Our People Practices supporting Top Employer’s certification

Being certified as a Top Employer in 2025 and 2026 in all the markets where we operate is a massive achievement that confirms Zelestra’s ongoing commitment to putting people at the centre of our strategy. This recognition reflects the strength of our People practices and our focus on creating an environment where individuals can grow, contribute, and thrive. 

Top Employers Institute assesses organizations globally against high standards in Human Resources practices, covering the full employee experience — from strategy and leadership to development, wellbeing and culture. To obtain the certification, companies undergo a comprehensive audit around 6 domains: 

STEER – Purposeful direction and leadership 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain assesses how clearly an organization defines and communicates its strategic priorities, and how these priorities are translated into a coherent People strategy. It also evaluates the role of leadership as a driver of change and the extent to which senior leaders actively shape and support talent-related decisions. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

At Zelestra, the Top Employer assessment highlighted the clarity with which strategic priorities are defined and communicated across the organization. This shared understanding provides clear direction and supports consistent decision-making at all levels. 

The assessment also recognized the strong alignment between these strategic priorities and the People strategy, ensuring that People practices support business objectives in a structured and coherent way. 

In addition, leadership was highlighted as a key enabler, particularly in terms of role modelling, values-based decision-making, anticipation of future needs, and the active involvement of senior leaders in talent-related topics. 

What this means for our people 

Our people benefit from a clear sense of direction, aligned priorities and leadership that actively support the organization's strategy and values. 

SHAPE – Organization, change and digitalization 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain evaluates the organization's ability to adapt to its environment, evolve, and transform its structures and processes. It focuses on organizational design, change management capabilities, internal agility, and the level of digitalization of People processes. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

The assessment highlighted Zelestra’s strong focus on digitalization, particularly within the People function. The use of globally recognized platforms such as SAP SuccessFactors and Qualtrics supports consistency, transparency, efficiency and data-informed decision-making across the organization. 

It also recognized the emphasis placed on organizational design and the work environment, with a clear focus on fostering collaboration, teamwork and flexibility. 

What this means for our people 

Our people benefit from a more connected, accessible and consistent employee experience, supported by digital tools and ways of working that encourage collaboration and flexibility. 

ATTRACT – Employer brand and onboarding experience 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain focuses on how organizations attract talent aligned with their values and future needs, and how they create positive, transparent and consistent recruitment and onboarding experiences. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

Zelestra has built a clear Employer Value Proposition (EVP) that shows strong consistency between the external message and the internal experience. There is a clear connection between the EVP, our People processes and the behaviours promoted across the organization. 

The assessment also highlighted our transparent and fair recruitment practices, supported by an open career site for internal and external candidates. Zelestra has developed a Talent Attraction Global regulation that ensures fair, open and unbiased processes in all our locations.  

Also, we accompany Hiring Managers through guides and specific training to ensure adjustment with organizational best practices. Our global recruitment team shares common recruitment guidelines to guarantee that candidates share our beliefs and are aligned with our culture. Cultural fit is a key component of the recruitment process. 

Our global referral program is also a relevant tool to involve our employees in attracting best candidates.  

Zelestra establishes collaboration agreements with educational institutions in order to foster the development of young talent, promote academic training aligned with the needs of the sector and contribute to the sustainable growth of society through educational opportunities. 

We hold a solid presence across social media channels and Market insights are used to maintain a strong talent pipeline. 

In addition, Zelestra’s structured onboarding process was recognized, including the systematic measurement of the onboarding experience and the use of feedback as an input to strengthen the experience over time. 

Zelestra has also transformed Pay Transparency from a compliance requirement into a strategic cultural shift. The approach is built on three pillars:  

1. Strategic Actions, establishing a strong foundation through consistent job evaluation, clear compensation policies, redesigned structures, and expert validation;  
2. Governance, ensuring long-term transparency through pay-equity controls, ongoing monitoring, and shared ownership across HR and the business;  
3. Communication, empowering employees and managers through awareness initiatives, training, and education that turn transparency into trust. 

Zelestra’s Pay Transparency Journey has unfolded in three phases. In 2024, the focus was on building the fundamentals—professionalizing Total Rewards, redefining structures, and establishing the core frameworks. In 2025, efforts shifted to activation, launching new structures, enhancing education, and completing the first Pay Equity Audit with actionable outcomes. In 2026, the priority will be consolidation, digitizing processes, strengthening performance evaluation, and embedding transparency into annual cycles. 

Through this journey, Zelestra is transforming transparency into a long-term competitive advantage. 

What this means for our people 

Candidates and new hires feel respected, informed and supported from the very first interaction with Zelestra. 

DEVELOP – Development and professional growth 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain evaluates how organizations support continuous learning, meaningful feedback and career development, ensuring that people can grow within the organization and that talent development supports future strategic needs. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

The Top Employer assessment recognized the role of Zelestra’s Talent Management Cycle in supporting the company’s High Performance Culture. The objective-setting process was highlighted for its transparency and alignment with business priorities. 

Every year, we launch an exhaustive process to cascade our strategic goals for teams and individuals. We identify key results areas and define high performance drivers. The level of progress in company goals is openly communicated to employees in Global at Local All-Hands that take place twice per month. And individual goals and expectations are realigned during Mid-Year Review. 

Mid-Year Review is the dedicated moment of the year to address team development. In this step of the Cycle, we focus on giving and receiving meaningful feedback, identifying and defining improvement areas and development plans, following the 70-20-10 model. 

The cycle closes with End-Year Review. We evaluate the level of achievement of individual goals and close the year with another space for feedback and talent review. 

The use of performance management outcomes to inform compensation and career-related decisions was also recognized by Top Employer, reinforcing consistency and clarity across performance, development and reward practices. 

All the process is sustained with our People digital platform, Success Factors. Succes Factors is also the center of our learning ecosystem. We offer courses related to Compliance, Health & Safety, Cybersecurity or Business Processes and skills. 

Our ongoing Leadership initiatives include our Leadership Culture Development Program, focused on our top management, and our star Female Leadership Program, aimed to promote and make female talent visible within Zelestra. 

What this means for our people 

Our people receive clear expectations, constructive feedback and opportunities to grow and develop their careers within the organization. 

ENGAGE – Engagement, wellbeing and employee experience 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain assesses employee engagement levels and the organization's ability to create a positive, sustainable, and engaging employee experience. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

Zelestra’s approach to employee listening was highlighted for its structure and consistency. Multiple listening channels — including the annual engagement survey, suggestion mechanisms and regular All Hands sessions — provide valuable insights into employee experience and engagement. 

Yearly, we launch our Engagement Survey, that enables our employees to provide feedback about key topics like Leadership, Psychological Safety, Change Management, Collaboration or Wellbeing. In the last three years, we have used Qualtrics like the tool to manage the survey and analyze the results. It has helped us to provide the most confidential environment and streamline the results of presentation process. 

The use of employee feedback to inform concrete action plans was also recognized, reinforcing a culture of dialogue, trust, and active listening. 

What this means for our people 

Employees benefit from open dialogue, opportunities to share, and a working environment that values feedback and engagement. 

UNITE – Culture, values and sustainability 

What Top Employer looks at:

This domain addresses the elements that bring the organization together, reinforce its identity and reflect the extent to which it acts in a coherent, responsible, and sustainable way towards its people and society. 

Top Employer insights and highlights 

The assessment highlighted the strong integration of purpose, values and integrity within Zelestra’s People practices. Ethical standards, including the Code of Ethics, Anti-Corruption and Anti-Harassment policies, as well as the Ethics Channel, were recognised as well established across the organization. 

Sustainability was also highlighted as a core element of Zelestra’s identity, reflected in structured reporting practices and in the company’s commitment to creating a positive impact in the communities where it operates. 

What this means for our people 

People experience a respectful and inclusive work environment, guided by clear values and a strong commitment to the communities in which Zelestra operates. 

Being certified as a Top Employer reflects where we are today and reinforces our commitment to continuous improvement. At Zelestra, we see this recognition as an opportunity to keep listening, learning and evolving — always with our people at the centre.