Employee development

At Royal A-ware, we understand that success depends on having the right individuals who can evolve with us. As we pursue ambitious growth in a rapidly changing landscape shaped by labour market challenges, shifting generational expectations and technological advancements, investing in our employees’ professional and personal development remains essential.

We are committed to providing our employees with meaningful opportunities for learning, growth and well-being. By equipping them with the skills, resources and support they need to reach their full potential, we foster a motivated workforce and improve retention.

Impacts, risks and opportunities

As part of our DMA, we identified the following material impact and opportunity related to 'Employee development'. The scope of the IROs covers Royal A-ware's own employees and flex workers working at Royal A-ware.

Impact

Potential positive impact on employee motivation and engagement in the organisation by offering education and training.

Opportunity

Opportunity to retain employees and preserve their knowledge, skills and experience within the organisation by providing opportunities for career advancement.

Our approach

In line with its commitment to providing employees with opportunities for learning, growth and well-being, Royal A-ware has developed training & development policies. This policy outlines our approach to supporting employees in reaching their full potential within the organisation. It applies to all employees, including flex workers, and has been formally approved by management.

Objectives and actions

Royal A-ware aims to support employees in defining and achieving their career goals by providing the necessary resources and guidance. By doing so, we seek to foster motivated employees, improve retention, position ourselves as an employer of choice and establish a solid foundation for our long-term growth objectives. To achieve this, we implement a range of ongoing actions, divided into two key topics: FIT conversations and training programs.

FIT conversations

Our ongoing actions are:

Conducting annual FIT conversations with employees of A-ware Dairy. During these conversations, supervisors and employees discuss performance, personal and professional development, employability and workload. The goal of the conversation is for both parties to identify what is working well and what can be improved. The HR director of A-ware Dairy is responsible for overseeing the implementation of these conversations and ensuring they are periodically evaluated for effectiveness.
Conducting annual work meetings (AB Texel’s equivalent of FIT conversations) for our transport operations. Supervisors conduct annual FIT conversations with office-based employees. We follow a hybrid approach for drivers, encompassing either annual FIT conversations or online personal and professional development feedback sessions. The HR Manager of AB Texel is responsible for overseeing the implementation of these conversations and ensuring they are periodically evaluated for effectiveness.
Using our improved HR platform, A-Talent, for the digitalisation and consolidation of processes such as FIT conversations within our dairy activities.
Providing instructions on conducting efficient FIT conversations through e-learning and our HR guide for executives within our dairy activities, and supporting managers in preparing for and leading these conversations.
Highlighting the importance and added value of FIT conversations and work meetings in the staff magazines i-Ware and AB Dr!ve and through A-ware Speak, AB Connect and narrowcasting.

Training programs

Our ongoing actions are:

Offering three types of training programmes to stimulate employee growth and development, including mandatory, development and growth, and broad trainings. These trainings are coordinated by the A-ware Academy, which focuses on employees within the dairy sector, and the Move on Academy, which supports employees in the transport sector.
Offering training courses through GoodHabitz for employees within dairy activities.
Providing mandatory training in areas such as food safety. These trainings are provided by the QSHE team.
Providing drivers with one or more coaching sessions focused on driving style, aimed at promoting sustainable driving behaviour.

Targets and achievements

In 2025 we monitored for the first time the FIT conversations held in the Netherlands within our dairy activities. In 2025 AB Texel started in the Netherlands with FIT conversations among office personnel. Therefore the number is still low, but further implementation is foreseen in 2026 and further.

Within Royal A-ware we are not registering the training hours of all personal across all locations, in the Netherlands and abroad. Therefore we start with reporting the percentage of people having performed the training for new personnel on food safety within the dairy activities and the percentage of drivers that are holding a valid CODE 95 certification. Further development of the system is foreseen in the coming years.