A driving force and key to our success
Our employees are the backbone and driving force at SUPERNOVA—they are the foundation of our product development and the company itself. They bring our philosophy of design, quality, and sustainability to life and actively shape the future of SUPERNOVA.
As an innovation-driven company with around 60 employees based in Gundelfingen, it is essential for us to attract qualified and motivated individuals, retain them long-term, and support them in realizing their full potential.
At the same time, we face structural challenges: an increasing shortage of skilled workers in the region, societal shifts in the world of work, and ongoing technological transformation in both the bicycle and electronics sectors. Expectations for a modern, fair, and socially secure work culture are rising—especially one that offers stability during times of change.
Our Levers
Secure employment
Healthy work–life balance
Skills development
Secure employment, a healthy work–life balance, and continuous skills development are three essential levers for strengthening our attractiveness as an employer and ensuring the sustainable growth of the company. There is a real risk that our capacity for innovation, productivity, and quality may suffer if we fail to attract the right talent, retain them, and grow alongside them.
At the same time, this is where opportunity lies:: those who create secure, flexible, and development-focused jobs, and actively support employee growth, can increase workforce satisfaction and performance, strengthen the company’s competitiveness, and amplify their societal impact—especially with regard to public value, future viability, and social cohesion.
Our Ambitions
1. Our Ambition for Secure Employment
SUPERNOVA aims to make secure and fair employment the standard for all employees. Our ambition is to ensure employment not just in legal terms, but in a way that provides long-term reliability, clear perspectives, and transparent communication. We focus on long-term employment relationships, socially insured contracts without repeated fixed terms, reliable working time models, and a culture of trust. For us, secure employment means more than contract stability—it includes flexible, plannable working hours, active health promotion, and a respectful team culture as social security. Our goal is to link employment security with an innovative and sustainable corporate culture.
2. Our Ambition for Work–Life Balance
SUPERNOVA wants to create an environment where individual lifestyles and personal responsibilities can coexist with professional demands. We aim to foster a company culture in which work–life balance is not the exception—but the norm. We follow a holistic, life-phase-oriented approach to compatibility. This includes flexible flex-time models, mobile work options, individual team agreements, structural reintegration guarantees after time off, and health-promoting working conditions. Our ambition is to provide a reliable, plannable, and supportive work environment—supported by a leadership culture that actively enables work–life balance.
3. Our Ambition for Professional Development and Skills Growth
Our vision is to make Supernova a learning organization where ongoing development is part of the culture. We want to actively support individual talents and skills, while also embedding the ability for collective growth within the company.
We aim to make learning systematic—through annual development meetings, clear learning paths, access to digital formats, peer learning, and focused support for future skills such as digitalization, sustainability, and leadership.
At SUPERNOVA, learning shouldn’t be random—it should be structured, accessible, and impactful.
Where We Stand
SUPERNOVA currently employs around 60 people at its Gundelfingen site. Our focus is on stable, reliable working conditions – and this is also reflected in our structure:
1. Secure Employment
Share of long-term employment relationships (≥ 3 years):
~ 60%
Share of socially insured employment:
~ 95 %
Employee turnover rate:
~ 15 %
Participation rate in health programs:
~ 40 % (e.g. Hansefit)
Additional benefits:
Company bike leasing, Mobility allowance, and Company pension plan
2. Work–Life Balance
Flexible Work
Share of employees with flexible working time models: 100 %
Familienbedingte Auszeiten
Rückkehrquote nach Mutterschutz / Elternzeit: ~ 40 % MA
Gender distribution in part-time (female employees):
50 %
Return rate after maternity/parental leave:
100 % (of affected employees))
Turnover due to family obligations:
0 % (of affected employees)
3. Professional Development and Skills Growth
Entwicklungsgespräche
Participation rate in individual development meetings: 100 %
Training rate (as % of total employees):
~30 %
1. Our Path Toward “Secure Employment”
We want to strengthen job security in the long term—not only as a result of economic stability, but as a strategic objective. The HR policy for secure employment, planned for 2025, is designed to systematically ensure fair and reliable working conditions. This includes clear rules on contract types, the elimination of precarious employment, and job security measures during economically challenging times. At the same time, we want to involve employees more actively in shaping secure employment—through transparent communication and participation in company development processes.
2. Our Path Toward “Work–Life Balance”
Our goal is a corporate culture where professional demands are compatible with individual life phases. The HR policy on work–life balance, planned for 2025, will provide a structural framework to balance flexibility, personal needs, and team responsibility. It will include binding rules on working time models, mobile work options, return-to-work processes after career breaks, and clearly defined procedures for individual work–life arrangements. In addition, measures to promote physical and mental well-being will be structurally anchored, and the compatibility culture will be regularly evaluated.
3. Our Path Toward “Learning and Development”
SUPERNOVA aims to become a company that actively fosters learning and makes opportunities for individual growth visible. The planned HR policy on professional development and skills growth will focus on transparent learning opportunities, internal development paths, regular development conversations, and targeted skills-building in key areas such as technology, sustainability, and leadership. The foundation will be a learning-friendly work environment that responds to employee needs and sees shared development as a central goal.
Our Actions
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Learning points for the future
What surprised us and what did we learn from it
Our most important Aha! moments in the area of people at SUPERNOVA
Trust is more powerful than control
In our daily work, we’ve seen time and again: flat hierarchies and open communication foster a strong sense of personal responsibility—even without formal processes. Especially as a growing company, we’ve learned that building trust is more effective than increasing control.
Flexibility emerges through dialogue
Work–life balance works best when individual arrangements are made at the team level. Our day-to-day experience has shown us that rigid models are less effective than a cultural shift toward genuine mutual consideration—supported by leadership and colleagues alike.
Development requires visibility and structure
Individual training sessions were well received by employees—but not all development opportunities were visible throughout the year. We’ve learned that skills don’t evolve by chance. They need regular dialogue, attractive on-the-job learning formats, and concrete offers and support when needed.
Products built to last – with up to 5 years warranty and min. 10 years repair service
Certified CO2 offsetting of transport emissions (e.g. DHL GoGreen Plus / UPS CO2 Mitigation)
PVC free products and avoidance of plastic waste
Green electricity and proWind-Gas Mix from GreenPlanet Energy
Fleet consists of E-vehicles or wheels
Transport packaging, FSC certified + recyclable