The award nominations are based on research conducted by the Institute of Research & Data Aggregation, an organization that works with a mission to provide evaluation data of employers and positively contribute to employer branding and recruiting. In 2017, the institute established the ‘Leading Employer’ award in Germany which uses Meta-studies to evaluate employment and recruitment practices of thousands of companies across Germany and several other locations in Europe. Being one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals, Evonik regards the award as a confirmation and motivation of its international activities as an employer as well. The company adopts a very clear position globally: people are at the heart of the workplace at Evonik – and the company’s employees are the basis of its success. Evonik won multiple awards for its employment and employer branding practices including the HR Excellence Award in Singapore, European Excellence, Leading Employer Award for Women in Alabama, and Top Employer Award in China.

“At Evonik, we strive to be among the best employers in the world, because we believe that our biggest asset is the highly qualified and engaged workforce that we have. They are truly the driving force behind the success of our organization, and I am pleased that our efforts are recognized by the external market,” says Thomas Wessel, CHRO and labor relations director of Evonik Industries. 

To define Germany’s leading employers, the award organization says that it employs a scoring model that ranks companies across different industries, company sizes, and organizational forms. The assessment is based on multiple areas including employee satisfaction, health management, employee offerings, talent communications, diversity, innovation, and sustainability. From interns and young professionals to experienced professionals, every target group takes part in the evaluation to ensure that the results provide a comprehensive reflection of the reality. 

“Being among the top 1% of employers in Germany is a great achievement for us. It shows that Evonik places a great emphasis on people and has a strong global employer brand,” says Anne McCarthy, Global Head of Employer Branding at Evonik Industries.

Evonik operates in more than one hundred countries across six continents and has a diverse workforce that represents over 120 nationalities all working together to foster the growth of the organization.