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Common DNA as a factor for success

Our corporate culture makes us strong. It is underpinned by common values, convictions and behaviors and is one of the most important factors in our business success. We call it our Common DNA. This culture connects us across all business units and operating regions and defines who we are and how we operate.

As early as 2006, we defined a Code of Conduct for our employees that is applicable throughout the Group. We value the diversity of our workforce and act with respect, so that we may work together cooperatively and lay the foundation for our company’s financial success.

Being an employer of choice

Our employees are our most valuable asset. With more than 590,000 employees worldwide, we are one of the world’s largest employers in our sector and aim to be an employer of choice.

We aim to attract competent and committed employees, continuously develop them and retain them over the long term – because only motivated employees deliver excellent service quality, meet our customers’ needs satisfactorily and therefore ensure the sustainable profitability of our business activities.

For this reason, we want to strengthen and lock in their commitment at a high level. We are dedicated to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging to create a safe work environment free of discrimination where each individual is valued and to guarantee workplaces that promote health.

Preserving employee interests

In addition to direct dialogue with their superiors or other managers, our employees can turn to employee representatives, for example works councils, trade unions and other bodies, to indirectly represent their interests.

At the global level, we engage in regular, open dialogue with international trade union confederations such as UNI Global Union (UNI) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). We are also continuing the OECD Protocol from 2016, which was agreed upon with the two global trade union confederations. A wide range of topics was discussed as part of this during the year under review, for example our Human Rights Policy Statement and the different working time arrangements in our divisions.

At the European level, employee concerns are regularly discussed with our European works council, the DHL Forum. The Board Member for Human Resources takes part in the discussions twice per year. UNI and the ITF are also represented.

In addition, as the largest postal service provider in Europe, the Group is a member of the EU Commission’s European Social Dialogue Committee for the Postal Sector and is the Committee Chair. The work of this committee involves exchange between the employers and union representatives in the postal sector of European member states on relevant topics – for example future changes in the working world and their impact on employees – in consideration of social matters.

Our remuneration system

We foster employee loyalty and motivation by offering performance-based remuneration in line with market standards. The remuneration includes a base salary plus the agreed variable remuneration components such as bonus payments.

In many countries – including Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States – we also provide employees with access to defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans. Around 70% of our employees participate in these plans.

We also use neutral job evaluations to prevent discrimination on the basis of personal characteristics. These evaluations focus on the type of job, position in the company and responsibilities assigned and rely on, in addition to formal qualifications, relevant professional experience to increase the equity of opportunities for suitable applicants. This systematic approach enables an independent and balanced remuneration structure.

In Germany, wages or salaries are generally regulated through either industry-level or company-level collective wage agreements. In many of our subsidiaries throughout Germany, our wage-scale employees also receive a performance-based bonus in addition to their monthly wage or salary. The collectively bargained principles are gender-neutral, so the use of collective agreements ensures equity in pay for women and men. Employees of Deutsche Post AG covered by the collective wage agreement may opt to take additional time off in lieu of a pay increase. A total of 19.6% of the workforce there had exercised this option as of December 31, 2023. The remuneration of employees in a non-pay-scale employment relationship (Deutsche Post AG, principal entity in Germany) is bound by existing works agreements.

A resolution was reached in the reporting year on a lasting and significant wage increase for the approximately 160,000 employees of Deutsche Post AG subject to collective bargaining. In spite of the downward trend in profits in the German post and parcel business and the regulatory conditions in this area, significant pay raises and additional compensation for inflation will be provided to employees. The pay increase means an average raise of 11.5% over a term of two years across all income groups that takes effect starting on April 1, 2024.

Piloted share program

In addition to managers, we want our employees to share in the long-term success of our company and, in doing so, promote their loyalty and motivation. In the reporting year, another share program was therefore developed that will initially be piloted in 12 countries. We thus enable our employees participating in the program to acquire shares of Deutsche Post AG at a discount of 15% from the market price, up to an annual cap of €3,600. The shares acquired are not subject to a lockup period. Through this pilot project, the Board of Management hopes to test the interest of employees in and the administrative burden of such a program.

Workforce development

As of December 31, 2023, we employed 594,396 people around the world. Added to this, an average throughout the year of 81,782 external FTEs (previous year: 83,951 FTEs) subject to the control and direction of the Group were employed at our locations.

Staff costs amounted to €26,977 million and thus exceeded the prior-year figure (€26,035 million). This includes the tax-free bonus payment to compensate for inflation.

Measuring Employee Engagement

Motivated and dedicated employees are central prerequisites for the sustainable success of our business. Each year, we measure employee satisfaction and engagement by conducting a Group-wide survey. As part of the survey, all employees have the opportunity to anonymously rate the company’s strategy and values as well as its working conditions. This important tool helps us determine where we are in our journey toward becoming an employer of choice. We use the analysis of the annual survey to derive the Employee Engagement KPI, which also makes up 10% of the annual bonus of the Board of Management.

In the year under review, 77% of employees took the opportunity to express their opinion and provide feedback. This is used as the foundation for creating the best possible working conditions at our company, thus corresponding to our strategic goal of being an employer of choice. We once again exceeded the target of more than 80% with a figure of 83% (previous year: 83%) for this reporting period.

Motivating employees

Training and opportunities for professional development can have a positive influence on the motivation of a workforce, which is why all of our employees generally have the option of taking advantage of our training offers digitally or as part of in-person events. Our training offers convey knowledge about our Group strategy and how each employee can make an individual contribution to our success. One example is our Group-wide “Certified” employee motivation and development program, which aims to make our employees certified specialists in their respective areas of responsibility. It also creates an atmosphere that places our customers at the heart of our activities and ensures we provide excellent service. In addition to a certified foundation module, we offer our employees a wide range of follow-up modules customized to their specific roles and areas of expertise. In addition, we offer numerous professional development opportunities related to the topic of digitalization, including courses on the application of data science.

With leadership attributes, we give our employees a guide for how to conduct themselves respectfully and in a results-oriented manner on a daily basis when dealing with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, we encourage them to take on challenges with a positive attitude and to focus on their own strengths. We place additional emphasis on providing training for managers so that, together with their employees, they can make internal and external stakeholders successful.

We also offer qualified employees a number of personal development options, such as special training for those with potential and development ambitions, including coaching, mentoring and participation in interdisciplinary or international projects; these options are determined as part of an individual development plan together with the respective manager.

In the year under review, our employees spent a total of 4.7 million hours (previous year: 3.7 million hours) on training and professional development throughout the Group. Moreover, the Group invested time and money in qualification elements integrated in the job, such as orientation and service training, which are not included in this figure.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Our organization brings together people from cultures and cultural backgrounds from all over the world who possess a wide range of experiences, abilities and perspectives, with 179 nationalities represented at our German sites alone. The diversity of our employees is not only an asset to the company but also one of its major strengths.

Diversity, inclusion and freedom from discrimination are anchored in the form of our Code of Conduct throughout the Group. We expressly reject any and all forms of discrimination. We take an equal-opportunity approach to new hirings, both internally and externally, and look exclusively to a candidate’s qualifications when deciding on their suitability.

The scope of our diversity management activities includes the topics of equity and belonging, in addition to diversity and inclusion. The DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging) Board is comprised of executives in upper management from various central and divisional functions. Among other things, new concepts for employee retention were piloted during the year under review that are becoming increasingly important in the competition for skilled workers and qualified employees. Moreover, employee resource groups were established for the first time. Employees organize themselves voluntarily into these groups to promote a diverse and integrative working environment that aligns with our company purpose, our values, the business practices and our goals. Groups focusing on the topics (diversity dimensions) of physical and mental abilities as well as sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTQ+) were founded in the year under review. During the Group-wide DEIB Week, a campaign on the topic of awareness for a sense of belonging was started, for which we received positive feedback from our employees.

With regard to LGBTQ+ matters, our company’s in-house RainbowNet network provides opportunities for our employees to share their experiences. As a founding member of the PROUT AT WORK Foundation, we are committed to providing a collegial, discrimination-free workplace so that our employees can achieve their individual career goals regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our focus remains on the share of women in management positions. By 2025, we aim for women to occupy at least 30% of middle- and upper-management positions in the Group. The company uses various approaches and programs, such as coaching, mentoring and networking, to specifically empower female junior staff for the next step in their careers on the way to becoming middle- or upper-level executives. The share was 27.2% in the year under review (previous year: 26.3%). We therefore fell just short of our target of women occupying 27.7% of middle- and upper-management positions in the year under review.

In line with our inclusive approach, we give disabled individuals professional prospects. In Germany, employers of a certain size and above are required by law to ensure that employees with disabilities make up at least 5% of their workforce. At Deutsche Post AG, our principal entity in Germany, 14,014 persons with disabilities were employed in the reporting year (previous year: 14,274), 22 of whom were trainees; that represents 7.9% of the total workforce (previous year: 8.0%).

The average age of employees throughout the Group is 41 years old (previous year: 40 years old). In response to demographic developments, we have placed an additional focus of our employee retention measures on recruiting and retaining young talents. In doing so, we concentrate on positions with on-the-job training as well as trainee and dual-study programs. In Germany, we offered a total of around 1,900 spots in our postsecondary educational training and dual-study programs during the reporting year. We provide college and university graduates with the chance to choose between various postgraduate training programs.

Occupational health and safety

The health and safety of our employees in the workplace is of central importance to us and is therefore embedded in our Codes of Conduct. We comply with the Group’s existing occupational health and safety policies, statutory regulations and industry standards.

In the Group policy on occupational health and safety, we define our understanding and the importance of this topic; with our internal Safety First framework, we provide our employees with clear guidelines for implementation. Our management system complies with the international ISO 45001 standards, to which various business units of the divisions are also externally certified. Our Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers and subcontractors to adhere to these same high standards.

Accident prevention in the workplace is the top priority of our occupational health and safety activities. Some of our biggest challenges are in our pickup and delivery operations, because external influences can only be managed to a certain extent in this area. Bad weather, roadwork, complex traffic situations and dealing with animals require employees to pay attention, concentrate and take responsibility for themselves. The most frequent causes of accidents remain slipping, tripping and falling, as well as dropped objects. Accidents are analyzed, the respective material root causes are identified and measures are introduced that facilitate the continuous improvement of safety for our employees. Solutions proven in practice to reduce or eliminate potential hazards are shared across the Group. We promote this via systematic, Group-wide exchange on potential improvements and corrective measures. To this end, an IT-supported process was implemented throughout the Group in the year under review. Measures can now be directly assessed and used in other divisions. The measures receiving the best assessments are nominated for internal awards. In addition, regular work meetings and workplace inspections are carried out at our locations and areas with greater hazard potential are identified with corresponding signage.

To measure the success of our efforts, we use the performance indicator of lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR), which we calculate based on the number of work-related accidents per 200,000 working hours resulting in an absence of at least one working day for the affected person following the day of the accident. This also includes accident-related injuries to external employees who are subject to instruction. We use the accident investigations to derive measures to eliminate the respective root causes of these accidents and to avoid reoccurrence. The lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) dropped to 3.1 in the year under review, meaning we significantly exceeded our target value of 3.5.

In the year under review, we unfortunately documented 11 fatal accidents with our own employees and one with an external employee subject to instructions. Of these 12 accidents, 11 of them were traffic accidents. We expressly regret this development. Each death is presented to and discussed in detail by the Operations Board, which is chaired by the CEO. The Operations Board is informed on an ongoing basis about the developments of work-related accident statistics.

Health and well-being

We regard health as a state of physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of illness. Work can be a major source of satisfaction, and therefore also of health. At our company, a healthy workplace is somewhere that employees and managers work together to promote the well-being of everyone.

Within this context, through our Employee Benefits program, we offer our employees and their families insurance cover in the form of financial security in the event of death or disability as well as health insurance benefits. This offer depends upon provisions of labor law and the common market practices in many countries. Currently, around 280,000 employees in 100 countries are covered by this program. In particular as part of this program, incentives are provided to local management to offer health-promoting programs to employees and their families. We carry out such health projects and local initiatives to create a health-promoting work environment and raise awareness of a healthy lifestyle among our employees.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) advises the Board of Management in all matters regarding occupational health management – for instance the development of physical and mental diseases in the work context and concepts for how to deal with epidemic or pandemic risks.

In the reporting year, we approved and implemented the declaration on health and well-being throughout the Group as a supplement to the Group policy on occupational health and safety. In addition, we established the Health & Well-Being Forum, which is comprised of experts and managers from all divisions.

The Group-wide sickness rate decreased to 5.7% in the year under review (previous year: 6.3%).