Employees
Themes
Overview of the Action Area
Appreciation, performance, responsibility and team spirit are at the forefront of our corporate culture. These are the values that will allow us to rise to the challenges facing our sector and achieve our corporate objectives. To do this, we need employees who will accompany us on this journey over the long term. We want to be an attractive employer and adapt to the changing requirements of future generations. We see diversity in our workforce and our management team as a great strength and an opportunity that we want to make use of. We are committed to complying with international labor standards and the strict legislation in Germany, Austria and Sweden.
Highlights 2020
- The training rate at Vonovia in Germany is above average at 5.0%
- Around 1,000 new recruits, despite and during the coronavirus pandemic
- Digitalization process ongoing
- Training and education programs focusing on HR management
- New measures identified as part of structured follow-up process to 2019 employee survey
- Gender pay gap at management level is <4%
2020 was a financially successful year for Vonovia. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, we continued to strengthen our position as a reliable and forward-looking employer. We have recruited more than 1,000 new employees since the spring, and did not have to use short-time working or make redundancies as a result of the pandemic. Keeping our employees safe and able to work has always been important to us. That’s why we invest in health promotion activities as part of our company health and safety management policy, as well as measures which ensure our employees have a safe working environment. The well-being of our workforce was a particular focus of our HR activities in 2020. We expanded our health and safety and hygiene measures. We also made greater use of mobile working and flexible working hours.
Employee Numbers (by Region)
We used targeted investments over the course of the year to build on our already high level of digitalization across the Group. We increased the level of digitalization in our HR management structures processes in 2020 with the rollout of the IT application SuccessFactors Recruiting. More modules will be added in 2021.
We want to be seen as an attractive employer, both internally and externally. That’s why we are fostering a working environment that is modern and forward-looking and digitalizing our structures and processes in line with the latest developments. We rely on our employer branding concept to attract qualified new employees and retain their talents for Vonovia. We offer all our employees a wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development through the Vonovia Academy and partnerships with real estate training centers. We also help our employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance. We are committed to recruiting qualified staff for vacant positions and promoting diversity in our workforce – particularly in management positions and trade roles, where female employees are still underrepresented.
We take great care to create a working environment that is fair, appreciative and leaves no room for discrimination. One key part of this is having a fair remuneration policy for the entire Group. We are focusing on harmonizing works agreements on special employee benefits to increase standardization across the Group.
We adhere to national and international standards and comply with strict national legislation. In many cases we go well beyond minimum standards.
The number of employees in the Group (including Bien Ries) rose to 10,622 in 2020 (December 31, 2020), an increase of almost 3% on the previous year. The staff turnover rate came to 14.2%.
Our forward-looking personnel policies drive the long-term growth of our company and reflect current and future staffing requirements. We will meet the challenges facing the sector and achieve our corporate objectives in partnership with our highly qualified and committed employees. We will continue to measure the satisfaction of the employees of the Group on a regular basis. This is a key indicator of how attractive we are as an employer and puts us in a position to make continuous improvements. From 2021 onwards, employee satisfaction will be included as a key performance indicator in the Sustainability Performance Index (SPI) and will be factored into the remuneration of senior management at Vonovia.
The material topics in the action area Corporate Culture and Employees are our Appeal as an Employer and our Approach to diversity and Equal Opportunities. Other key topics are Training and Personal Development, Fair and Appreciative Remuneration and Promoting Health and Safety.