Labor
We have worked toward building vitality and visibility in our talent pipeline. We leverage the talent we bring into our organization through our future-focused, individualized, performance management practices. Our people deserve more than a rating, so we empower them to own and drive their personal and professional development within the context of our overall business plan so that real needs, not rules, are met. We use accomplishments, aspirations, and challenges to qualitatively determine development needs. Our leaders are coaches who model our values, align expectations, and adapt to our people’s needs. With a commitment to the role they play in our success, our people make our Company whole.
Overview
- Our Leadership Development strategy is designed to prepare our employees to lead by utilizing a structured highimpact, culturally congruent program, called Leading, the Kimball Way, which we created to develop our leadership pipeline for the next 100 years.
- The design of our Leading, the Kimball Way journey has been grounded in research about effective behavior change and leadership development. We continue to build capabilities of advocacy and inquiry in our leaders, especially as it relates to leading others. Our growth and development efforts aim to close the identified gaps in leadership capabilities required to execute our business strategy by designing leadership development, leveraging face-to-face education, virtual learning, peer learning, mentoring and developmental feedback.
- Since the initial roll-out of Leading, The Kimball Way in 2018, we have successfully assessed more than 900 employees through the Predictive Index tool and managed over 400 personal development plans via our human resources information system, Workday.
Above: Our global locations recognize various employee milestones in ways that make sense for them locally. This year, employees around the world recognized a significant company milestone: Kimball Electronics’ 60th anniversary.
- We are committed to protecting the privacy of those who entrust us with their personal information, including our customers, suppliers, website visitors, employees, and all those who do business with us. Whenever possible, we explain how personal information can be corrected, updated, or deleted. We keep personal information secure and follow the applicable laws governing that information.
- Kimball Electronics aims to ensure that the provision of security to our operations and our engagement with public and any private security forces is consistent with the laws of the relevant country and international standards and guidelines, such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. We adapt our security arrangements to balance the need for safety while respecting human rights.
- We train our employees annually on our Code of Conduct and other core human rights matters, including how employees, suppliers, customers, and third parties can report matters of concern to Kimball Electronics. This past calendar year, we communicated the updated version of Code of Conduct, including our Global Human Rights Policy and Supply Chain Transparency Policy and Statement, to 100% of our global employees, including 100% of our employees in procurement. In addition, as part of this core curriculum, 99.40% of our United States-based managers completed additional role and state-specific training on unconscious bias, workplace diversity and inclusion, equal employment opportunity, and how they can prevent discrimination and harassment. Through our Code of Conduct training, we trained all of our employees globally this past year on safe and healthy work environments, anticorruption/anti-bribery, information security, equal employment opportunity, nondiscrimination, and harassment.
- Our employee training covers how to recognize signs of potential human rights abuses, corruption, and bribery. In support of open, non-defensive communication, our Guiding Principles, and our Open Door Policy, employees are encouraged to report potential violations of our Code of Conduct via various company management contacts. Or, they can utilize an anonymous, confidential, third-party ethics “hotline” reporting system. Our investigatory process is prompt, impartial, and transparent to those involved. For each of the 11 reports to our hotline in Fiscal 2021, we opened dialogues with the reporting parties and began investigations within 24 hours of receipt and we completed necessary investigations and actions in less than seven days. Kimball Electronics promptly investigates all reports and does not retaliate nor tolerate retaliation against any person or entity who, in good faith, makes a report or cooperates in an investigation.
- Any person or entity that retaliates or threatens retaliation against anyone who makes a report or cooperates in an investigation is subject to discipline, up to and including immediate termination of the relationship with Kimball Electronics.
- Each member of our global workforce is encouraged to take our Guiding Principles survey, which tells us how well we are living up to the philosophies we have historically believed in. The survey results show that the vast majority of our employees would recommend Kimball Electronics to friends and family as a strong employer with which to seek a career.
- In 2021, to enhance the timeliness and effectiveness of this valuable employee feedback opportunity, we kicked off a plan to administer the survey annually, instead of biannually. We updated the survey to include a question focused on how connected our employees feel to our company purpose, Creating Quality for Life. We also added a question seeking input from employees on how well we are doing when it comes to creating a sense of belonging through our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
- As a global company, Kimball Electronics recognizes the benefits of a diverse workforce and inclusive work environment. By developing an atmosphere of mutual respect, dignity for the individual, and a sense of family, we are better able to meet the unique needs of our employees, Share Owners, customers, communities, and suppliers.
- We remain human centered and purpose driven in our efforts to develop our people and take pride in the job promotions that occur at all levels.
- Our world headquarters in the U.S. and our manufacturing facility in Romania have achieved ISO 27001 certification of their information security management systems (ISMS).
- Kimball Electronics employees worldwide are routinely tested multiple times each year on their cyber security knowledge to help identify and avoid online phishing techniques and social engineering practices that could threaten the Company. We have had no reportable breaches in the past three years.
- We require our suppliers, vendors, contractors, and partners to meet each of the global Human Rights Standards described in our Code of Conduct and Global Supplier Quality Manual. We reserve the right to terminate a contract, withhold payment, and assess fees and/ or costs for any non-compliant supplier, vendor, contractor, or partner.
- We firmly believe that identifying and understanding employee, health, safety, and environmental issues, including any potential human rights concerns, are critical to our supply chain, our business development efforts, and any acquisition activities. We actively monitor and audit internal compliance with our Code of Conduct and our responses to any reported concerns. We conduct thorough due diligence investigations prior to engaging with suppliers or vendors, acquiring businesses, and selecting partners, and apply appropriately higher levels of scrutiny where there are traditionally higher risks of compliance violations and/or human rights abuses.
- We escalate and remediate any issues after our relationship with a third party begins and as we integrate operations that we acquire into the Kimball Electronics family.
- We expect that all employees and suppliers understand and comply with our Human Rights Policy. We actively monitor and audit internal and external compliance through annual audits and training, including conducting annual audits of our supply chain. This year, Kimball Electronics’ audits covered approximately 99% of our inventory and 98% of our accounts payable, and we conducted a dozen audits of our own company and its subsidiaries. Given the unique obstacles presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, we conducted many of these audits remotely this year. All such audits were conducted using protocols and procedures developed by our internal auditor teams.
- We maintain a certification program for suppliers, ensuring that we obtain written acknowledgment of their obligation to comply with all applicable laws, key environmental standards, our Code of Conduct, and our Human Rights Policy. By accepting our Global Supplier Quality Manual and associated Quality Clauses, our certified suppliers also commit to allowing us to conduct supply chain audits for safety and compliance, to engaging in only legitimate and ethical business and labor practices, and to ensuring that their employees, supply chain, and stakeholders understand how to report any actual or suspected misconduct using our ethics hotline. We reserve the right to terminate the certified supplier relationship and/or any contract, withhold payment, and assess fees and/ or costs for any non-compliant supplier.
- Customers or any person in our supply chain can utilize an anonymous, confidential, third-party ethics “hotline” reporting system—the same service our employees are also encouraged to use— to report violations.
