Promotion of health as a matter of course

Only employees who are healthy and feel well can fully perform their services. Especially for us, as a company in the outdoor sports industry, there is no doubt that we must find and promote an appropriate way to offset desk work.

Our health management system focuses on prevention and our employees’ active involvement in their own health.

Since 2014, we have been working tirelessly on the establishment of a resource-oriented Occupational Health Management system based on self-determination and self-efficacy.
We have been able to rely on the advice of various external partners, some of whom continue to support us to this day as needed.

The coordination, monitoring and evaluation of our health measures is carried out by a company health management team consisting of employees and managers from several VAUDE divisions. There is an important point of intersection with occupational safety. We are working relentlessly and successfully on the coordinated management of our Auszeit program, occupational safety and our company physician. In addition, our Human Resources and Organization department is deeply involved in the conception and support of health-promoting measures and is responsible, for example, for the professional care and support of employees with physical or mental issues.

The integration of corporate health management into the management system is of central importance for the governance of additional interventions and makes VAUDE’s activities measurable and sustainable.

In 2018, the following measures were implemented:

• We continued the training and further education of our internal VAUDE health coaches. At the end of 2018, 10 employees were dedicated coaches who offer approx. 8-10 sports courses and the like per week.
• Our health coaches led regular mini-units "Strength in Stretching" (KidD) directly in company departments.
• Due to high demand, we have expanded our offering of yoga classes – free courses are held for employees several times a week.
• There were several lectures on healthy nutrition and self-regulated health management.
• A “Mindfulness and Self-care – Introduction" course was very well received.
• For the first time, we conducted a holistic employee survey focusing on (mental) health. On the basis of results that have been available to us since the beginning of 2019, we will provide additional health promotion services in 2019 that are tailored to our employee’s needs and to target groups. The Institut für betriebliche Gesundheitsberatung (Institute for Occupational Health Consulting) in cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse is supporting us in this endeavor.

In addition, last year we held courses on quitting smoking and weight loss which reached many employees. If necessary, we will continue to offer these courses in the future. Time and again, selective activities with professional instructors from our network, such as Crossfit, Salsa Fitness, etc., supplement our portfolio and enrich our “Auszeit” program.

We are able to offer 7 – 10 additional sports and outdoor events each year thanks to the dedication of VAUDE employees who are (former) professional athletes and sports trainers, as well as the support of sponsoring partners such as mountain schools and individual athletes.

For example, beginners or advanced athletes can choose between mountain biking and climbing courses, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing courses and avalanche safety courses. This enables our employees to enjoy adventures in the great outdoors with confidence, competence and an awareness of the risks involved and to connect even more strongly with the "Spirit of Mountain Sports". Last but not least, our customers benefit from the first-hand mountain sports expertise of our employees.

Since 2015 we have been working in our modernized, particularly health-promoting company headquarters. This has provided us with a health-enhancing framework:

• The in-house VAUDE organic cafeteria provides healthy and delicious meals
• Our impressive climbing wall offers all employees the opportunity for physical challenges
• Our sports room offers the best conditions for a wide range of sports activities within the framework of our company health management "Auszeit" as well as for sports activities organized by our employees themselves
• During the renovation, our computer workspaces were ergonomically designed with height-adjustable desks and ergonomic chairs

More about it - "Future-oriented Work Environment"

Our Café VAUDE and snack bar – next to the outlet store are certified organic.
And in the new “Mittagsspitze” canteen we also welcome external guests, all menu items are made with organic ingredients.

See "Bike commuting"

Our absenteeism* (= all absences caused by illness, including accidents at work or work-related illnesses) was 7.05 % in 2018. (2017: 5.49 %) Thus, we have reached our goal of reducing the number of days off work, and the figure continues to be below the national average as it has been over the past:

On average, we recorded 15.4 sick days per employee in 2018. The national average is 15.5 days (survey by the Techniker Krankenkasse).

We apply an extremely strict calculation for absenteeism.Unlike most other statistics, we count every day of absence and not the 3rd consecutive day. We will continue to try to reduce our absentee rate. In doing so, we will rely on the measures described above within the framework of occupational health management and occupational safety program.

The findings of our employee survey "VAUDE Employee Barometer" in particular are helping us to identify and address the most important needs in terms of prevention. A current focus is on early and professional support, e.g. from our personnel department and our company physician, in the event of individual crises, Occupational Safety.

*Calculation: sick days 2018 / (employees converted to full time x 218 working days 2018 (without holidays=30, without actual holidays = 13)) in figures:
6,577(428*218) =7.05%