The retention of our staff, i.e. ensuring that dedicated and motivated knowledge carriers stay with the company, is a crucial factor in our company's success. A high level of employee satisfaction – promoted, for example, by a healthy work-life balance and commensurate remuneration – not only has positive effects on staff performance, it also cultivates a positive public image and perception of the employer. For these reasons we consider this issue to be of material significance.
In our Sustainability Strategy 2018-2020 approved by the Executive Board we therefore set ourselves concrete goals and work constantly to accomplish them. We aim to preserve the high level of employee retention and low staff turnover rate. What is more, in view of the importance that we attach to the dialogue with our employees and their opinions, we conduct regular employee surveys and performance reviews in order to obtain their feedback and identify potential room for improvement or possible conflicts.
We review the focus and quality of our employee retention targets at least every three years as part of the company-wide strategy review, thereby ensuring that the corporate strategy and employee retention mesh closely together. In addition, the annual review of planned and implemented measures forms part of our ongoing Performance Excellence process and reporting.