Since its start in 2012, the CE-Blog has given our leaders and employees a platform to be heard and seen. With nearly 250 posts, the CE-Blog has helped to build the culture we have today. 

We have a tradition here on the CE-Blog to pause and reflect on the previous year’s stories with a Top 10. It’s a chance for us to recognize the great contributions of our employees who are the success behind this powerful online platform. As I read through these stories, some common themes began to emerge, including, caring for our people and communities, a passion for our work, and the big heart of Celanese…

At the beginning of 2017, the Budapest team received an exciting email from Corporate Communications. They were looking for a handful of actors to star in an engaging short film about our office, our people and life at Celanese Hungary. Needless to say, I was in! Mere minutes after the first email, Petra Czugler, corporate communications manager Europe, and project owner, gathered her team of enthusiastic actors, and the preparations began…

As Celanese’s social media manager, I’m deeply involved with the planning and promotion of our company through our various social media platforms. It’s several of the many communication channels I enjoy supporting every day. Here on the CE-Blog, the hub of all things social for us, I thought I would spend some time sharing with you why you should be following us on social media!

Last month, new and future moms at the Celanese Florence, Ky., site got a very meaningful Mother’s Day gift from Celanese. The Florence Women’s Impact Network (WIN) partnered with site leadership to establish a Mother’s Room where they can comfortably and conveniently pump during their work day.

Returning to work after the birth of my son was difficult, to put it mildly. Sure, part of me was anxious to regain a slight sense of normalcy and solve some problems that didn’t involve diapers. But those first weeks of being separated from that tiny human to whom I’d become so irrevocably attached–those were heart wrenching; not to mention the stress of finding child care, balancing the new list of responsibilities, and adjusting to a new sleep schedule.

I have always been expecting more than just a 9 to 5 job. I wanted to work somewhere where people care about each other. A place where my ideas are heard and where I can be challenged every day. Have you ever wondered what makes our Shared Service Center (SSC) different from the others in Budapest?

I recently attended a social media conference to learn new trends, to connect with communication peers and to leave inspired and refreshed. As a communicator, the emphasis on transparency and social storytelling affirmed Celanese’s communications strategy to have a consistent and authentic voice.

The CE-Blog came to my mind several times over the course of the conference, especially when one speaker shared how to unearth the spirit of a brand through storytelling. She was talking about how a brand’s mission is its story. The more she talked, I couldn’t help but think how great it has been for our company to have created a space to give our employees a voice to our customers, our communities, our teams. This blog has helped to pave the way for our company to build the culture we have today. It speaks to our company values and has been a place where we’ve tackled challenges and shared about the people and the causes we’re most passionate about.

Have you heard this phrase? It’s true in many places and, in my view, it’s especially true at work.

Let’s face it, we spend a lot of time working. The average person will devote one-third of their life to the workplace. With that kind of commitment, it’s important to feel at home in the workplace. We should feel appreciated and at ease. Many factors are involved to be able to achieve that, including the quality of your job, feeling successful at what you do and having good people around you who know you and respect you for who you are.

Early in my career I had an experience that changed my views on diversity, opening my eyes to the value of being inclusive and open.  As a young engineer in the early 90s (as my daughters constantly remind me that would be last century), the plant in which I worked in my first job out of the university was required to have off-site diversity training.

“Sir, I would like to talk to you about the Process Engineer position at Celanese Singapore. Is it convenient to talk now?” I said as I asked the recruiter.

“Sure. It’s convenient to speak now. Could you please repeat the name of the company?”

And thus began my journey with Celanese. My first experience with diversity at Celanese was when I met the team that came to Mumbai for job interviews. After the usual interview questions, I was given an opportunity to ask some questions. I remember asking: “Do you have someone from India working there?” I was told you’d be surprised – and you bet I was.

What makes a great blog? Is it the practical advice we relate to when employees share about their everyday life? Or is it the empathy and strength we’re inspired by when our colleagues share about the challenges they’ve faced?

In 2015, our top 10 bloggers wrote on a variety of great topics! Thank you for sharing your personal stories with us and making CE-Blog a platform to discuss the things we care about most. So grab a cup a coffee and sit back at your desk as you catch up on the latest and greatest blogs and consider what story you might like to share in 2016!

Online shopping has become the preferred method of many holiday shoppers. With the introduction of Cyber Monday, retailers are providing deep discounts and easy ways for shoppers to find the perfect gift for friends and family. Since I’ve started my role in IT Security, I’ve begun to look at online safety from a different perspective. We often think of identity theft and Internet security as some distant thought, but your information (and in some extreme cases, your financial livelihood) can be compromised with a single click.

Do you like country music? I used to hate it. Every time it came on the radio, I turned the station. At least I used to until my 16-year-old son started listening to it. That’s been a good thing because now I see how much country music and good communication have in common…