Sika Group puts customers first

By Song Mengxing | China Daily | Updated: 2015-11-05 07:51

Putting customers and employees first is an important principle that Sika Group, a Swiss construction chemicals company, has been practicing for years.

Sika serves construction, transportation and new-energy customers. Its product lines cover concrete admixtures, sealants and adhesives, waterproofing, industrial flooring and roofing systems.

Michael Campion, president of Sika China, said, "We believe we should always have the customers first, in our mind and our actions."

He said some competitors just sell products and do not really care about the problems of the customer. In comparison, he said Sika asks about customers' problems and helps them until the problems are solved.

"Sometimes we have the products because we have a huge array of products in the group," Campion said. "But if we don't have the product, we'll develop one."

The company regards innovation as part of its core DNA and always looks for new ways and technologies to solve customers' problems.

Sika spent $170 million, 3 percent of its turnover, on research and development in 2014, according to Campion.

The company, which dates back to 1910, also values its employees and provides them with a good working environment.

"We give people a lot of empowerment and let them really stretch the limits of their positions," Campion said.

The empowerment has created "a sense of ownership" that goes to all levels of the company. Campion called it "entrepreneurial spirit" and said that is probably the most exciting element and best part of working at Sika.

The company also favors a flat organization instead of a strict hierarchy, which the firm believes allows every employee to walk through the president's door and encourages them to sit down and talk to him.

To help employees develop their careers, Sika China, which is headquartered in Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province, has carried out training programs.

The annual management trainee program has recruited 127 graduates since 2007. The trainees work in different departments for a year. Senior managers act as their tutors and share career experience with them.

Sang Boling, who joined the program in 2012, said, "Sika has a special charm which attracted me and is drawing more and more excellent graduates."

Some of the trainees have gone on to take up important positions in Sika, including a plant manager, a quality control manager and a business development manager working on mergers and acquisitions.

Sika started its Young Professional Development Program in 2013 to develop professional managers within the company to meet the demands of business growth.

Zhang Fang, the factory manager's assistant at Hebei Jiuqiang Building Materials Co, was among the program's first trainees. He said the program gave him an opportunity to develop.

"I will improve my abilities to become a qualified professional manager and contribute to the development of Sika," Zhang said.

Sika China acquired Hebei Jiuqiang, which focuses on research, development and production of concrete admixtures, in 2011.

Campion said the company hopes to provide young professionals with a good workplace that they will never want to leave.

Social commitment

Sika has had a presence on the Chinese mainland for 22 years and Campion said he thinks of Sika China as a Chinese company.

"We do an excellent business in China and we feel we have to give back to the community," he said.

This year, the company joined a library project in Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, and donated more than 1,000 books to Zhusha Primary School in Chongqing in Southwest China in March.

More than 10 volunteers from Sika went to the school to play games with the pupils and helped them sort out the new books.

One of the volunteers said, "When we were furnishing the library, the kids could not wait and rushed into the room to find their favorite books. It made me further understand and realize the significance of the donation."

Campion said, "To me, we opened up the world to a child and let them see something maybe they would never have an opportunity to see."

The company plans to donate more books to more schools and help some schools repair and decorate their reading rooms with Sika construction products.

Sika China, as a corporate citizen has focused more on sustainability in the past few years. The company tries to do the right thing for the environment and people, according to Campion.

Sika China's water consumption to produce one metric ton of products, excluding the water used in products, was reduced 28.6 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year.

The company's plant in Shanghai recycled 2,100 tons of PVC membrane from 2012 to 2014.

Sika China's annual turnover hit 2.2 billion yuan ($345.4 million) in 2014 and the company now has more than 1,200 employees.

Sika ranked 39th on the list of Best Swiss Brands 2015 issued in April by Interbrand, a world-leading brand consultancy.

Only a few business to business companies were listed among the top 50 Swiss brands and most of them were consumer goods by brands such as Nescafe and Rolex, according to Sika's website.

Sales of Sika Group in 2014 hit 5.57 billion Swiss francs ($5.7 billion). The group has subsidiaries in 91 countries and employs more than 17,000 people.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn