Social sustainability

Sickness absence and rehabilitation

During the year, Cell Impact had an average sickness absence of 8.5 percent. Those who are collectively employed had a higher rate of sickness absence than the company’s white-collar employees.

To manage sickness absence, the company has had rehabilitation meetings and support from occupational health services and has received rehabilitation support from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). Internally, during the year, Cell Impact developed clearer procedures for reporting sickness and better, more frequent rehabilitation meetings.

Diversity

During its recent expansive years, Cell Impact has made a conscious and strategic effort to attract talent to the company. Recruiting is based on the needs of the business and an analysis of the expertise and skills required to perform a job effectively. Until the redundancies in 2023, this competency-based recruitment contributed to diversity among employees in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and religion as well as educational and industry backgrounds.

As a consequence of the redundancies in 2023, however, diversity has decreased significantly. Despite this, the company has managed to maintain a relatively even gender distribution compared with the manufacturing industry as a whole.

Expertise and training

Cell Impact operates in an industry that is prone to change and that is also experiencing substantial growth. With its unique and extensive experience in manufacturing flow plates, Cell Impact is a center of knowledge in the industry. Expertise and training are therefore central. To be successful, it is crucial for Cell Impact to have employees who are constantly learning and developing in their work.

Through periodic employee surveys, Cell Impact continuously monitors how employees perceive their learning experience. In 2023, the number of employees who stated that they learn and develop continuously in their work increased from 80 percent to 63 percent. The lower level in the fourth quarter is considered temporary due to the period’s smaller workforce and personnel reductions.

At Cell Impact, employees are frequently engaged in cross-functional projects and support and assist with tasks beyond their regular roles. This is often perceived as stimulating and helps employees learn from each other. Cell Impact also ensures that the right information is delivered to the right person at the right time and conducts individual check-ins where knowledge, skills and learning are on the agenda.

Onboarding programs, internal training and competency matrices are other crucial elements in the company’s learning culture. Cell Impact uses these to monitor development and ensure that both new and experienced employees have the right conditions to grow in their roles.

Accidents and incidents

Cell Impact’s efforts to ensure a good work environment lay the foundation for a safe, health and developmental workplace for all employees. It is therefore important for the company to work systematically, always report near misses, identify risks and address areas of concern. Through safety rounds and an occupational health and safety committee, Cell Impact conducts analyses and follows up on accidents and near misses, especially within production where the risk of accidents and near misses is greatest.

Preventive initiatives involve systematic occupational health and safety initiatives where Cell Impact considers occupational health and safety aspects in all significant decisions related to the company’s operations. Cell Impact conducts risk assessments, for example, during the installation of new machinery, changes in processes and tasks or changes in personal conditions, leading to safer ways of working.

Through periodic employee surveys, all employees are engaged in occupational health and safety issues In these, employees’ responses are transparent and can be reviewed in real-time by everyone within an anonymity threshold of three responses. The data is used to prioritize safety efforts and it also creates awareness among everyone regarding occupational health and safety issues.

Handling redundancies

2023 was a challenging and tumultuous year with costreduction programs that led to redundancies and people witnessing their colleagues leaving the company. Negotiation processes were carried out with positive cooperation from union representatives, focusing on securing expertise and enabling sustainable and profitable operations. During the course of this process, Cell Impact communicated constantly. Thanks to an efficient process, the company managed reduce the amount of time that employees had to spend wondering about their future.