People

Belonging and safety enabling our success

The cities of the future must be safe and accessible for all. That’s why we design solutions that enable seamless movement and more inclusive urban spaces – because when people move better, cities work better. 

We are committed to building a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging, can thrive, and work safely. We help our people, as well as KONE, to succeed in a changing world through an inclusive culture, flexible working practices, well-being support, and continuous learning opportunities. We recognize that a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), along with a culture of safety, is not only the right thing to do but also a necessity for business.

Diverse companies outperform their peers in innovation, decision-making, and financial returns. We know that at the heart of this success is belonging. When people feel valued and secure, they connect, contribute, and thrive. A company is only as strong as its people.

Our commitments

Our focus is on fostering an inclusive and diverse culture, prioritizing safety across our value chain, and supporting the professional development and well-being of our employees. Our key commitments include:

Driving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

We work to increase cultural diversity in our global business units to better reflect the customers and communities we serve, and we are committed to hiring thoughtfully from outside our industry, bringing in competencies that complement ours. We aim to increase the share of women at the director level or above to 35% by 2030, where allowed by applicable law. We also work together to build an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity.

Investing in well-being

We are committed to our global framework for employee well-being, and our local KONE units ensure that employees are supported around the four well-being pillars: physical, emotional, financial, and social.

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Working for the safety of every journey

We move 2 billion people every day, and our goal is to make those journeys safe. Safety is built into everything we do, from design and product development to manufacturing, installation, continuous performance monitoring, maintenance, and modernization.

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Strengthening workplace safety performance

We actively cultivate a strong safety culture. We strive for all our employees and subcontractors to return home safe every day.

Our actions

We take a holistic approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion, well-being, continuous development and safety, integrating these into everything we do:

Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion

We drive DEI through leadership training and company-wide campaigns.
We support inclusion through employee resource groups (ERGs) and DEI training, and we have endorsed the UN Standards of Conduct to promote LGBTIQ+ inclusion.
We promote fair hiring, career progression, and compensation practices to eliminate bias and create equal opportunities for all employees.
We increase cultural diversity and hire talent from our customers’ industries to ensure our workforce reflects the communities we serve.

Investing in people’s growth and well-being

We provide opportunities for continuous learning and career development, including upskilling programs, mentoring, leadership pathways and online learning platforms.
We have a well-being champions program consisting of employee volunteers in selected countries. The purpose is to promote well-being activities and services throughout the organization, and to inspire employees to take care of their well-being.
We aim to improve the work-life balance and increase diversity in teams through flexible ways of working. Our aim is to provide some form of flexibility for every employee, recognizing multiple types of flexible working, such as remote and hybrid work, flexible working time, job sharing, compressed work weeks, and part-time work.

Strengthening safety performance

We uphold the highest standards of safety across our operations. We collaborate closely with suppliers and partners to enforce strict safety protocols and improve working conditions.
Safety is a shared responsibility. We conduct regular risk assessments, provide mandatory safety training for employees and subcontractors, and organize global and local safety campaigns to foster a proactive safety mindset.
We invest in advanced monitoring and safety innovations to prevent incidents and aim that everyone using our equipment returns home safe every day.

Our progress

We measure and track our progress through employee engagement surveys, safety performance indicators, as well as diversity and inclusion metrics:

In 2024, 92% of KONE employees completed our Pulse Engagement Survey, illustrating the importance of this channel for employees to feel heard. Our Employee Engagement Index rose to 78% (2023: 77%), which shows strong engagement above benchmark averages.
During 2024, 98% of KONE employees enhanced their knowledge and skills by participating in one or more training courses at KONE.
We improved the representation of women in leadership roles. In 2021, we started from 21% and at the end of 2024, 27.4% of these positions were held by women, our target being 35% by 2030.
91% of employees had completed KONE’s general safety training by the end of 2024.
Over the years, we’ve achieved a significant reduction in workplace incidents through enhanced safety measures: our Industrial Injury Frequency Rate (IIFR) has improved from 7.5 in 2007 to 1.3 in 2024, with a long-term goal of 0.6 by 2030.

Building an inclusive and safe workplace

When everyone feels respected, valued, and empowered, there will be less silence, more understanding, and bolder ideas. Better communication and respect lead to improved safety, for everyone.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

How are KONE’s women leading the way?

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we interviewed four of our female leaders taking action to accelerate equality and inclusion. Explore their success stories and be inspired to make your mark!

Learn more

The underground epicenter of elevator testing

An underground testing laboratory hundreds of meters below the earth’s surface sounds like science-fiction. Yet, the critical impact of KONE’ s high-rise elevator testing laboratory is anything but fantasy. From cybersecurity to braking and smooth user experience, every detail is thoroughly tested before the new elevator is ready for action.