To address the material IROs related to our workforce, specifically enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity by ensuring equal treatment and opportunities for all, attracting and retaining talented and trained staff, and mitigating the risk of stagnation due to outdated knowledge and skills, we have defined specific actions. These actions include training and skills development, developing transformational leadership competencies, talent attraction and retention, performance management and career development, and raising awareness on DE&I. For the material topic S1 Own Workforce, none of our actions exceeded our key action monetary threshold of EUR 5 mn, and therefore these data requirements have not been addressed.
Guided by our P&C Strategy, we prioritize projects for execution annually. OMV allocates substantial financial and human resources to mitigate material risks and contribute to people and culture development in the areas where we operate. This includes an annual budget to implement the actions defined in the People & Culture Strategy and dedicated P&C personnel throughout the Group.
OMV is committed to ensuring that our practices do not cause or contribute to material negative impacts on our own workforce. We prioritize data privacy and security, ensuring that employee information is handled responsibly, ethically and in line with all applicable regulations by granting access rights only to eligible persons. Spot checks and internal audits are conducted to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to personal data.
Cognizant of the social impacts that the energy transition entails, OMV is committed to contributing to a Just Transition for our employees and to addressing the social and economic effects of the transition to an environmentally sustainable economy. As part of our P&C Strategy and ongoing transformation, employee development has become a top priority. We need to identify and integrate employees with a diverse skill set. It is essential to balance reskilling employees to develop new energy solutions while retaining and training those with the skills necessary to support our legacy business. For information on whether and how external developments have been considered regarding dependencies turning into risks, see ESRS 2 General Information. All P&C-related risks are assessed, addressed, and monitored as part of the regular Enterprise-Wide Risk Management (EWRM) process. For details see ESRS 2 General Information.
Training and Skills Development
Training and skills development is both a preventive and an enhancement measure for the opportunity related to talent attraction and retention. By offering competitive training opportunities, we aim to gain an advantage in talent attraction and retention, which is crucial for our ongoing success. Recognizing the risk to our progress by not having up-to-date knowledge and skills, we are committed to continuously improving our training programs to ensure our workforce remains skilled and compliant. To expand our employees’ skill sets to meet the demands of our dynamic business and pave the way to becoming a net-zero company by 2050, we are focusing on several key areas. To enhance our employees’ skills in sustainability, OMV offers a wide range of online learning materials, with learning journeys regularly added to better prepare employees for the evolution of our business. The Sustainability Academy provides curated materials on sustainability topics, expanding ESG knowledge among employees. In 2024, a new learning path focused on hydrogen was launched.
To mitigate the negative impact on our workforce resulting from the transition to a greener, climate-neutral economy, specific initiatives to upskill employees in technical areas are being continued, with a particular focus on transitioning to a low-carbon business, e.g., training on geothermal energy, Carbon Capture & Storage, hydrogen and renewable electricity.
The Data Academy, a global initiative for all finance employees, offers data related training fully integrated with competence management, skill definition, and DataCamp curricula, providing comprehensive courses for all skill levels. Additionally, a global Data Analytics program supports upskilling in data analytics and science. OMV has also created a global artificial intelligence (AI) learning path via LinkedIn Learning for all skill levels. These initiatives prepare employees for a rapidly evolving professional landscape and the growing field of digitalization.
OMV’s leadership portfolio offers programs for new and current leaders to enhance their leadership skills. In 2024, the Transformational Leadership program for senior leaders was introduced to enable them to lead their teams through the sustainable transformation. The SHEnergy program, aimed at female leaders, continues to advance critical leadership skills for women. The OpsXcelerate program was also implemented to prepare future operations managers in our legacy business assets to drive operational excellence. Leadership development is a key enhancement measure. This action is aimed at all employees within our own workforce. This is an ongoing process and is part of our 2030 target to increase the average number of annual learning hours to a minimum of 30 hours per employee. To track the effectiveness of the quality of training provided, all employees who complete online or in-person training are requested to complete a survey. This survey gathers feedback on various aspects of the training, including content relevance, instructor effectiveness, and overall satisfaction. The results help us identify areas for improvement and ensure that training programs are continuously updated to meet the evolving needs of our workforce.
Transformational Leadership Competencies
To ensure the transformation of OMV will be a success, we need to adapt our current methods to fit our new aspirations. By building on our capabilities, we are reinventing how we lead as well as our way of working. Therefore, linked to our purpose and Values, we have implemented Group-wide Transformational Leadership Competencies (TLCs). Our TLCs define our expectations of our leaders and complete our transformational framework to successfully drive the implementation of our strategy. The four TLCs for all leaders across the Group are Lead self, Grow people, Drive change, and Deliver impact. The new TLCs are being integrated into the respective P&C processes, such as leadership assessment and development (Group People Day Process), our talent programs, talent acquisition, and performance processes.
As part of our ongoing commitment to developing a resilient and competent leadership team, we introduced a Group-wide mandatory leadership assessment as part of the recruitment process for key managerial and project management positions. This leadership assessment, conducted by an external partner, is based on the OMV Transformational Leadership Competencies. By employing rigorous and standardized evaluation methods, we aim to identify and select candidates who not only possess the necessary skills and expertise but also align with our commitment to sustainable leadership practices. In 2024, we conducted over 100 leadership assessments based on our Transformational Leadership Competencies. This action specifically targets leaders within our workforce. This is an ongoing process and supports our 2030 target of increasing the share of women at senior management level to 30%.
The Transformational Leadership Competencies, applied in our training programs and assessed using the training evaluation forms, help track and assess the effectiveness of this action. By incorporating these competencies into our training programs and evaluating them consistently, we can measure how well our leadership development efforts are fostering effective leaders. This process allows us to gauge the impact of our training on employee performance, engagement, and overall organizational culture, ensuring that our initiatives are driving positive outcomes for our workforce.
Talent Attraction and Retention
Our employees are selected exclusively based on their qualifications, suitability, and professional experience. Internally, we focus on job rotation, promotions, and upskilling to tackle challenges (e.g., transitioning to a low-carbon business), and develop innovative solutions to enhance our workforce. In OMV, we use shared internal job boards to offer a wide range of internal job opportunities to our employees. This is a measure to mitigate the risk concerning the inability to successfully execute our strategy due to inadequate training. Externally, we concentrate on building robust talent pipelines through cooperation with key universities in our locations. In addition, we aim to build a talent pool by providing apprenticeship programs and internships, which are mainly focused on the technical and commercial aspects of our business. The Petrochemical School program in Romania is a pilot project that aims to assure a constant and sustainable flow of high-quality blue-collar workers.
In both the Energy and Fuels & Feedstock segments, we regularly conduct graduate programs for highly qualified university graduates, supporting them in establishing their careers. In Energy, the Integrated Graduate Development Program (IGD) focuses on enhancing understanding of the energy value chain and developing soft and technical skills, with a new emphasis on the Low Carbon Business. The program, with a focus on cross-discipline and immersive learning, is tailored to various skill pools, aiming to achieve a similar skill set for all graduates. The Fuels & Feedstock Fresh Graduate Program targets graduates in engineering or business administration, providing virtual and F2F training, combined with leadership meetings and site visits. Both programs enable young employees to improve the specific technical and business skills needed for outstanding job performance and support them in building up their future careers. In 2024, 55 employees participated in the IGD program and 56 in the Fuels & Feedstock program. To track the effectiveness of the quality of these programs, all participants are required to provide feedback through a survey conducted at the end of the course. This action is aimed at all employees within our workforce, as well as external stakeholders interested in pursuing a career at OMV. This is an ongoing process.
To retain talent, we have ongoing leadership programs in place that are designed to support all employees who take on new management roles, as well as current leaders who want to upgrade their basic knowledge of leadership. The OMV Leading Ahead program launched in 2022 in partnership with Borealis and OMV Petrom to offer the Group’s top talent a wide-ranging leadership development journey and a broad career platform.
As part of our ongoing transformation, we are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind. To facilitate this, we offer low-carbon training solutions and are continuing to expand our efforts to upskill our workforce. The aim is to keep skills up to date, acknowledging that existing skills can be transferred to new energy solutions. We also launched the Sustainability Academy, a SharePoint-based platform for all employees so they can expand their knowledge of ESG topics. Through initiatives like these, we are fostering a culture of continuous learning and development, empowering our team to thrive in the evolving landscape of sustainable energy solutions.
In Romania, scholarships through OMV Petrom’s Petrochemical School and Oilmen School dual programs are offered to students. OMV Petrom supported four vocational classes, offering an updated curriculum, company internships, scholarships, and training by employees. Students receive a monthly scholarship of up to RON 700 from OMV Petrom and RON 200 from the government. After three years, students will have a recognized professional qualification and employment opportunities within the company.
In 2024, we developed our new Employer Value Proposition (EVP), with rollout planned for 2025. This will serve as a statement or framework that outlines what OMV stands for as an employer. It will highlight the unique qualities and benefits that we offer to our employees. Moreover, it will help us attract and engage potential candidates who align with our new purpose and OMV Values, and the opportunities we provide. Essentially, it’s a way for us to communicate why our Company is a great place to work and why people should consider joining our team.
Performance Management and Career Development
OMV strives to maintain a uniform organizational structure that provides clarity and transparency in relation to responsibilities and the hierarchical classification of positions. We have developed Company-wide career paths that outline the experience and skills required for each position. OMV has an annual review process in place to support our employees and managers in the structured, systematic planning of performance and personal development within the Company. Employees and their managers work together to set performance and development goals, review progress, and evaluate achievements, with employees ultimately being rewarded and recognized annually.
“Personal Impact x Potential” is used as an evaluation tool to provide structured feedback in performance reviews and in succession planning (Group People Days Process). Managers evaluate their employees according to personal impact and potential (Transformational Leadership Competencies; TLCs) and identify successors for business-critical positions. Based on this, an employee’s development plan is created so they can improve the skills needed for their future role. As part of the annual performance review process, Company goals, including the achievement of sustainability goals (e.g., HSSE, GHG emission reductions, diversity), are cascaded down to employees in the relevant departments. Individual monetary and non-monetary rewards are granted for extraordinary achievements at individual and team levels. In 2024, 15,560 performance reviews were completed for the previous performance cycle, with some employees having more than one review. Succession planning is a key component in tracking and assessing the effectiveness of this action. By ensuring that candidates for available positions are selected from a well-defined succession plan, we can measure the success of our talent development programs, leadership training, and career progression initiatives. This process helps us evaluate how effectively we are preparing our employees for future roles, thereby supporting our overall strategy for workforce development and organizational resilience.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
In 2024, we further developed our DE&I initiatives to support our 2030 targets of increasing the representation of women in management to 30%, ensuring at least 20% (stretch target 30%) of Executive Board members are female, and creating an inclusive and accessible work environment for people with disabilities.
Diversity is now promoted in six workstreams across OMV: Accessibility, Gender, Generations, Intercultural, LGBTQ+, and Parenting/Caregivers. The cross-company Employee Resource Groups organized several events: International Women’s Week, Pride Month celebrations, the Generations event, and the Positively Purple event. Moreover, several focus group discussions were established, community lunches were held, and internal blog articles were published that contributed to the growing visibility of DE&I within the OMV Group.
The new DE&I Playbook was launched in 2024. It is a comprehensive toolkit that supports line managers in building an inclusive work environment, ensuring that all members feel valued and supported. Additionally, the DE&I Learning Hub offers a vast array of LinkedIn training modules designed to enhance the skills of both leaders and employees.
Our Accessibility stream continued awareness raising, for example accessibility-focused DE&I training sessions were launched for specific target groups. The training and accessibility guides are key elements in improving the understanding of the needs of people with disabilities. Moreover, we continued with the OMV Ability school project, an initiative that welcomes teenagers from a special needs school twice a year, fostering valuable exchange that offers insights into the corporate world and promotes inclusivity. This action is aimed at all employees within our workforce. Promotion and raising awareness of DE&I is an ongoing process.
The score of the DE&I question on inclusion in the Pulse Check and our training evaluation forms are essential tools for tracking and assessing the effectiveness of our DE&I programs. These tools help us measure how well we are fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, the effectiveness of our training sessions related to DE&I, and our overall progress toward our DE&I targets.