People
Highlights
Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion: We reached our target of 25% female employees and managers by 2025 and are working towards 30% by 2030.
Safety and well-being: We strengthened employee safety and risk mitigation. These improvements are reflected in the 2025 figures, with increased investment in wellness initiatives and private healthcare enhancing overall employee support.
Transparent governance: Robust policies on whistleblowing, anti-corruption and anti-bribery practices help ensure a safe and ethical workplace for all.
Targets and focus areas
We recognise that our greatest strength lies in our diverse and engaged workforce. We also rely on a dynamic community that brings together both our employees, the dedicated individuals across our value chain, and the farmers we proudly serve. We focus our work in four areas, employee safety and wellbeing, employee engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, and responsible sourcing.
4 899
Employees
30%
Female employees and managers by 2030
99%
of suppliers sign Ethics & Sustainability Principles by 2030
Our people
Fostering an inclusive culture is essential in an industry where our decisions impact livelihoods and the environment. Diversity drives innovation by bringing together perspectives that help us meet evolving customer needs.
Employee engagement guides how we work, we empower people to be heard and valued while strengthening safety and wellbeing to build a resilient community.
Our solutions support dairy farmers by improving productivity, working conditions, and animal welfare. As we advance our social responsibility efforts, we celebrate the partnerships that make our collective impact, and a more sustainable future possible.
Important highlights from our Human Resources Policy
Non-discrimination
We’re committed to hiring and treating all our employees fairly, without discrimination based on gender, nationality, religion, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, political opinion, union membership, or social or ethnic origin.
Equal opportunities
We believe in treating all employees with equal respect and dignity, providing everyone with equal opportunities to develop their skills and careers. Our commitment to diversity fuels our continuous growth. We cultivate a culture where job appointments, rewards, and personal achievements are based solely on individual abilities and performance.
We also uphold a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and other gender-based offences. We stand firm against any behaviours, including gestures, language, and physical contact that is sexually coercive, threatening, abusive, or exploitative in our workplace.
We ensure compliance with all legal standards regarding wages and working hours in every country in which we operate, with local monitoring in place.
Working conditions and remuneration
We believe that the working conditions, wages, and benefits we offer to employees are competitive with those provided by other employers in local markets and within the industry. If any employee has concerns about working conditions or compensation, they are strongly encouraged to voice these concerns openly and directly to their supervisors or to Human Resources.
Our culture drives our commitment to environmental, social and economic sustainability implemented through our global management system, Harma Model.
Sustainable sourcing
We are strengthening our approach to sustainable sourcing with a clear focus on identifying and mitigating risks related to environmental impact and human rights in the value chain.
During 2025, we developed an updated version of the Ethics and Sustainability Principles for our business partners. The Principles are structured around 15 fundamental principles covering food, animals, people, planet and governance. In parallel, we are in the implementation phase of a Responsible Sourcing Programme, which is aligned with our new principles.
The criteria for our principles are divided into binding ’must’ requirements that partners need to comply with in order to do business with DeLaval, and ’good practice’ criteria that partners are expected to work towards implementing over time. Communication of the new requirements towards suppliers will begin in 2026, followed by structured collaboration on improvement areas where elevated environmental or human rights risks are identified.
Today, suppliers representing 91% of our global sourcing spend have signed the DeLaval Ethics and Sustainability Principles. Our ambition is that 100% of direct suppliers sign the Principles by 2030, that all high-risk suppliers are audited by 2030, and that all new suppliers are screened against our sustainability criteria.
“Employee safety is our top priority. Due to numerous improvements and the ongoing transition from manual processes to automation, our commitment to safety has become even more visible.”
– Tadeusz Melnyczok, Managing Director, Poland
Employee safety and well-being
For us, the safety and well-being of our employees are fundamental to who we are.
We recognise that a healthy and secure work environment is essential for cultivating a culture of trust, collaboration, and high performance.
Our comprehensive safety programmes and wellness initiatives are designed to empower our workforce, mitigate risks, and support both physical and mental health. By prioritising employee safety, we meet industry standards and create a workplace where innovation and engagement can flourish.
As we expand our ways of measuring and add resources to the field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), we now capture more incidents and accidents than before, which enriches our understanding and supports stronger preventive actions. This includes proactive work to highlight important topics, educate employees, and address risk areas to prevent accidents. Through consistent reporting, we also review and learn from mistakes to continuously improve our safety performance.
What is our ambition?
To provide safe and healthy working conditions and prevent work-related injury and ill health to all employees in all parts of the world.
Long-term targets
Zero accidents and work-related ill health
How do we get there?
All employees are responsible for implementing and complying with OHS standards and contributing to their continuous improvement. Together, we work to ensure that each team member feels valued, protected, and motivated to contribute to our collective mission of advancing sustainable agriculture.
Beyond our established policies, we have a series of initiatives aimed at improving employee safety and well-being.
"We reported historically low numbers across all our safety KPIs in 2025.”
– Ben Condon, Global Director of Occupational Health and Safety
Additional well-being and safety initiatives
Safety knowledge competition was organised in Tianjin, China.
Life-saving rules training was delivered by the DeLaval Market area team in Japan.
Safety days with fire risk awareness sessions were held in Sweden and Poland.
Safety training including emergency drills and motorcycle safe-riding was conducted in Brazil.
Fire and evacuation drills were carried out across our locations globally.
Health days promoting healthy lifestyles, including nutrition, medical care and everyday habits, in Poland.
Workout and badminton communities that encourage physical activity in China.
A wellness app, featuring movement activities, physical fitness challenges and mental well-being programmes, was launched in China.
Movember activities to raise awareness of prostate cancer in multiple countries.
Annual wellness contributions for employees, which include access to private medical care in Sweden and Poland.
Occupational health and safety training
We have invested in a leadership training programme for our senior leaders as part of our drive to improve both safety performance and safety culture at DeLaval. We have embarked on an 18-month education campaign where leaders will apply the knowledge gained through the programme across the organisation.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond
Occupational health and safety will continue to be the top priority together with our well-being initiatives across all DeLavals' global operations in the coming years. Our strategy and initiatives towards 2028 will be structured around four key pillars:
Safety leadership and culture
- Key concepts such as ‘Personal Big5: the reason you make safe choices’ supported by DeLaval’s investment in safety training for senior leaders, help to strengthen a safety-first mindset and establish a clear safety culture among all employees.
- Continuous safety training for all employees reinforces confidence and a collective commitment to maintaining a safe workplace.
Health and wellness
- Health and wellness reporting categories will be reviewed in 2026 to better reflect evolving needs and emerging trends.
- Clear communication and awareness initiatives will support healthier lifestyles and help employees identify early signs of health-related issues.
Technology and innovation
The continued digitalisation of DeLaval’s OHS management system will simplify reporting and enable greater transparency as well as proactive incident management.
Risk management
A newly developed risk management methodology will strengthen proactive risk management and support consistent and robust safety practices across all operations.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are central to our vision for a sustainable future. And we are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where our talent can thrive. One of our top priorities during 2025 was gender diversity.
Gender diversity goals: We are dedicated to ensuring gender diversity across our operations, and increase the representation of women at all levels of the company.
Overall targets: 25% female employees and female managers by 2025. 30% female employees and female managers by 2030.
2025 status update: Female employees for the DeLaval Group is 26.4%, and female managers is 26.2%. DE&I continues to be an area where sustained effort is needed to drive real change, and one concrete step we are taking is aiming for a 50/50 representation of female and male candidates in the final stages of our recruitment processes.
During the year, we also prepared for the EU Pay Transparency Act, which aims to promote gender pay equality and transparency.
Through our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we are not only strengthening the future of farming but also making a lasting impact on the communities and industries we serve, ensuring a better world for generations to come.
Employee engagement
We believe that success is far more than knowledge. It is scientifically proven that success is strongly related to behaviours. Our three behaviours are ‘Set direction, Make things happen, One DeLaval’. They have been identified as the most important behaviours for what we, as a company, need in order to be successful in the future as well.
We recognise that the way we lead and do things over time shapes our company culture. And our culture is a part of setting the stage for our success now and in the future.
What is our ambition?
An engaged and passionate workforce in an environment where employees can thrive.
How do we get there?
Increase employee engagement through inclusive leadership, fostering openness, and promoting knowledge-sharing across all levels of the organisation.
Long-term targets
To maintain employee engagement levels that are on par with the global high-performance company norm (dynamic target).
Bi-annual employee engagement survey
Our employee engagement survey is held biannually and was most recently conducted in 2024, which means 2025 was a year of taking action on the previous year's insights. The next survey will be conducted in 2026.
In 2024, 87% of DeLaval employees participated, representing a 2% improvement compared with 2022. The results also showed improvement in 14 out of 17 categories compared with 2022.
We are looking forward to receiving the results in 2026, which will provide an opportunity to further strengthen employee engagement.
Retention improvement: Our staff turnover has gone down from the previous year. We actively work to create an environment where employees want to stay and grow.
We believe that the way we lead and do things over time shapes our company culture. And our culture is a part of setting the stage for our success now and in the future.
Internal activities 2025
Our engaged employees have implemented several initiatives during 2025.
- Onboarding buddy programme. New employees in some countries are paired with an onboarding buddy to help them integrate into the organisation.
- Flexible work arrangements. We offer flexible work options when possible to support work-life balance and employee satisfaction.
- Cross-functional work. Employees are encouraged to collaborate across functions to enhance learning and innovation.
- Global recognition programme. We recognise exceptional employee contributions through global awards that celebrate our core behaviours.
Extended Asia Pacific One DeLaval Club
Our One DeLaval Club, which started in China in 2018, was extended to engage employees in nine countries in the Asia Pacific region, and a number of initiatives emerged from the Club, including:
Pink October
Activities across several sites, including ‘Walk around the lake’ charity event, brush donations and Pink Run 2025 running team from our Vietnam team gave the employees the chance to run and also connect, support breast cancer research, and strengthen our team spirit.
Association with people with disabilities
Initiative to demonstrate social responsibility in China.
International Women’s Day
Participation in IWD including the #AccelerateAction initiative, in China and Japan.
