creed, disability, age or sexual orientation. Our employees are paid on the basis of their role, qualifications and performance. Our global Performance Management System includes assessments of management positions which are independent of the individual concerned. These evaluations aim to ensure transparency, equality and fair remuneration in line with the market. 

Violations of these guidelines may be reported at any time to supervisors, the appropriate human resources departments or the corporate Linde Integrity Line.

We raise our employees' awareness of diversity-related topics in a number of ways. To do so, we have integrated modules on diversity into training and development programmes, such as those offered by Linde University and mandatory training courses for entry-level managers. We also expect our suppliers to respect the principles of equal opportunity and equality. We have outlined these demands in our Code of Conduct for Suppliers.

In 2011, Linde signed the Corporate Charter of Diversity, a German corporate initiative that aims to promote diversity at companies, thereby highlighting our commitment to diversity.