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 want to promote employees in various key areas:
- Employee retention: Our employees’ loyalty to DB Group is of great importance to us. It has positive effects, such as higher productivity, while also reducing the risk of “quiet quitting” and potentially reducing employee turnover. Important retention and fluctuation drivers such as further development opportunities, perceived self-efficacy (e.g. in terms of one’s own working conditions), management behavior and financial framework conditions are important drivers of loyalty and employee turnover. Our so called retention guide creates transparency about the Group-wide tools and best practices for strengthening employee loyalty. We also support executives in their role in employee retention. Measures to strengthen employee loyalty are continually derived on the basis of surveys and evaluations.
- Perform: “My Performance Management,” our approach to performance appraisal, is aimed at continually promoting our performance. In this context, by introducing a mandatory performance contribution in the “Women in leadership” dimension for all executives from the level of the so-called leading managers, the “My Performance” appraisal system also supported the achievement of the target of 30% women in leadership by the end of 2024.
- Learning: In 2024, the diverse portfolio offered by DB Training, Learning&Consulting and DB Academy included more than 22,700 free, interdisciplinary courses and more than 3,000 fee-based, subject-specific, courses. In 2024, DB Academy’s program for DB executives included about 500 learning opportunities on topics ranging from strategy and leadership, digitalization and innovation to the environment and sustainability. The DB learning environment, DB Group’s learning management system, provides access to digital media and documents relating to these learning opportunities. Building on the results of the multi-year Lernen@DB project, in 2024 progress was made in implementing the Group-wide learning ecosystem, which forms the basis for standards and processes to establish and further develop future-oriented and digital learning. The trial phase for the learning station, a learning experience platform which, in the future, will bundle all internal learning opportunities and licensed external content in one place, was launched in November 2024.
- Monitoring qualifications and qualifying: Qualification shortfalls for qualifications requiring verification are identified in a system-supported manner. Qualifications that do not require verification are monitored by executives to date. The new personnel data system introduced in the fall of 2024 establishes the conditions for monitoring qualifications that need be verified and those that do not, identifying deficits and documenting the attained qualifications. This applies both to an internal change of job and obtaining qualifications over time. Gaps in qualifications are often filled by completing internal qualification courses.
- Developing and appointing: Succession planning aims to identify succession risks at an early stage, plan succession scenarios and accelerate appointments. The objective is to increase the quality and diversity of appointments and orientate employees towards Group-wide professional development. In 2024, succession planning was in place for about 2,500 positions. With the three career pathways (leadership, DB expert and TOP project career) we want to position ourselves powerfully and offer attractive alternatives to traditional management careers (focus: German-speaking countries). The DB Career Lab focuses on personal initiative and individuality and offers digital services for professional orientation and further development to explore career options, including leadership, on one’s own initiative.
- Onboarding and transfers: With our onboarding platform, we provide relevant information on how to get started. Furthermore, modern learning, qualification and exchange formats aim to promote initial orientation and networking. Personal support from executives and colleagues plays an important role in integrating and retaining employees in DB Group. A controlled transfer of knowledge aims to secure valuable DB know-how as well as facilitate the arrival in DB Group. Our reentry management supports employees during and after temporary absences. This is aimed, among other things, at promoting the retention of women in leadership and women with leadership ambitions. To analyze and derive retention measures at an early stage, a Group-wide exit and transfer survey provides information about employees’ motivators for changes and for leaving.
- Leadership: The demands placed on executives by DB Group are set out in five principles in the “compass for strong teamwork” guiding principle. While the compass is for orientation and a benchmark for all at DB Group, it applies to executives in particular. Their responsibility is to lead by implementing the compass. The compass principles are embedded in the personnel and executive development tools. They form the basis for collecting feedback and for the development and selection of employees and executives.
Training, further training and continuing education
The vast majority of training, further training and continuing education is internally conducted by DB Training, Learning & Consulting. The qualification courses are geared towards all DB employees and are carried out in face-to-face, digital or combined in blended-learning concepts. A modern learning infrastructure provides space for creativity, new solutions and new digital learning formats such as virtual reality (VR) training. Existing training formats are further developed and adapted in line with a more digital everyday working environment.
Practical-oriented vocational training plays a crucial role in ensuring that employees can act with confidence, particularly in safety-relevant areas. In addition to training at practical facilities such as the railway operating field or interlockings, multiple unit drivers are trained on the 20 full-mission simulators.
The DB Academy is responsible for training about 12,000 executives and (chief) experts at DB Group. The aim is to improve management quality, establish a common understanding of leadership and strengthen identification with DB Group through target group-specific and cross-divisional training and further development opportunities, as well as supporting executives in the strategic alignment, transformation processes and cultural change within DB Group. In light of the S3 restructuring program. DB Academy is implementing a binding executive program to strengthen transformation skills and power.
In consultation with their executives, DB employees have the opportunity to study part-time at DB University and continue their academic education. The DB Bachelor’s program (39 students started in 2024) and the DB Master’s program (43 students started in 2024) serve as qualification programs for DB employees. The part-time study at DB University receives financial support and is supplemented by a framework program and study support. Annual networking events serve as a forum for cross-business unit dialog and encourage professional networking. In 2024, about 120 program participants took advantage of this offer.
By way of “Together in the new working environment” (GinA), we have created virtual learning opportunities for current challenges, such as virtual (collaborative) work or innovation.
DB Training supports and advises the CareNet organization, a voluntary institution of DB Long-Distance and DB Regional, in the care of those affected by major incidents or violent assaults. DB Training also trains and upskills more than 1,200 CareNet helpers. In 2024, about 210 employees underwent new training and about 250 employees went through refresher training. The DB Training network of about 50 emergency psychologists can also provide psychological emergency intervention for passengers and employees at short notice as required.
DB Training is an approved provider for the promotion of vocational training, and is certified in accordance with the Accreditation and Approval Ordinance for Employment Promotion (AZAV). DB Training offers career changers a new professional home at DB Group, thereby helping to counteract the shortage of skilled labor. Since 2019, more than 16,100 participants across the Group have been supported by the Qualification Opportunities Act, including about 3,150 in 2024.
DB Training also provides numerous professional national and international exchange formats. The main topics range from current topics for railway chief operating managers to best-practice exchanges, such as experiences with digital and modern learning formats.
| Training and continuing education costs for employees | 2024 | 2023 | Change | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| absolute | % | ||||
| Total (€ million) | 363 | 340 | +23 | +6.8 | 289 |
| Per employee (FTE) (€) | 1,520 | 1,479 | +41 | +2.8 | 1,294 |
Germany, including vocational trainees and dual-degree students.
Including DB Schenker (discontinued operation).
| Training and continuing education days in customer-oriented job families / days | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per employee (FTE) | 12.6 | 11.8 | 10.6 |
| Per female employee (FTE) | 7.7 | 7.5 | 6.2 |
| Per male employee (FTE) | 15.3 | 14.5 | 13.2 |
Germany (companies with about 78% of domestic employees).
Includes only training and continuing education days in customer-oriented job families for
permanent employees, excluding vocational trainees and dual-degree students.
Including DB Schenker (discontinued operation).
Training and continuing education costs for our employees increased again in 2024, which demonstrates the importance of initial vocational training, further training and continuing education and the qualification of experts within DB Group.
Performance management
To increase individual performance, the tools of “My Performance Management” are aimed at both professional and personal development. Regular, guiding question-based feedback from different perspectives is aimed at promoting a comparison of how employees see themselves versus how others see them, and at encouraging them to reflect on their working habits in a targeted manner. Regularly reviewing key figures and how each employee contributes to achieving objectives also shows individuals and their teams their strengths and areas for development. Supervisors give employees clear guidance on performance development once a year. In 2024, 92% of employees and executives at DB Group in Germany received a performance appraisal for the previous year from their direct executive. If the annual overall evaluation gives cause for a more detailed assessment of competence, this can be carried out, if necessary, with reference to the skills profile of the function in question.
Getting (back) into work
Key elements of our return-to-work management to better support employees who are temporarily absent primarily include the provision of pooled information to improve orientation, opportunities for communication and discussion to strengthen self-reflection, and personal further development opportunities. By way of the Group employer/works council agreement on work, family and career path, we have regulated the operational framework for work-life balance. Short digital learning units primarily support executives but also employees in the application. As an additional source of information for planning family time and careers, the brochure “Your successful reentry” offers pregnant employees an overview of the tasks and deadlines they will come to face, helpful checklists and a summary of DB services. With JobSharing@DB, we have created an opportunity to be able to fill management positions even on a part-time basis. In that respect, two executives share responsibility for one role.
Knowledge transfer
New ways of working and working environments require a different approach to knowledge, employee turnover can lead to a loss of knowledge critical to success, new employees need specific knowledge to perform their tasks, and the increase in digitalization means more knowledge for more employees and faster knowledge handling. For this reason, we want to strengthen those involved in the process for an event-related transfer of knowledge through various methods and process-related anchoring. At the same time, we want to promote the continuous knowledge transfer and support executives and employees in identifying, securing and continually sharing knowledge in their own area of responsibility.
Securing employment
To avoid dismissals, for example in the context of restructuring or order losses or changes in the performance capability of individual employees for an indefinite period, DB Group in Germany has an employment guarantee, which is anchored in the collective bargaining agreement. Under the employment guarantee, most of the affected employees are once again directly employed within DB Group. If this is not successful, the employees in question will move to DB JobService GmbH for an indefinite period of time, where they will be further developed as part of a professional reorientation process in order to be placed in a regular job if possible at a later date.