Employee retention and development
New approaches and efficient processes for employee retention and development are crucial to the assumption of greater responsibility, cooperation and performance at DB Group. We support employees in several key areas:
- Perform: “My Performance Management” focuses on honest dialog about performance with the objective of continuously encouraging better performance. With the introduction of a mandatory contribution to performance in the “Women in leadership” dimension for all executives from the level of the leading executive, “My performance” is also an important tool for achieving our target of 30% women in leadership by 2024 (Second Act on Equal Participation of Men and Women in Management Positions; [Gesetz für die gleichberechtigte Teilhabe von Frauen und Männern an Führungspositionen; FüPoG II]).
- Learning: In 2022, the diverse portfolio of services offered by DB Training and DB Academy included almost 750 learning opportunities on topics ranging from strategy, communication and leadership, digitalization, lean management and innovation to the environment and sustainability. The DB learning environment (DB Lernwelt) offers access to many of these services as a Group-wide learning management system with more than 260,000 users. As part of the project “Learning@DB,” we are also developing a modern and sustainable learning infrastructure that is oriented towards the goal of establishing a Group-wide learning environment.
- Developing and appointing: The purpose of strategic succession planning is to identify succession risks at an early stage, plan succession scenarios and speed up appointments. The aim is to increase the quality and diversity of appointments and to orientate employees towards Group-wide professional development. In 2022, succession planning was in place for almost 1,600 positions. With our three career pathways – leadership, expert and project careers – we are committed to the future and offer attractive alternatives to traditional management careers. The DB “specialists” career path was introduced on January 1, 2023. The new DB Careers Lab focuses on initiative and individuality and the formats are available to all employees.
- Onboarding and transfers: With our onboarding platform, we provide relevant information about how to get started. Modern learning, qualification and discussion formats also promote strong initial orientation in DB Group and Group-wide networking. Personal support from executives and colleagues plays an important role in integrating and retaining employees in DB Group. Our Group-wide mentoring program and intergenerational management promotes integration in Team DB and mutual learning for experienced and new employees. The controlled transfer of knowledge also secures valuable DB expertise and its utilization in DB Group’s tasks, processes and the Integrated Rail System. In addition to helping new employees get started, the reentry management system supports colleagues during and after a limited period of absence. In this way, we help retain women in management positions and women with leadership ambitions.
Employees are responsible for all of these areas and are supported by their executives. The “compass for strong teamwork” is a common benchmark for these topics. It is intended to lay the path for changes in leadership, cooperation and culture within DB Group under the framework of the Strong Rail strategy. The compass is based on the five most important principles that everyone in DB Group can use in their day-to-day roles to make Strong Rail a success. The compass principles have been systematically anchored in diagnostics, entry management, performance assessment, career development and qualifications. For example, the “compass for strong teamwork” was integrated into all executive training courses and the initial selection process for executives was aligned accordingly.
Further information can be found in the section Personnel development.
