TOP JOB

Award for ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS AG

ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS AG as top employer

28th January 2005
Professor Dr Gertrud Höhler presents prize to Solingen-based company ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS AG has won the TOP JOB award for its outstanding achievements in human resources (HR) management. The company came in the top ten in the categories "HR Development" and "Remuneration Models". This accolade is awarded as part of a nationwide benchmarking survey, for which Professor Dr Axel G. Schmidt of the Trier-based Institut für Mittelstandsökonomie (Inmit), a think-tank for SMEs, studies the quality of HR activities at medium-sized companies. The 2004 TOP JOB award has now been conferred on 63 companies, including ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS. Gertrud Höhler, the patron of this project, presented this prestigious prize in Nuremberg's Schindlerhof on the evening of Friday, 28th January.

The companies taking part in the survey were rated in five categories: Vision & Leadership, HR Development, Remuneration Models, Culture & Communication, and Family & Social Orientation.

ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS AG met the TOP JOB standards in all categories and scored high marks with its well-balanced concept. The HR management policies pursued by this specialist manufacturer of high-quality cutlery reconcile the commercial success of the company with the interests of its employees in a sustainable way. Working with the Rhineland TÜV Safety Standards Authority, the company devised a customised training programme that is subjected to professional performance and cost controls. ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS is especially proud of its policy of fully integrating disabled people - the only one of its kind in Germany. It also collaborates with schools in Solingen to ensure that it can recruit sufficient suitably qualified young people, runs its own training centre and helps local firms with their training and development needs.

You can read about all the other benefits ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS offers its employees in the book "TOP JOB 2005 – Germany's best SME employers". The editor of this volume is Professor Dr Gertrud Höhler, the patron of this project.
Every year, Professor Schmidt uses a standard method to determine which medium-sized companies stand out from the crowd by virtue of their high-quality HR management policies. Out of over 500 applicants from all over Germany, 125 companies took part in the survey and 63 of them met the necessary quality standards. Details of which of them made the TOP JOB grade are available at www.topjob.de and in the book accompanying this project.
The next TOP JOB competition begins on 1st April, and the closing date for entries is 30 June. Companies interested in participating can register now for a free information pack by contacting compamedia GmbH at info@compamedia.de.

Project patron and partners
The patron of this project is Professor Dr Gertrud Höhler. Its partners are access AG, HRblue AG, Gallup GmbH Germany, jobpilot AG, Kienbaum Consultants International GmbH, Klaus Lurse Personal + Management AG, Personal & Informatik AG, and SchmidtColleg.

Project management
The TOP JOB project is coordinated by the Institut für Mittelstandsökonomie (Inmit) at the University of Trier. Its chief executive is Professor Dr Axel G. Schmidt.

Organiser: compamedia GmbH
compamedia specialises in organising benchmarking projects and creating networks for small and medium-sized enterprises. It concentrates on promoting its projects in the media, leaving technical implementation to its specialist partners. compamedia runs the "TOP 100 - Germany's most innovative medium-sized businesses" project, and the employers' benchmarking award "TOP JOB – Germany's best SME employers“. Its latest project is "ETHICS IN BUSINESS – pioneers of ethical conduct".

Contact at ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS AG

Ralf Werner
Grünewalder Strasse 14-22
42657 Solingen Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)212 882-255
Email: personalabteilung@zwilling.com
www.zwilling.com

Contact at compamedia GmbH

Silke Masurat
Tel.: +49 (0)7551 9498 634
Mobile: +49 (0)172 6370 512
Email: masurat@compamedia.de
www.topjob.de
www.top100.de
www.ethics.de

Any questions? Please contact:

Ralf Werner
Phone: +49-(0)212-882 348
Fax: +49-(0)212-882 462