Modern Workplace

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Workplaces have changed fundamentally over the past few years. One of the main factors in this transformation was the coronavirus pandemic, primarily by shifting work toward digital, mobile and flexible formats. VWI employees benefit from flexible arrangements, which were continued in 2023. Our employees are closely supported in their transition to the working world of tomorrow by both the HR department and senior management.

The “Mobile Working” company agreement from 2022 provides employees with an optimal and comprehensive framework for taking advantage of the flexibility associated with mobile working arrangements. Managers have made individual remote working arrangements with their team members to take account of the new normal. The proportion of remote working was agreed in each case between the manager and employee with the company’s operational requirements in mind. Staff are required to work in person at the office at least one day a week. They can work remotely on the other days. Staff also have the option of fulfilling their in-person requirement for the whole month by going to the office for several days during a single week. Furthermore, employees working remotely can choose to work whatever hours suit them between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., provided they observe the statutory and collectively agreed regulations.

In the year under review, all of the staff members who were capable of working from home due to the nature of their role were able to take the opportunity to do so and to use the digital workspace for communication and collaboration. To strengthen a sense of community at the same time, we introduced Office Days in 2023. Once a month, all employees come to the office on a specified day to preserve a sense of community despite the option of working from home.

The innovative office and space concept at the VWI headquarters in Wolfsburg underwent further testing in the year under review and serves as the basis of a sophisticated overall concept for the entire VWI corporate headquarters for the future.

In order to make the best possible use of office space in advance, company-wide desk sharing was introduced in mid-October 2023. The necessary framework conditions were defined in cooperation with the works council in corresponding company agreements. In addition, flexibly usable lockers for employees were set up at certain points in the VWI building.

The quality of time spent in the office was further improved in the year under review by installing premium-quality coffee machines and water dispensers both in the main buildings and in the depot. Here, our employees can enjoy a variety of coffee specialties free of charge and enjoy a relaxed chat in the break room.

Looking ahead, the creation of a new working world with innovative concepts for remote, flexible, digitally focused processes is also a key issue for many of our clients as employers and users of commercial properties. With this in mind, we carried out an analysis of new workplace concepts in 2023. First, identified what features the customers’ employees consider necessary with respect to office and space solutions for digital and flexible ways of working, such as desk-sharing models or an increasing need for attractive spaces for face-to-face meetings and hybrid working. We have already responded to these changing customer requirements in various conversion projects, such as the construction of office space for the new Skoda HQ in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, in 2023.

As an attractive employer, we are also committed to improving our employees’ work-life balance. Our company has therefore opted in to certain arrangements offered by the Volkswagen Group that allow staff to take a leave of absence for training purposes or for family reasons, forgo some of their salary in exchange for time off or take early retirement. Since as early as 2019, Volkswagen Immobilien has been offering staff the option of “Brückenteilzeit,” or working part-time temporarily. In line with the legal requirements, this enables them to reduce their working hours for a limited period to cope with a particular phase in their lives, such as caring for a sick relative. All in all, 117 members of staff – 31% of the VWI workforce – used flexible models for part-time working, partial retirement or parental leave in the period under review.

This achievement was underscored by the “FaMi” seal of approval, which Volkswagen Immobilien received in 2019 and again in 2022. The award indicates that our company offers very good working conditions for the 2022 to 2024 period, enabling staff to juggle their work, family, caring responsibilities and private lives.

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The range of tasks performed by employees at Volkswagen Immobilien extends from design, construction and investment to the letting, maintenance and repair of real estate. In all of these areas, the knowledge, skills and engagement of our staff members lay the foundations for our success. We therefore offer both applicants and employees a wide range of entry opportunities, attractive career paths and qualification programs that help to ensure that we remain competitive in a landscape dominated by digitalization.

We apply conventional training practices as well as the principle of cooperative education in the field of vocational training, meaning that we link theory with practice. In 2023, Volkswagen Immobilien took on a new trainee as a real estate agent for the traditional training occupation. Since the 2022 training year, the theoretical part of the training has taken place at Otto-Bennemann-Schule in Braunschweig. In addition to traditional training, VWI offers two cooperative bachelor’s degree programs in architecture and industrial engineering/construction. In 2023, one young professional was hired for each degree program. The programs were developed in 2021 and offered for the first time in 2022 in conjunction with Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig. Students in this cooperative education program attend the university full-time during semesters and work at the company during breaks. A cooperative education program in business administration with a focus on real estate management in cooperation with Welfenakademie Braunschweig is set to begin in August 2024. The establishment of this new educational offering was prepared in the year under review and announced at the end of the year.

Our range of training options is continuously being expanded in line with demand through in-house training courses provided by our own employees and training courses from external service providers, with each staff member being allocated a specific training budget. A range of qualification programs are available to staff and managers, among other things as part of continuing professional development (CPD) via the Volkswagen Group Academy. These consist of both voluntary modules and compulsory courses. Since June 2023, all VWI employees have also been able to use Volkswagen’s digital self-learning platform Degreed, which offers more than 30,000 pieces of content on hard and soft skills. Degreed gives employees access to courses from the respected external training providers LinkedInLearning, coursera, Masterplan, Pluralsight, Speexx and Haufe Akademie.

Furthermore, our employees regularly have the opportunity to discuss CPD-related issues with their supervisors and make their own suggestions. We also foster our employees’ creativity, knowledge and initiative by means of our ideas management program and motivate them to take responsibility for improving processes and products using this facility as well. Since 2021, we have been upskilling the whole workforce with regard to environmental issues using our own web-based training tool on environmental compliance, which is tailored to the Group’s requirements. Staff are required to complete this training every three years.

Managerial roles have also changed significantly in recent years thanks to advancements such as stepping up our digital teamwork, realizing efficiencies and adapting to crisis-related changes in operating conditions. We take this development into account with the Leadership Culture program, which supports our managers in their leadership role with input, workshops and methods. The management program, which includes a monthly leadership review and leadership nuggets every two to three months (short, bite-sized training sessions on various leadership and New Work topics), was continued in the reporting year with two further Leadership Culture Days. The first meeting in June focused on ways to use the VWI management team’s strengths to meet the challenges ahead, as well as exercises to strengthen feedback culture. The second Leadership Culture Day in November began with a keynote speech on the topic of leadership personalities in turbulent times. The topics of team relationships, levels of delegation, mindfulness (combined with emotional intelligence) and a method for conflict resolution were then discussed with the trainers from Volkswagen Group Services.

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We constantly strive to improve working conditions for our staff with our integrated health management. To help staff cope with stresses and strains associated with work, we see protecting and preserving health as a self-evident social obligation and an expression of our corporate culture. More than that, though, it is also immensely important in the context of our HR strategy. Our health management focuses on preventive steps to promote individuals’ mental and physical health, ensuring that workstations promote good health, and providing information and training on all health-related issues.

Mental illness has been on the rise for many years. In Germany alone, around 30% of adults are affected. Almost half of the population falls ill over their entire lifespan. This has prompted us to anchor the topic of mental health firmly in our company health management through a strategic approach. The key components include extensive individual psychological support services, such as participation in seminars offered in the 2023 reporting year:

In addition, members of staff can also take advantage of a social coach or psychotherapy through Volkswagen AG’s Psychological Service, which is available to all employees while maintaining anonymity in any dealings with the HR department. VWI has also trained an employee in stress management, who can provide certified coaching to coworkers if necessary.

Staff initiatives to boost mental health play an important role at VWI as well. In 2021, for instance, a group of four employees came together to promote mindfulness by spending 15 minutes each week doing mindfulness exercises.

“EmpowerME – Mental Health at a Glance,” which we took over from our parent company Volkswagen AG, enabled us to make another valuable offering available to our employees in 2023. The program, led by the Psychological Service, includes a wide range of measures to promote the mental health and wellbeing of employees. In this way, we sensitize our employees to the issue of mental health and illness, raise awareness and highlight support services.

The knowledge platform consists of the two digital learning pathways “Psych.Navigator for Line Managers” and “Psych.Navigator for Employees.” The “Psych.Navigator for Line Managers” learning pathway aims to raise awareness and provide support in dealing with mentally impaired and ill employees. It consists of six modules: “Take Responsibility,” “Look Closely,” “Act Quickly,” “Stay Focused,” “In a Crisis” and “Look After Yourself.” The “Psych.Navigator for Employees” learning pathway provides information on the topics of mental health and mental illness. It comprises the four modules “Understanding Mental Health/Illness,” “Promoting Self-Care and Recognizing Early Warning Signs,” “Identifying Support Services” and “Mental Illness in the Immediate Environment.” Mental health was also the focus of our health calendar in 2023. Alongside written information and recommendations, there were talks and workshops that were organized in conjunction with our health partner, Audi BKK. Through comprehensive reporting on the intranet, staff were also given tips and advice on promoting good health while they are working from home or remotely, for example to improve physical fitness, keep moving and eat healthy. We regularly train our staff on aspects of health protection and occupational safety, as well as offering them continuing professional development opportunities in this field. For instance, we provide regular informative talks by experts from the health insurance company Audi BKK on relevant topics. In 2023, these included the immune system, muscle training, healthy sleep and spiritual health. Our managers also received training on the topic of healthy leadership.

Promoting physical health is also an integral part of our health management. We work closely with specialists from the Volkswagen AG health department to offer regular, comprehensive health checkups free of charge for staff who would like to take up this option. In addition, staff are offered an optional flu shot or Covid booster each year and the opportunity to donate blood – all during working hours. Our employees in Wolfsburg also currently have the opportunity to use a gym at the Volkswagen site. When we design the working environment, we make sure that our workstations promote good health and are ergonomic wherever possible, for example by installing height-adjustable desks or sit-stand furniture.

Working with Audi BKK, VWI gave all of its staff access to the Phileo app back in 2022. Phileo is a preventive program that is offered by the association BKK Dachverband e. V. and forms part of its BGM 4.0 initiative. The BGM 4.0 app for smartphones acts as a personal assistant that helps employees to ensure that their workstation promotes good health and enhances their awareness of preventive healthcare. This assistant uses a science-based approach to record the user’s current situation and make concrete, personalized, motivating suggestions.