Sustainability_Overview

-Stephanie Wilkerson, Director of Human Resources, US Operations

Welbilt strives to create a workplace where employees feel engaged—where they believe in the Company’s mission, understand their role in achieving the Company’s strategy and are passionate about the work they do. We conduct a biennial employee engagement survey to provide us with valuable insights as to employee perspectives and experiences. Following our inaugural engagement survey in 2017, we implemented new practices globally and regionally to improve communication and engagement across the organization.

Our most recent survey, conducted in May 2019, received over 80% participation rate.  

We also hold regular town-hall meetings at many of our locations not only to provide necessary updates, but to celebrate milestones in the business, recognize significant accomplishments and provide a forum for employees to communicate and engage with senior leaders.
 

At Welbilt, we strive to be a great place to work, and take special care to promote well-being among our employees. One of the ways we support this effort is through an annual, voluntary employee health check. At our Thailand location, management at Welbilt Thailand unveiled Healthy Week, a program that ran during Spring 2019 consisting of various educational events and activities to promote healthcare and wellness and inspire healthier choices.
 

Pasco County’s UF/IFAS Extension is an off-campus branch of the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and serves as a bridge between the research labs of the university and the local community by providing educational materials and programs for adults and youth. In 2019, in partnership with the Pasco Economic Development Council, Welbilt designed, donated and installed a full kitchen at the Pasco County Extension. The kitchen space is available to the public for educational as well as small business commercial use.

Each year, our Culinary Team and a group of Welbilt volunteers cook dinner at the Ronald McDonald House of Tampa Bay (“RMH”). The RMH gives families of children undergoing medical treatment the opportunity to live close to their child’s hospital at no cost. Many families travel far from home and spend several weeks or months to get necessary medical treatment for their seriously ill or injured children. Families who stay at the RMH receive home-cooked meals and private bedrooms.

In October 2018, we hosted a fundraising event for RMH in our New Port Richey, FL office. Our in-house chefs prepared a large lunch buffet for everyone in the office to enjoy in exchange for employee donations, which Welbilt generously matched. 

The Special Olympics of Michigan provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual and other disabilities. For the past 40 years, our Delfield brand has been supporting the Special Olympics of Michigan—from sponsoring the annual State Summer Games to dressing up in costumes at event. In fact, in 1986, Delfield built the Olympic torch and cauldron used for the Michigan Special Olympic Games. Delfield is proud to support this event and make a difference in its community.

The culinary team in New Port Richey, Florida partnered with a number of community organizations to achieve a common goal: creating 10,000 smiles for Christmas. The annual Joy of Giving event hosted at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa unites the community to provide needy children and their families with a free, day-long Christmas celebration filled with food, gifts, games and entertainment, plus the opportunity to connect with valuable services and programs. The Welbilt team arrived at Raymond James football stadium early in the morning to set up Frymaster fryers, Garland grills, Convotherm ovens, and Delfield refrigerators and holding cabinets. Soon after, our chefs began cooking thousands of hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breasts and chicken tenders.

"This event inspired us to give back to the less fortunate in the Tampa Bay community,"

 said Corporate Executive Chef Rich Mathis.

  
The Welbilt team had a great time working together and bringing smiles to very grateful families.

 

In 2018, employees from Delfield’s Covington facility organized a team of volunteers to help clean up roadside trash in the Covington community.  The team gathered debris and trash near the North Industrial Park where the Delfield production facility is located.

Sote Suksa School in Prachinburi, Thailand is a free school providing education for approximately 250 students with impaired hearing and learning difficulties. The school is partially supported by government funds, but is frequently in need of additional resources.

To support the school, its students and the community, our team from the Welbilt Prachinburi factory collectively provided lunch to all the students of Sote Suksa School on February 14, 2019. They also donated school supplies as well as sponsored several scholarships for students in need.

“Through this small gesture, we at Welbilt want to show our support for our local community in Prachinburi and hope we can do more in the future,”

said Suttipong Wannawanit, General Manager at Welbilt Thailand.

Getting into the festive spirit, the Welbilt team in Herborn, Germany put their baking skills to very good use this past December. A team of volunteers baked a variety of cookies to sell at local farmers and Christmas markets. All proceeds went to the non-profit organization Otfried-Preußler-Förderschule, a school supporting the mental, physical and motor development of special needs children, in Dillenburg (a neighboring town of Herborn).

Students of the Otfried-Preußler-Förderschule school joined Welbilt volunteers for a morning of baking. On the menu? Delicious Christmas cookies! The kids were surprised by an early visit from Santa Claus who brought along presents and put smiles on their faces.