Corporate Culture and Values

GRI 3-3

Staff satisfaction is measured at all companies in the Volkswagen Group each year using the “Opinion Survey.” The results make it possible to identify room for improvement and action that needs to be taken by managers. In all, 82.5% of VWI employees took part in the 2023 Opinion Survey. The participation rate was therefore 5% higher than in the previous year. The Opinion Survey index of staff satisfaction revealed an overall score of 79.0, which was roughly on par with the previous year’s figure of 79.3. The topics of integrity, openly addressing errors and a good corporate climate were rated particularly positively in the reporting year. The main focal areas identified for VWI were once again changes and development opportunities for staff. Using defined follow-up processes, managers take suitable steps in dialogue with their staff, advised and supported by the Opinion Survey coordinator.

Being open to dialogue and fostering a strong feedback culture are important to us. This enables our employees to become actively involved in processes by contributing their views and criticisms. Against this backdrop, two new feedback tools were introduced at VWI in the reporting year: continuous feedback and upward feedback. With continuous feedback, employees can give, receive and respond to feedback throughout the year using a digital tool. Upward feedback is made possible with the help of an easy-to-use online survey tool that allows supervisors to quickly, transparently and securely obtain qualified feedback on their own leadership behavior from employees. Supervisors were comprehensively informed about both instruments. At the same time, detailed information on the objectives, process and use of the tools is available to all employees on the VWI intranet.

Another example of direct employee feedback is the cross-hierarchical format “Auf einen Kaffee mit…” (Coffee with …), in which a member of senior management engages in open, personal dialogue with small group of staff. It allows senior management to take on board unfiltered feedback from staff and respond to questions directly. Two dialogues of this kind were held in person in 2023. In the year under review, the VWI management team also launched the “Schnack mit Waffel” initiative, in which representatives at department head and senior management level get together with colleagues over a waffle at the end of the working day. Individual staff appraisals and meetings at team and department level continue to take place regularly. Throughout all the various formats, we cultivate a culture of regular exchange between line managers and staff. In addition, management dialogues are held at departmental head and senior management level twice a year, and a one-day leadership convention takes place annually.

Staff events that focus on getting together and having a relaxed exchange at all levels also contribute to the satisfaction of our employees and to strengthening our corporate culture. In the year under review, employees were invited to a barbecue event in June to mark the company’s 70th anniversary and to the VWI Christmas party at VWI’s own Global Inn hotel at the beginning of December.

It is important to us that all employees are given prompt, comprehensive information on overarching issues. We provide this through in-person staff meetings and digital town hall meetings, which serve as a direct and bidirectional communication instrument. In the year under review, the senior management provided information about topics relevant to the company at three town hall meetings. The flexibility of this format also makes it possible to assemble the workforce at short notice, for example to announce planned measures to enhance VWI’s structure in the commercial sector or to provide information on the impact of the Volkswagen performance program on VWI in advance. It also enables employees to ask questions at the same time.

VWI’s intranet is used alongside a coworker app to update employees on company issues each day and to regularly provide background reports and information on current projects and staffing changes. Along with staff information channels specific to Volkswagen Immobilien, the principles of the Volkswagen Group’s Charter on Labor Relations also apply. This gives employee representatives extended information, consultation and co-determination rights.

Commensurate pay and job security also round out employee satisfaction. The staff at Volkswagen Immobilien GmbH have contracts that are based on the collective agreement for Volkswagen AG, ensuring such as fair pay and company pensions, as well as job protection at the German sites until 2029.

The Volkswagen Group Essentials form the shared set of values for all brands and companies within the Group, including Volkswagen Immobilien. Seven simple sentences starting with “We” set out what the company stands for: “We take on responsibility for the environment and society,” “We are honest and speak up when something is wrong,” “We break new ground,” “We live diversity,” “We are proud of the work we do,” “WE not me” and “We keep our word.” Volkswagen Immobilien applies these principles to daily operations using a jointly developed toolbox.

As a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, we follow its Code of Conduct. We do not discriminate against anyone or tolerate discrimination of any kind. The Group guideline “HR Compliance” sets out minimum standards for fostering and safeguarding diversity and equal opportunities in the long term. Each company is required to have at least one contact person who can provide information about diversity and equal opportunities for managers and staff. They are trained using the Group-wide sensitization program “DiversityWins@Volkswagen.” This also applies to Volkswagen Immobilien. As a signatory to the Diversity Charter, we promote respect and tolerance in the workplace.

It is therefore only logical that diversity also forms a fixed part of the “VWI 2030” strategy and the “Employer Attractiveness” initiative. Responsibility for this lies with the HR department. With regard to VWI’s diversity as an employer, an analysis of candidates’ experience with the recruitment process was conducted in 2022. An official diversity manager (Head of Human Resources) and four additional diversity trainers from different departments are responsible for ensuring that diversity at VWI remains in the workforce’s collective consciousness and is regularly treated as a focal topic. Their primary tasks include promoting more efficient, innovative teamwork and making inclusive behavior part of day-to-day leadership.

Key measures to foster diversity and equal opportunities include our “Role Model Program” for managers, which comprises concrete aids such as the “Meet the Others” tool. The “Diversity Run” – an interactive online role-play game – is an entertaining and valuable instrument that managers can also use, such as for team workshops or sessions on this topic. We have already gathered some practical experience here in a number of teams.

In year under review, we once again proactively promoted diversity with various measures and campaigns. As part of the “Der Mai im Zeichen von Vielfalt” campaign (May in the Name of Diversity), we sent a visible signal with diversity flags in front of the main VWI building and used the VWI’s own intranet to draw attention to corresponding offerings within the Group. Through our diversity network, we were able to offer our employees a wide range of presentations and exchange formats that interested parties could attend free of charge during working hours.

Our trainees and students in cooperative education programs also dealt with the topic of diversity in the reporting year as part of a cross-team project. “Diversty@VWI” involved several months of focused discussion and events that kicked off with a brief diversity training session provided by an experienced VWI diversity trainer. This was followed by a “Waffle Day” organized by the trainees and students with the aim of getting to know VWI colleagues, engaging in conversation and actively perceiving the diversity of people and personalities at VWI. A summary of the trainees’ experiences and views on diversity at VWI was published and presented in a video on the company’s intranet on Diversity Day (May 23).

Volkswagen Immobilien was also able to send a strong signal for diversity at the company in interviews and panel discussions. As part of our “Business Lunch” talk format, for example, attendees discussed why targeted measures to advance women is so important. Professor Anja Seng, who works as a consultant and expert for leadership, diversity and employer branding and volunteers as president of FidAR e. V., was invited to take part in the discussion.