At HelloFresh, more than 100 nationalities make up our 20,000 strong workforce. Our diverse workforce is the foundation of our commitment to embracing different dimensions of diversity in our teams and empowers employees to always bring their authentic selves to work. In order to build a workplace that serves everyone, we take a number of actions  to ensure we continuously put a focus on diversity and inclusion at HelloFresh. 

Breaking the bias with different formats of  trainings

Unbiased decision-making both across the whole employee experience, and specially in the process of promotions and hiring, is crucial in order to build a truly diverse workforce and inclusive workplace. It builds a key part of HelloFresh’s people-centered approach. We set ourselves objectives to increase diverse representation at Associate Director level and above. More than a third of all HelloFresh interviewers completed a "License to Hire" learning path in 2022 which aims to improve diversity at hiring stages containing an implicit bias module. 

Furthermore we launched an unconscious bias training for the Leadership Essentials program, which is a module for future people leaders. The training led by the DE&I team includes several exercises and interactions to discuss how unconscious bias can show during different stages of the Employee Experience, as in during performance reviews or meetings and was delivered to 92 employees in 2022. The training includes several exercises and interactions to discuss how unconscious bias can show during different stages of the Employee Experience, as in during performance reviews or meetings. 

Training to tackle unconscious bias was also rolled-out for the rest of the HelloFresh workforce globally: In 2022 we launched  virtual training on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and implicit bias. It is a foundational piece of knowledge for everyone to understand the basics of Unconscious Bias, and how to start challenging it in different situations common to the workplace like meeting new colleagues or doing interviews.

On top of that, our DE&I team in Berlin holds an annual review of all promotions awarded throughout the year to monitor fairness in the promotions process. Along with improving the overall diversity at HelloFresh, these endeavors also contribute towards our aim of increasing the number of women in leadership.

In 2022, women accounted for 46% of our workforce and 35% of Associate Director positions across HelloFresh. Furthermore, 50% of the promotions within the commercial functions of HelloFresh SE were women. Within tech positions, including our seven global tech hubs, 31% of the 2022 promotions were filled with women. In addition to that we continued our Women in Tech Scholarship program in 2022, offering scholarships and an internship to six talents in partnership with different bootcamps

Regular company-wide surveys allow HelloFresh to measure its progress and challenges when it comes to employee engagement. One of the surveys conducted in 2022 showed that 75% of all participants and 68% of women perceived equality between genders at HelloFresh - an increase of 4% on the previous survey. 

Successful partnerships and growing number of Employee Resource Groups 

In order to continuously improve, HelloFresh also seeks outside support in specific areas. In 2022 we partnered with Inklupreneur, a Berlin-based organization to help us improve our processes for the inclusion of people with disabilities. In summer 2022 the company’s experts visited us in our Berlin headquarters to present some facts and figures as well as first-hand insights from people with disabilities to our employees. 

To help build an inclusive work culture, we encourage our employees to join and build diversity-related  groups, known as Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs give a voice and platform to the myriad of intersectional identities at HelloFresh and are formed of volunteer employees with a shared interest in specific diversity topics such as gender equality, LGBTQIA+ representation and inclusion, religious diversity, military status, cultural diversity and working parents and caregivers. 

In total, we have more than 16 ERGs across the organization, with 6 new ERGs launched in 2022. The employees  in Berlin launched three ERGs in the past year: the Muslim Community Network, aimed at maintaining a safe space to connect Muslim employees within HelloFresh, Desi, focused on Developing, Empowering and Supporting Indians (Desi) at HelloFresh and FreshParents   to bring together parents to support each other  in balancing both parenting and work. The newly founded US-based FreshVets ERG builds a community among current and retired military personnel. 

In 2022, FreshPride also gained new chapters across the globe, with the launch of HelloFresh’s LGBTQIA+ ERG in Australia & New Zealand market, and the UK. 

ERGs meet regularly for training, discussion, networking and to mark important occasions, which included celebrating Berlin Pride with a HelloFresh truck for the first time in 2022. 

We are looking forward to sharing many new initiatives and projects this year as part of our DE&I efforts . To find out more about diversity, equity and inclusion  at HelloFresh visit our career website or read this interview with HelloFresh DE&I Sr. Manager Gabriel Brigante. More information about ESG related topics can be found in our 2022 non-financial report.