Employee satisfaction and corporate culture

¹⁾ The employee satisfaction survey is conducted every two years on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best possible value).
²⁾ In the interim years of the employee survey, the compass index is determined for the Integrated Rail System in Germany, on a scale of 0% to 100%, as part of the culture barometer sample survey.

Following the employee survey (ES) in 2022, a two-stage follow-up process took place from January to the end of July 2023 under the motto “Implementing change together.” In a first step, executives shared and discussed the ES results with their teams by the end of February 2023. Based on the results, the teams were able to work on one of three possible key topics on a voluntary basis and in a facilitated workshop format (“Building strengths as a team,” “Dealing with challenges as a team,” “Comprehensive cooperation”). The objective was to work as a team to develop a solution for the chosen focal point and implement it as a specific measure. Relevant executives, interfaces and input providers were also invited to contribute to finding a solution. More than 1,660 workshops were held in the course of this in order to initiate change on the ground.

Subsequently, in September 2023, the DB culture barometer – a random sample survey in the Integrated Rail System in Germany – took place for the second time, providing an insight into the status and implementation of the strategic topics:

• Almost 12,000 employees took part in the culture barometer, which equates to about 43% of those invited (+7 percentage points compared to 2021).
• At 50%, the compass index, the most important indicator of the culture barometer, was slightly up on the 2021 figure (49%). This measures the way in which the princip­les of the compass for strong teamwork are practiced in the Integrated Rail System. The compass index is a key indicator for the transformation of the organization in line with the Strong Rail strategy.
• The results regarding our strategic topics are ambivalent:
  • optimism about the future (2023: 45% in the affirmative, 2021: 57% in the affirmative) has fallen, as has
  • the belief in the successful implementation of Strong Rail strategy (2023: 32% in the affirmative, 2021: 40% in the affirmative).
  • Our Strong Rail strategy has not reached all employees and its achievements must become even more tangible.
  • Employees are also more critical of the progress of digitalization in the Integrated Rail System in Germany than they were in 2021 (2023: 40% in the affirmative, 2021: 46% in the affirmative).
• However, there have also been slight improvements in key areas of activity:
  • For example, the topics of “Ending unnecessary pro­ces­ses” (2023: 26% in the affirmative, 2021: 19% in the affirmative),
  • “Quick decision-making” (2023: 26% in the affirmative, 2021: 24% in the affirmative), and
  • our “Implementation discipline” (2023: 37% in the affirmative, 2021: 35% in the affirmative) were rated slightly more positively than in the 2021 culture barometer.