OUR PEOPLE

At SABIC, we believe that our people are our greatest asset. We recognize that the success of our ambitious growth agenda, plans for carbon neutrality, and commitment to the circular economy rely heavily on the skills and abilities of our workforce.

Our people play a critical role in executing our strategy and ensuring our competitiveness in an ever-evolving industry. As an organization, it is our responsibility to provide our employees with the necessary resources, training, and supportive work environment that will enable them to unleash their full potential, generate value for our stakeholders and society, and power SABIC’s growth.

At SABIC, we “Explore what Matters”.

TALENT MATTERS

SABIC’s vision is to be the preferred world leader in chemicals, and our talent development strategy is designed to support the realization of this vision. Key elements of this strategy include: instilling a corporate sense and mindset of continuous learning through the SABIC Leadership Way; building a talent pipeline; providing exceptional career opportunities in the context of meaningful work; and offering attractive rewards and recognition for performance.

Empowering our people through capacity building

SABIC invests in and offers various channels for knowledge-building for all employees. These include training by external vendors as well as trainings that are designed and delivered by SABIC subject matter experts. In addition, SABIC offers all employees digital learning options that include virtual training and self-directed modules. The learning offerings are comprehensive, covering functional, core, and leadership skills, and are linked to competencies assessments that are conducted on a regular basis to maximize the impact of the learning journey.

The average training hours per direct hire employee in 2023 sits at 44.4 hours, which is above the most recent Association for Talent Development (ATD) benchmark of 32.9 hours per employee. We enable our employees by investing in capability building, embedding integrated technology and analytics to drive the performance-management process, and providing tailored global programs for future graduates and professionals early in their careers.

All of SABIC’s professional population, including executives, participate in a globally defined and managed performance annual review, receiving a performance rating and follow-up discussion. As part of the review processes, we structure our approach to employee development through an annual growth plan and a broader career growth plan. In 2023, 100% of eligible employees received a performance rating and 90% of active eligible employees completed a midyear review, revisiting and updating their annual objectives.

ENABLING SAUDI VISION 2030

SABIC plays a crucial role in supporting and contributing to Saudi Vision 2030. Recognizing the importance of nurturing local talent, we focus on developing the potential of Saudi individuals through various initiatives.

Saudi Scholarship Program

The SABIC Scholarship program, established in 2005, is a flagship initiative that provides promising Saudi undergraduate full scholarships to study at renowned local and international universities. While in the program, students work closely with SABIC Advisors who support them academically and personally to foster their growth and development. They are also able to attend SABIC-led workshops, conferences, internships, and a variety of other professional development opportunities. Once they complete their education and return to Saudi Arabia, they are placed in various roles and functions across SABIC, having already had significant first-hand experience with SABIC’s culture, values, and purpose. This program is a significant avenue through which SABIC develops and leverages Saudi talent, positioning and enabling them to steer SABIC into the future.

2023 Highlights

• A new batch of 224 students in 2023 (50% male and 50% female) brings the overall active enrollment to 606 with a geographic split of 408 students in Middle East and Africa, 52 students in Europe, 145 students in the Americas, and 1 in China.
• Female placement in several departments: Information Technology, Technology and Innovation, Finance, Cybersecurity, Agri-Nutrients, Legal, Petrochemicals.
• Increase in the number of female students who are studying engineering-related majors reaching 74 is an increase of 56% compared to last year’s intake.
• Partnering with the largest women's university in the world (Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia) to sponsor female students in a variety of majors that are related to SABIC's future growth.

Read more about our approach to talent development.

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Our leadership framework, the SABIC Leadership Way (SLW), establishes a set of guiding principles that describe the unique characteristics for world-class leadership at SABIC. A leader at SABIC refers to everyone from the manufacturing floor to the CEO. The SLW’s four leadership priorities, along with SABIC’s values, inform how we lead and behave every day and inspires us to act with integrity, responsibility, and accountability, and to support the leadership potential of others.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP AND MENTORING PROGRAMS

Leadership development programs have been the cornerstone of SABIC's ongoing success, enabling the sense of trust and shared purpose required in today's values-driven, hybrid, and diverse work environment. Employee engagement and wellbeing are key elements of the competition to find and retain the best talent. Our leaders must be equipped with the right skills, mindset, and tools to grow and empower their people, care for their needs, and inspire them to become leaders themselves.

In 2023, SABIC extended the range and reach of our custom-designed leadership programs, reaching a total of 407 employees, who completed various leadership development programs.

TOTAL REWARDS AT SABIC

SABIC is committed to providing its employees with competitive compensation, good working conditions, and flexible employment opportunities that support a better balance of private and professional life. We apply a comprehensive total rewards program designed to engage the best human talent in view of our aim of being a leader in the highly competitive chemical industry.

More than 95% of SABIC employees work in countries with a statutory minimum wage. All employees are paid well above any relevant statutory minimum wage, without considering any allowances, overtime or bonus payments. We conduct periodic audits to ensure we remain compliant, with particular attention to employees in high inflation countries.

Additionally, more than 95% of employees participate in annual bonus plans designed to reward them based on a combination of company and individual performance. These bonus plans are intended to promote a pay-for-performance culture; promote teamwork by establishing shared goals; and help attract, motivate, and retain employees in a diverse and competitive marketplace.

Read more about our leadership framework and initiatives.

CULTURE MATTERS

DIVERSITY

We believe the best ideas and greatest impact come from diverse perspectives and experiences across gender, generations, regions, and nationalities. Creating a sense of belonging for all is what makes us a great place to work and will help us realize our vision of becoming the preferred world leader in chemicals. Our new Sense of Belonging statement, adopted in late 2023, gives voice to these beliefs and embraces SABIC’s globally shared workplace standards, serving as a statement of intent for shaping our corporate culture.

ENGAGEMENT

We capture the voice of our employees across many different channels throughout the year. The most encompassing forum is our global employee survey, administered by an independent consultancy that supplies trends and valuable benchmarks against each of our questions and dimensions (such as engagement, learner mindset, team leadership, and wellbeing). This year, we introduced a number of improvements to the survey, including moving it from a triannual to an annual exercise, increasing accessibility and promotion at our sites with mobile digital access through QR codes and promotion by way of numerous reminders throughout the duration of the survey. In 2023, we witnessed an increase in responses to the survey of almost 5% over 2022, a positive sign of buy-in to the process by our employees.

THE PREFERRED BRAND FOR WOMEN IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

In 2021, we established a bold vision to be the world’s preferred brand for women working in the chemical industry—a place where all women employees can thrive. A key component of this is SABIC’s dynamic global women’s network, SHE, that offers women across SABIC a platform to engage in key initiatives that ultimately help serve business needs while supporting a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

The goal of SHE is to enable our women leaders to realize their potential. SHE provides resources for professional development, including mentorship opportunities, building visibility of women’s achievements both internally and externally, and cultivating a sense of community where participants can exchange ideas and experiences. Throughout the year, SHE hosted several sessions to highlight the collective impact of our female workforce.

EMPOWERING YOUTH

Alongside the SHE network, the SABIC Young Leadership Council (SYLC) is a dynamic platform that empowers future leaders and young talents at SABIC. It provides them with the opportunity to engage directly with SABIC’s executive leadership team, influence future business decisions, foster a diverse organizational culture, and deliver significant value to the company.

Read more about our culture and commitments to diversity.

_{Disclaimer: This abridged interactive version of the SABIC Integrated Annual Report 2023 is based on the original PDF report published on this website. In case of any discrepancy, the original PDF report will prevail.}