VAUDE employees can become actively involved and participate in the company in a number of ways. We believe that well-informed employees who participate in internal communication will become more motivated and competent.
Within our culture of trust, we communicate about as many operations and decisions as possible throughout the company, sometimes through company-wide events, but primarily through our internal communication platform Camp. This platform offers many ways for our employees to participate actively on issues and to contribute their own content.
Every idea is welcome and is shared over our intranet.
With our new idea management system, Steps, each employee can quickly and easily contribute his or her own ideas and suggestions by publishing them on Camp. The transparent process of review, substantiation, implementation and/or rejection is supported by 13 company-trained "idea coaches" and provides each employee the opportunity to join the discussion and participate in the realization of their ideas. Since Steps was launched in February 2016, the response has been tremendous. Over 200 ideas have been submitted so far and about 30 of these have been implemented or are in development.
Turnover is an important metric for VAUDE because it can provide information about employee satisfaction. As a general rule, the lower the rate, the higher the satisfaction level of employees.
The external turnover rate is calculated with the BDA formula (Association of the German Federation of Employers) and is particularly interesting for us because it is considered an important indicator of employee satisfaction. In this calculation, the workforce is set in relation to departures which were initiated by employees. During the reporting period, this resulted in a figure of 4.4% (Status 2015: 6.1%; German average 2013: 14 %*). External turnover was further reduced, and we exceeded our target of keeping it low at 5% and remaining well below the German average.
As an employer, we are committed to a good employment policy and continually undergo evaluations by independent external bodies. In 2012 we participated in the nationwide business competition "Success Factor Family" of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, in which every two or three years, Germany's most family-friendly companies are honored.
About 350 companies participated in this competition and VAUDE made it to the final round of the ten best companies in the category Medium-sized Companies (up to 1,000 employees).
In 2016, our company was validated by the A.T. Kearney Award for family-friendliness. Together with the Kindernothilfe (a children’s charity organization), VAUDE scored well. We are especially proud that the award is based on employee surveys. It shows us that our commitment to our employees is perceived and valued!
Untreated wood, plenty of light and open design concepts characterize the new working spaces that are tailored to the needs of employees. The results: modern open-plan offices with many private spaces, meeting rooms, communication areas and lounges. Each workplace is equipped with high quality ergonomic, height-adjustable desks, sophisticated lighting concepts and soundproofing measures.
In addition, many health-promoting aspects were realized during the remodeling projects. See "Health promotion you can count on".
»We wanted to create an optimal working environment that responds to individualized professional and personal needs. The new premises foster communication, creativity and teamwork.«
The entire reconstruction took place in accordance with the strictest environmental criteria. The result is a "Green Building" with DGNB certification, in which all aspects of sustainable building are realized, such as ecological building materials or a maximum of energy-efficient building structure. More about it – "Future-oriented working environment".
*Source: http://www.haygroup.com/de/press/details.aspx?id=38211
| GRI: | G4-LA1 |
| GRI: | G4-DMA Employment |
| GRI: | G4-DMA Labor/ Management Relations |
