Corporate Culture and Values

GRI 3-3, 2-30

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, 77% of VWI employees took part in the 2022 Opinion Survey. The participation rate was therefore slightly higher than in the previous year. The Opinion Survey index of staff satisfaction revealed an overall score of 79.3, which was just below the previous year’s figure (80.1). In the year under review, 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 dialog with their staff, advised and supported by the Opinion Survey coordinator.

Being open to dialog 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. One example of this is the cross-hierarchical format “Auf einen Kaffee mit…” (Coffee with …) where a member of senior management engages in open, personal dialog with ten members of staff. It allows senior management to take on board unfiltered feedback from staff and respond to questions directly. Three in-person meetings of this kind took place in the year under review.

Individual staff appraisals and meetings at team and department level continue to take place regularly. Twice a year, management dialogs are held with departmental heads and senior management, and a one-day leadership convention takes place annually. Throughout all the various formats, we cultivate a culture of regular exchange between line managers and staff.

It is important to us that all employees are given prompt, comprehensive information on overarching issues. We provide this via in-person staff meetings and the digital town hall meetings introduced in 2021, which serve as a direct and bidirectional communication instrument (VWI Sustainability Report 2021, p. 36). 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 for combating coronavirus or saving energy without delay, and to enable employees to ask questions at the same time.

Our intranet platform 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 contribute towards employee satisfaction. The staff at Volkswagen Immobilien GmbH have contracts which are based on the collective agreement for Volkswagen AG. As well as covering issues such as fair pay and company pensions, this protects jobs at the German sites until 2029.

GRI 3-3

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 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, which also analyzed candidates’ experience of the recruitment process in relation to VWI’s diversity as an employer 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 which managers can also use, e.g. for team workshops or sessions on this topic. We have already gathered some practical experience here in a number of teams.

In the reporting year, we also promoted diversity in the public sphere. For instance, VWI took part in Wolfsburg’s first Diversity Day, which was organized by the city of Wolfsburg’s Department for Equality, the charity Aids-Hilfe Wolfsburg e. V., the cultural center Hallenbad – Kultur am Schachtweg, and the municipal youth empowerment team. At this event, VWI was able to make a strong statement in interviews and panel discussions about how the company lives diversity in practice. Formats included the dialog-oriented Business Lunch where our employees discussed positive action for women in response to the question: “Should we take positive action for women or give everyone the same rights?”. We also highlighted staff members’ activities outside the workplace with our series “Stark durch Vielfalt” (Strength through Diversity), showing how diverse the VWI community is.