"Assistance to the Armed Forces, integration of veterans and development of youth - the most important", - Natalia Terikina, Kernel Director

The largest manufacturer and exporter of grain in Ukraine, which the company develops for veterans and what training offers young professionals, said Natalia Terichina, Kernel, told about how it approaches the issues of social responsibility and development of employees during the Kernel war. The full -scale war changed Ukrainians, so the labor market also became different.

How did Kernel change the strategy of working with people for almost 3 years of war? The most significant changes, apparently, we realized in the first weeks of a full -scale invasion, when employees of different Kernel enterprises across the country on their own initiative went to work, did their business, in parallel helping those who were in a difficult situation. At the end of February - in March 2022, it happened massively, despite the clear danger of the life and health of colleagues.

This caused both surprise, and a sincere sense of pride in us and the spirit of unity of all Ukrainians . . . In Kernel, we started the section of internal communications "Strong in Spirit", in which we share the stories of our extraordinary people and their actions to remember the outstanding examples of the stability, courage and humanity of our colleagues. In the future, our strategy was built and continues to develop in accordance with the specifics of Kernel Agro-Techbusiness.

We are the largest Ukrainian grain exporter and sunflower oil in the world. So it's no secret that our business is based on 2 main foundations - Ukrainian land and Ukrainian people. Therefore, all the efforts are directed to the protection of the sovereign territories of the country and the care, the development and support of Ukrainians.

Concerning land protection, since February 24, 2022, the total amount of assistance from Kernel has exceeded UAH 3 billion: we directly interact with several Armed Forces teams, transferring various equipment, UAVs, communications and cars to their requests. And for more than 11. 5 thousand employees of Kernel and their families there are several programs of care, support and development.

First of all, it is a systematic work on personnel maintaining, involving young people and training candidates without work experience, the system of preserving and disseminating key examination of all business directors of the company.

Secondly, we have started supporting physical, mental and social well-being, which is especially relevant for rural residents, where there is a lot of stigmas about this topic and, at the same time, there is no access to effective techniques and self-help techniques. Most of our agro and production assets are located in small settlements, so we have focused considerable attention to maintain the stability of the moral state of people in a situation of constant threats and uncertainty.

Third, we are very important for me-we pay special attention to mobilized employees and veterans returning from the war. Mobilized staff support programs and veterans reintegration are a forefront of personnel in Kernel. After all, more than 870 of our colleagues serve in the defense forces, and more than 100 heroes are veterans. 56 colleagues remained on the battlefield forever, their memory is honored in the corporate online memory book.

Let's look at each of the areas you described with people in more detail. Tell us how effectively it is possible to keep and develop staff when people are constantly distracted by people? The maintenance of people is ensured when employees have: -decent payment and feel their own contribution to the overall result of the company -share values ​​and visions personal development.

So, if you follow this list, the company provides wages every year, since November 2022, bonuses are paid annually depending on the goals and financial indicators and additional bonuses. Here we demonstrate stability, despite all the challenges of time for both business and country.

Our corporate culture is based on the fact that Kernel is an environment for the development and implementation of new projects, here we offer people wide powers, recognize the personal contribution of everyone to the general, stimulate innovative management and cultivate mutual support, trust and openness. Study training and development has always been firmly integrated into the activities of all divisions and units of the company.

We have a developed remote and offline learning system-we develop employees both by professional skills-Hardskills and the key business competencies-Softskills. In the first year of the war, training was strongly moved towards the online format. And now we selectively add offline, where it is possible and safe.

Over the last marketing year, statistics have shown more than 50,000 participants in training programs-that is, each colleague listened to an average of 4-5 training courses for at least 5 hours. Indeed, during the war it is difficult to spend time and adequately perceive large courses, so our strategic decision was the introduction of micro -training, so that everyone can gain point skills - concentrated and fast.

Also in 2024, they updated the corporate model of competencies, relevant to the requirements of modern times. Concerning the training of candidates without experience, the company has a vocational training system, mentoring, and remote electronic courses. There are 4 programs for the training of specialists for key positions to ensure the sustainability of business. In all these projects, employees can find growth and prospects for themselves.

We also see a great prospect in working with the following generations of specialists today - it is necessary to take into account students and consider them as future employees now.  This is both the promotion of key specialties for business, and the development and dissemination of educational materials for the vocational guidance of high school students.

We have a few projects to work with young people: -Openagrouncyity -for students of ZNO -Openagrocollege -for students and students of VET institutions -Openagroschool -a pilot project for launching vocational faculty subjects for students in the regions of our regions. Summarizing, I note that it is normal to be distracted by news during the war, but the vast majority of our people seek to develop and study in a supportive environment.

For this we are very grateful to them and we will always look for formats and opportunities to support this desire. Your answer to the previous question is the following. How do you work with the moral condition of employees? We have a lot of different specialties and locations, the request of people in terms of moral condition differs greatly depending on the place of work or profession, age or gender, life experience or sphere of interest. And that's normal.

Back in 2023, a project of concern for mental health began "vitality. Power in you", which combines 4 very different, but complementary areas: mental state, physical health, social relations and creativity. Here everyone can find something for themselves.

Here are interesting webinars on the search for internal supports or personal strategy, and sports challenges, such as a step marathon, running or online yoga, and creative courses-such as mobile photography or photographing, and financial literacy or oratorical course. You will not list everything here. As mentioned earlier, such content is especially relevant for rural residents or small towns, where the topic of mental health and care is tabooed and self -help tools are inaccessible.

Therefore, the activities of the project are most aimed at the destruction of myths and the spread of culture to take care of themselves and to protect their own resource. According to the results of the last marketing year, the number of appeals to a free corporate psychologist has increased more than twice, and more than 9,000 colleagues and their families became participants in various activities. Let's go to your experience with mobilized staff.

What is Kernel approach in the event of an employee's mobilization or a decision to voluntarily join the ranks of defense forces? Is there a difference for these 2 categories? For us, as an employer, there is no difference in the way of mobilizing employees, we have many colleagues of both categories, and our policy is one for all.

For mobilized and volunteer colleagues, the company operates in the company "side by side", the purpose of which is to support from the moment of mobilization to the return of the veteran to civilian and working life. First of all, the company pays the average monthly salaries to mobilized employees, and also takes care of providing all necessary uniforms (shoes, bulletproof vest, helmet, form, etc. ).

Regarding material support, employees are given financial support for mobilization in the amount of UAH 15 thousand, and in the case of injury - 150 thousand UAH. There is also assistance and accompaniment in the event of a disability as a result of injury, prosthetics support, re -equipment of the workplace into new circumstances of a colleague, etc.

According to our program, support is also provided to the family - in the case of tragic death of the employee, the assistance of the family is 1 million UAH. You also noted the direction of working with veterans and mentioned that more than 100 Kernel staff returned from the war. Tell us about your veterans' reintegration and rehabilitation experience. Kernel has veterans support programs implemented in 2014.

Of course, with the beginning of a full -scale war, we have seriously expanded this direction. Our main principle of working with veterans is "nothing for veterans without veterans. " This means to attract veterans to all processes. We have various areas of adaptation. They include, in particular, the diagnosis and support of psychologists working on a system developed by the Ukrainian Institute of Human. The company pays attention to veterans' health - helps with spa treatment and rehabilitation.

In addition, an important area of ​​support is to provide legal support. Corporate lawyers of the company advise and assist in situations that veterans and their families have to deal with in the new status. Working with our 100+ veterans and directly veterans and their wives are involved, because reintegration begins with the immediate environment and further extends to the working team and society. On our part, 400+ participants are involved in the program.

These are HR managers, topless, family, colleagues. We have an approved protocol of action, which is obligatory for each Tyomid, which has a veteran in the team. It provides regular personal meetings to check their professional activity, perform KPI, identify needs, psychological status, etc. Each ice should monitor the condition of veterans and provide assistance as needed.

The system approach provides a comfortable environment for the veteran and its environment, when any potential voltage moments are predicted and processed before occurrence. I want to say separately about our Corporate Volunteer Project. Our employees visit in hospitals all over Ukraine, wounded fighters from brigades supported by Kernel, as well as our military colleagues. It is a very inspired story for both civilians and defenders. It is difficult to describe such a force of mutual support.

I am proud of our volunteers, more than 50 of them, and they have already visited more than 300 wounded soldiers. For us, this project has become a powerful continuation of the support of defense forces, because it is important for fighters to feel support not only on the front but also during rehabilitation. The project became important not only for the wounded but also therapeutic for the volunteers themselves - demonstrated the importance of simple human communication and attention.

What tips for working with staff can you give other companies that work in Ukraine today? Demobilized veterans, future veterans and people who will return to Ukraine from abroad after the end of the war are the most valuable and desirable for us all the replenishment of the labor market. Work in this direction is our priority # 1. It is a job that absolutely all Ukrainian employers must do, regardless of the size of the company or business direction.