Management approach and targets

DB Group delivers mobility and logistics services in Germany. Our employees constitute the bedrock in this respect. We aim to successfully implement the S3 restructuring program and to help shape the mobility transition sustainably in Germany with the Strong Rail strategy. To achieve this, we need to succeed in securing sufficient personnel capacities to safeguard our operational rail business in the long term and reduce the personnel expense ratio. This will be achieved by reducing our personnel requirements in the administration, sales and indirect operating functions. The aim is to reduce the workforce by more than 10,000 employees by 2027. The strategic topics in the “100,000 employees” building block are firmly in our sights. We want to lay the foundations for modern, future-oriented and efficient human resources activities:

• Forward-looking personnel planning: We try to identify personnel shortages and surpluses as early as possible and manage them sustainably to secure DB Group’s performance both in the short and long term. To that end, we are continually refining our personnel planning systems.
• Innovative recruiting: Amid a competitive labor market, we want to attract committed employees to DB Group and simultaneously mitigate structural risks in our demographic age structure.
• Holistic leadership, qualification and transformation: We want to focus our employees’ development on making DB Group more robust, powerful and modern, while at the same time achieving the goals of the S3 restructuring program. We manage personnel surpluses using transformation tools and in close cooperation with employee representatives. We also support employees in change processes so that they can help shape DB Group’s transformation into a modern, sustainable and digitalized mobility and logistics provider. To develop our employees’ potential and build up the necessary future skills, we offer targeted training opportunities as part of our learning ecosystem, which is open to all employees. The Group-­­wide performance management focuses on our performance capability. We want to support executives in their special responsibility as facilitators and guides in the transformation by offering continuing education opportunities.
• Strong teamwork: We want to promote appreciative and results-oriented cooperation. This is based on the compass for strong teamwork as a cultural element. New management practices are to ensure greater efficiency as part of S3. We regularly measure the satisfaction of our employees and the current state of our corporate culture and various organizational framework conditions throughout the Group via our employee survey and in Germany via our culture barometer.
• Work of the future: As part of this strategic topic, we want to further develop our working and employment conditions to remain an attractive employer in the future and living up to our our social responsibility. To that end, we are exploring topics of the future as part of the Group initiative People. Make. The Future.
• Diversity and equal opportunities: We want to value the different perspectives, values and experiences of our diverse workforce and at all times try to set an example for greater social cohesion as a DB Group. To that end, we engage in active diversity management with stakeholders at all levels.
• Occupational health and safety: The health and safety of our employees and safe working conditions are self-­evident aspects of our actions and form the basis of occupational health management at DB Group. We support our employees in their efforts to take responsibility for their own health, and design working conditions that are health- and age-appropriate and take into account the special needs of people with disabilities.

Our efforts are also aimed at minimizing the potential negative effects of working for DB Group on employees, for example with regard to the work-life balance, strengthening positive effects such as skills development and minimizing potential financial risks for DB Group, such as from strikes. The Management Board member for Human Resources and Legal Affairs is responsible for employee matters at DB Group and is supported in this by the HR Group functions in Group management. Measures are implemented on a Group-wide basis via coordination with the business units and other Group companies, taking into account economic, national, international, local and brand-specific characteristics. Group-wide principles and standards are regulated by the Group directive on human resources management. Co-determination under works constitution law occurs in a spirit of partnership and trust with our interest groups and social partners.

The principles of equal opportunities, social partnership, HR compliance, diversity and integration are guaranteed within DB Group based on statutory provisions and internal regulations. Instructions in respect of applying laws and ­labor court rulings are firmly embedded in the internal regulations. As one of Germany’s largest employers, we live up to our corporate and social responsibility. In our DB Code of Conduct for Employees and Executives (Group Principles on ­Ethics) and the DB Code of Conduct for Business Partners, we commit to complying with our globally applicable standards and expectations with the aim of conducting our business operations in an ethical manner. DB Group respects internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms in its business operations in accordance with its policy statement on protecting and respecting human rights and the principles set out in the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (core labor standards). DB Group has committed to uphold the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. We are also guided by the principles of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) and the OECD Guiding Principles for Multinational Enterprises.

Through our actions, we make a positive contribution to the protection and promotion of the principles of internationally recognized human rights, where we can do so without breaching local laws.

Employee building blocks

The employee building blocks are DB Group’s largest participatory process. Since 2019, more than 1,600 employees in total have committed to better rail operations by addressing challenges and developing solutions together. This is done across hierarchies and business units throughout Germany. By the end of 2024, eight employee building blocks had already been implemented.

In 2024, solution ideas were developed for digitalization and construction. These topics are important for improving the stability of operations. In December 2024, “Digitally fit for work” was adopted as the ninth building block for employees.

Smart HR transformation project

In 2024, DB Group replaced its previous HR management system with a new, cloud-based solution, by way of which employees and executives can now access HR products, initiate standardized processes independently and process them based on workflows at any time and from any location. The so-called Hypercare phase will run until the end of January 2025 to stabilize the system. Any errors that occur are continually analyzed and rectified to increase users’ acceptance and satisfaction.