Employer attractiveness
In 2023, we continued to develop our talent acquisition strategy through comprehensive, candidate-focused measures and positioned ourselves as an attractive employer. We have identified specific levers to meet the challenges of what remains a constricted and rapidly changing labor market. DB Group is a top employer in Germany according to the Trendence Rankings 2023.
At the beginning of 2023, our new employer branding was launched on the basis of a newly developed, globally applicable employer value proposition with the key question “What is important to you?” In this context, we focus on our potential employees, enter into direct dialog with them and thus convey target-group-specific messages, benefits and job offers. The campaign was rolled out in 31 countries, and about 1,400 trade fairs, events and school events were held in Germany alone in 2023.
We have further expanded our diversity recruiting strategy with target-group-specific measures so as to fully exploit all labor market potential. We received a Trendence Award for this. Our targeted diversity marketing and communication strategy secures our standing as a diverse employer.
To ensure that we are visible as a leading employer for women, we are continuing to pursue our female recruitment strategy developed in 2020, which includes 30 measures to achieve our target of having “30% women in leadership by the end of 2024.” This should also sustainably increase the share of women in the DB Group. One measure we implemented was to hold another DB World Women’s Month. In our campaign “DB on Tour,” we featured seven female professionals in seven professions in seven cities.
Our inclusion center gives all applicants with disabilities, i.e. with a characteristic listed in the Ninth Book of the German Social Security Code (SGB IX), who are rejected in the regular application process a second chance to find a suitable position in DB Group. They are supported by trained and experienced contact persons for applicants with (severe) disabilities and advised by the recruiters at our Inclusion Center. This year, we received an Impact of Diversity Award for our efforts. We also offer unconscious bias and assessment error training as well as diversity recruiting workshops to all recruiters and other people involved in the recruitment process.
Cross-border recruiting is the process of approaching, recruiting and relocating skilled employees from abroad to fill vacancies in Germany. In 2023, we expanded our activities in Egypt, Tunisia, Romania, Albania and Kosovo. We have recruited over 450 international employees from 16 countries for DB Group through the cross-border recruiting program since 2019.
In addition, we are further expanding our offers for refugees in Germany. In cooperation with the Federal Employment Agency, we have identified key locations, organize both in-person and virtual information events, and carry out intensive and personalized matching of applicant profiles with vacancies at DB Group. We have also expanded our job portal to include information on entry options, event overviews and consulting opportunities.
The role of community recruiter was established in 2023 with the aim of being close to our target groups. There are currently 21 community recruiters working across all regions of Germany. Their main task is to tap into rural areas and generate enthusiasm for DB Group at local schools and clubs. Moreover, we encourage employees of DB Group to become active school mentors and be present at schools alongside community recruiters. Both the school mentors and our community recruiters act as points of contact for pupils, teachers and parents.
We continued to develop our HR innovation strategy in 2023 in order to showcase ourselves as a modern employer with modern, future-oriented products and processes. Candidates have been able to apply to us directly via a chatbot since 2023. This has made the application process easier and less of a hurdle. As soon as an application has been submitted via the career portal, candidates can track the status of their application and are also proactively informed about it.
We have expanded the services offered on the DB Med platform for preparing for the respective job-specific check- up, which is a mandatory requirement for practicing certain professions at DB Group. By redesigning the exercises and the specially programmed response exercises, we are able to provide our candidates with a better opportunity to prepare for the test.
