"Supporting the Armed Forces, integrating veterans, and fostering youth development are essential," says Natalia Teryakhina, HR Director at Kernel.

Regarding Kernel's approach to social responsibility and employee development during the war, the largest grain producer and exporter in Ukraine, Natalia Teryakhina, the HR Director of Kernel, shared insights on the company's initiatives for veterans and the training offered to young professionals.

The full-scale war has transformed Ukrainians, and consequently, the labor market has also changed. How has Kernel's strategy for working with people evolved over nearly three years of war?

The most significant changes were likely realized in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion when employees from various Kernel enterprises across the country voluntarily returned to work, continuing their tasks while helping those in distress. This occurred en masse in late February and March 2022, despite the apparent dangers to the lives and health of colleagues. It elicited both surprise and a genuine sense of pride in us and a spirit of unity among all Ukrainians...

All our subsequent actions were aimed at fostering this spirit, ensuring safe conditions, and motivating people to work, overcoming obstacles for the resilience of the country.

At Kernel, we launched an internal communication section called "Strong in Spirit," where we share stories of our remarkable individuals and their actions to remember the outstanding examples of resilience, courage, and humanity among our colleagues.

Our strategy has continued to evolve in line with the specifics of Kernel's agro-tech business. We are the largest Ukrainian exporter of grain and a global leader in sunflower oil production. It’s no secret that our business is based on two fundamental pillars — Ukrainian land and Ukrainian people. Thus, all our efforts are directed towards defending the sovereign territories of the country and caring for, developing, and supporting Ukrainians.

Regarding land protection, since February 24, 2022, the total amount of support for the Defense Forces from Kernel has exceeded 3 billion UAH: we interact directly with several brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, supplying various equipment, drones, communication devices, and vehicles as per their requests.

For over 11,500 Kernel employees and their families, several care, support, and development programs are in place.

First and foremost, this involves systematic work on personnel retention, attracting youth, and training candidates without work experience, as well as a system for preserving and disseminating the key expertise across all business areas of the company.

Secondly, we initiated a project focused on supporting physical, mental, and social well-being, which is particularly relevant for residents of rural areas, where there are many stigmas surrounding this topic and, at the same time, limited access to effective self-help techniques and tools. Most of our agricultural and production assets are located in small communities, so we pay significant attention to supporting the mental resilience of people amid constant threats and uncertainties.

Thirdly, an important area for me is the dedicated attention we give to mobilized employees and veterans returning from the war. Programs supporting mobilized employees and the reintegration of veterans occupy a central place in personnel management at Kernel. Over 870 of our colleagues serve in the Defense Forces, and more than 100 are veterans. 56 colleagues have permanently remained on the battlefield; their memory is honored in the corporate online Book of Remembrance.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the areas you mentioned regarding work with people. Can you share how effectively you manage to retain and develop personnel when people's attention is constantly diverted by the news?

Retention is ensured when employees have:

- fair compensation and feel their contribution to the company’s overall results,

- share the values and vision of the business,

- feel safe and secure (as much as possible today), and

- see prospects for their own professional and/or personal development.

Thus, if we follow this list, the company ensures annual salary increases starting from November 2022, and bonuses are paid each year based on achieved goals and financial indicators, along with additional rewards. Here, we demonstrate stability despite all the challenges facing both business and the country.

Our corporate culture is based on the principle that Kernel is an environment for developing and implementing new projects, where we offer people broad authority, recognize each individual’s contribution to the collective effort, stimulate innovative management, and cultivate mutual support, trust, and openness.

Training and development of personnel have always been closely integrated into the activities of all divisions and departments of the company. We have a well-developed system of remote and offline training — we develop employees both in professional skills (hardskills) and in key business competencies (softskills).

In the first year of the war, training shifted significantly towards online formats. Now, we are selectively adding offline options where possible and safe. Over the past marketing year, statistics showed more than 50,000 participants in training programs — meaning each colleague attended an average of 4-5 training courses, each lasting at least 5 hours.

Indeed, during the war, it is challenging to find time and adequately absorb large courses, so our strategic decision has been to implement microlearning, allowing everyone to acquire targeted skills in a concentrated and swift manner.

Additionally, in 2024, we updated our corporate competency model to meet the demands of the new era.

For candidates without experience, the company has a professional training system, mentorship, and remote electronic courses. To ensure business resilience, there are 4 personnel reserve programs aimed at preparing specialists for key positions. In all these projects, employees can find growth opportunities and prospects for themselves.

We also see great potential in working with the upcoming generations of specialists today — we need to consider school students as future employees right now. This includes popularizing key business specialties and developing and disseminating educational materials for career guidance for high school students.

We have several projects aimed at working with youth:

- OpenAgroUniversity – for university students,

- OpenAgroCollege – for students and pupils of vocational education institutions,

- OpenAgroSchool – a pilot project for launching career guidance elective subjects for school students in the regions where we operate.

In summary, I would note that being distracted by the news during wartime is normal, but in a supportive environment, the vast majority of our people strive to develop and learn. For this, we are sincerely grateful to them and will always seek formats and opportunities to support this desire.

Your response to the previous question leads to the next one. How do you work with the moral state of employees?

We have many different specialties and locations, and people's requests regarding their moral state vary significantly depending on their workplace or profession, age or gender, life experience, or interests. And that is normal.

In 2023, we launched the mental health care project "Resilience. Strength in You," which combines four very different yet complementary areas: mental state, physical health, social relationships, and creativity. Here, everyone can find something for themselves.

This includes interesting webinars about finding inner support or personal strategy, sports challenges like step marathons, running, or online yoga, and creative courses such as mobile photography or posing, as well as courses on financial literacy or public speaking. The list goes on.

As mentioned earlier, such content is especially relevant for residents of rural areas or small towns, where the topic of mental health and self-care is taboo, and self-help tools are scarce. Therefore, the project's activities are primarily aimed at breaking myths and promoting a culture of self-care and resource preservation.

According to the results of the past marketing year, the number of requests for the free corporate psychologist has more than doubled, with over 9,000 colleagues and their family members participating in various activities.

Let’s move on to your experience working with mobilized employees. What is Kernel's approach in the case of an employee's mobilization or their voluntary decision to join the Defense Forces? Is there a difference for these two categories?

For us, as an employer, there is no difference in the way employees are mobilized; we have many colleagues from both categories, and our policy is the same for everyone.

For mobilized employees and volunteer colleagues, the company has the "SHOULDER TO SHOULDER" project, aimed at supporting them from the moment of mobilization until the veteran returns to civilian and work life.

First and foremost, the company pays the average monthly salary to mobilized employees and ensures they are provided with all necessary gear (boots, bulletproof vests, helmets, uniforms, etc.).

Regarding financial support, employees receive material assistance upon mobilization in the amount of 15,000 UAH, and in the case of injury, 150,000 UAH. There is also assistance and support in obtaining disability due to injury, support for prosthetics, and adapting the workplace to the new circumstances of the colleague, etc. Under our program, support is also provided to the family — in the event of a tragic loss of an employee, the family receives 1 million UAH in assistance.

You also mentioned the area of work with veterans and noted that over 100 Kernel