secova: Together into a great year 2025

In 2025, we “Secovians” want to grow even closer together: internally with our various teams, who work consistently on optimizing our EHS solution system sam® with a high degree of personal responsibility and a clear focus. And externally, we are in close contact with our customers and numerous users in order to offer you the best possible support and make your work easier. As a company and as a partner, we are active and convinced representatives of solidarity and action geared towards the common good. We will continue to consistently uphold our values such as team spirit, appreciation and humanity – which, incidentally, have been defined by the entire secova team itself.

Performance and cooperation based on partnership – these are the pillars on which our continued success is built. Another year behind us, in which we once again achieved the ambitious goals we set ourselves. As a result, we have been able to support numerous other companies (and therefore their employees) in their efforts to work safely and document efficiently. And all of this in line with our understanding of the “customer = partner principle”. This is why we attach great importance to our service, as confirmed by the numerous positive reviews from our customers, for example on Proven Expert.

As a company, we were once again able to grow strongly in 2024, both economically and in terms of personnel. A total of 16 new colleagues have joined us, and we will be welcoming many more new faces in 2025. Working in Team secova, our motto is “love work & enjoy life”. In return, we offer technically and ergonomically well-equipped workplaces, flexible working time models and numerous benefits. This includes not only fresh fruit and weekly sports classes, but also our daily fresh salad bar and monthly physio treatment. However, our special “secova spirit” is primarily due to our cohesion and consistent adherence to our catalog of values. We value the individual strengths and talents of our employees and encourage their personal responsibility and diversity of ideas as far as possible. Last year, we received multiple confirmations that we seem to be doing this quite well:

Not just 2024 and 2025: multiple awards as a “best employer”

In spring 2024, we received several awards in the“Great Place to Work” competition organized by the research and consulting institute. We came first in the categories “Best employer in NRW”, “…in Münsterland” and “…in ICT (information and communication technologies)”. We came second in the nationwide competition “Germany’s best employer 2024” (50-100 employees). We were also the second-best German company in the major category “Best small & medium workplace Europe 2024” (33rd place overall). We have been receiving excellent ratings from our employees on the employer rating portal“kununu” for years. They rate the working atmosphere with a maximum score of 5.0 points, and the recommendation rate is 100 percent. We recently received the kununu seal of approval as a “Top Company” again for 2025 – for the fourth time in a row.

Ultimately, these awards are our employees’ thanks and recognition for our path of respectful cooperation. And they encourage us to maintain this focus consistently and successfully. We owe their development and continuous improvement largely to our “Core Spirit Manager” Melanie Klaas. We had to say goodbye to her with a heavy heart in 2023, but her message “live life!” will always stay with us. Last year, we also had to say goodbye to two of secova’s “midwives”: while Werner Holz was able to go into well-deserved retirement, “our Klausi” Klaus Waibel passed away suddenly after a short, serious illness. We were able to say “goodbye” to Werner during our annual trip and thank him for his many years of commitment with a personal treasure chest. In contrast, the unexpected death of Klaus was painful and sad for us all. We will honor him and his work in a special way this year with a special “memorial”…

Doing good together and sharing joy

In 2024, we were able to see twice how one of our Melanie’s last wishes is now being put into practice. Her two last stations in life were the palliative care unit at Herz-Jesu-Krankenhaus in Münster-Hiltrup and the “Haus Hannah” hospice in Emsdetten. There, she recognized how important it is for each individual to be able to “shape the last journey of life in a colourful way”. It is often only small things such as a beautiful picture, a scented lamp or music that can significantly improve the well-being of these people. However, as there is usually a lack of funds for such smaller to larger purchases, she asked “her” secova for support. In accordance with her wishes, we have therefore donated a total of 250,000 euros to both houses. We were delighted to see on site how well these donations are being used in Emsdetten and Hiltrup. But we would also be delighted if we could perhaps encourage one or two imitators here…

Donating and thus providing support has long been a matter close to secova’s heart. We are always looking for organizations and projects that we are happy to support. The choice is increasingly being made by our employees themselves. In numerous activities such as our“Active Month” or the“Living Advent Calendar“, we reward personal commitment with donation euros. The corresponding recipients can then all choose themselves individually. In June 2024, our annual strategy meeting, which we held under the heading“Donating by sacrificing comfort“, also contributed to this: Instead of a hotel as usual, this time we chose a campsite as the location. And all “campers” were then allowed to pass on the money saved in the comparison to their desired organization. Despite our “back to the roots” motto, we have worked out the design of our departmental visions in the respective teams with foresight. And thus set our course for the coming years.

Optimization, innovation and TÜV-certified safety – for an ever better sam®

We have now increased the number of Secovians to over 100. Our primary goal remains to drive the quality and diversity of use of sam® even more efficiently. In the background, the technical structures and processes are continuously improved and brought up to date. Our new dashboard and cockpit are now clearly visible within our EHS solution system. The rollout will continue successively over the next few months. In connection with our innovative new product – the sam® Safety Avatar – we want to provide more than just a visual breath of fresh air. In addition to the generally clear overview, all employees can now see their own personal security status. You can even design your own avatar according to your own ideas. All of this not only increases transparency, but also promotes the important factor of personal responsibility and overall safety awareness.

We have “sent sam® 2024 to TÜV” twice to ensure that our solution system itself is demonstrably even more secure: TÜV Thuringia inspected our quality management system in an audit in accordance with ISO 9001 – and found no deviations from the standard. The auditors certified that we have a “great culture and a functioning organization”. It is clear to see that “secova as a contractor always has an exemplary view of its own customers in all departments, teams and processes”. TÜV Rheinland has audited us in accordance with ISO 27001 – the globally recognized standard for information security management. The clear result: all sensitive data is optimally protected by our systematic security management! In 2025, sam® will continue to be optimized in various areas. Our app has been given a facelift for mobile use and the filter and measure settings in the qualification matrix have been refined. With sam®, we want to continue to offer our users the best possible support for their day-to-day work in occupational health and safety.

To get to know sam® and its numerous application possibilities even better, interested parties can always visit us at various trade fairs. We were at Achema in Frankfurt in June 2024 and at the “small” A+A in Stuttgart in November. In 2025, we will of course be back with our stand at the “big” A+A in Düsseldorf from November 4-7. The interview that COO Nicolas Lulay gave to the specialist magazine“GIT Sicherheit” provides an overview of sam®. One of the long-established highlights for sam® users is our customer workshop, which is always well attended. The 12th edition – once again fully booked – took place last March in “our living room” at the Atlantic Hotel Hamburg. Due to renovations there, we would like to invite you to the 13th customer workshop on March 18 and 19 at the Atlantic Hotel Münster – there are still a few places available. The evening before, there will be an opportunity to get to know our headquarters in Rheine at a get-together. On May 17, 2025, however, we will be offering all those interested in secova a chance to get to know us: For our Open House Day, we will not only open all office floors, but also “the most beautiful roof terrace in Rheine” again! We are currently working on the exact program, but there will certainly be something for young and old…