Employees
The dedication and ideas of our 191,000 employees will shape the future competencies of our Company. Throughout the world, their personal commitment helps ensure that customers, investors and other business partners decide in favor of ThyssenKrupp. A good working atmosphere, outstanding training and education opportunities as well as performance-related compensation form the basis of their abilities and success.
| Sept. 30, 2006 | Sept. 30, 2007 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel | 38,840 | 39,559 | ||
| Stainless | 12,197 | 12,182 | ||
| Technologies | 54,757 | 54,762 | ||
| Elevator | 36,247 | 39,501 | ||
| Services | 40,163 | 43,012 | ||
| Corporate | 5,382 | 2,334 | ||
| Group | 187,586 | 191,350 |
Workforce developments: Growth at Elevator and Services
On September 30, 2007, ThyssenKrupp had 191,350 employees worldwide, an increase of 3,764 or 2% from the end of the previous fiscal year. The biggest growth was in the service-related segments Services and Elevator. In Germany, the headcount was up slightly by 1% to 84,999, representing over 44% of the total workforce.
The number of employees outside Germany rose by 3% to 106,351. The expansion of our foreign activities, in particular at Services and Elevator, more than offset the decline in numbers in North and South America due to disposals. At the end of September 2007, 24% of ThyssenKrupp's employees were working in the rest of Europe outside Germany and 16% in the NAFTA region.
| Sept. 30, 2003 | Sept. 30, 2004 | Sept. 30, 2005 | Sept. 30, 2006 | Sept. 30, 2007 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 141,508 | 135,178 | 130,418 | 128,112 | 130,255 | |||||
| NAFTA | 32,318 | 32,204 | 33,872 | 32,622 | 30,060 | |||||
| South America | 8,707 | 9,846 | 10,474 | 13,618 | 14,168 | |||||
| Asia/Rest of World | 7,569 | 9,808 | 11,168 | 13,234 | 16,867 | |||||
| World | 190,102 | 187,036 | 185,932 | 187,586 | 191,350 |
The performance and dedication of our employees are reflected in productivity. One indicator of this is sales per employee, which have risen continuously over the last five years as shown in the following graphic. The increase in 2006/2007 alone was almost 9% .
Personnel expense decreased by 1% in the reporting period to €9.2 billion. The following graphic shows the development of personnel expense over the past five years.
Support for skilled staff
By tradition we attach great importance to training the skilled workers of tomorrow. We know how important good training is for the future of young people, which is why we always provide apprenticeship training beyond our own needs. In Germany alone, we have almost 200 full-time trainers and numerous training officers helping to give 4,293 apprentices a successful start to their careers.
We offer training in around 70 occupations, mainly industrial apprenticeships. The most popular of these in 2006/2007 was the industrial mechanic apprenticeship, which attracted more than 1,100 young people. At 5.6%, our apprenticeship training rate, i.e. the ratio of the number of apprentices to the overall workforce, showed a further improvement on last year's high level.
ThyssenKrupp continues to participate in the training pact between government and industry. In 2006/2007 alone we created more than 200 additional apprenticeship places and offered numerous initial training placements. Our efforts have been worth it: more than 60% of the young people who have so far completed an initial training placement were subsequently offered an apprenticeship contract. This success would not have been possible without the intensive specialist and educational support provided by our trainers.
Advanced training promotes motivation and skills
In the reporting year, more than 90,000 people took part in work-related advanced training courses and seminars. Key areas included quality management, data systems and management training. With many employees participating in more than one course, our advanced training rate was high at over 120%. Further intensive training measures were provided at our foreign branches and operations. The courses, seminars and other events offer significant advantages to companies and employees alike. Our employees gain new perspectives for the future and are better motivated and qualified for their work in the company.
Outstanding health and safety
We continue to maintain a high level of health and safety at work. In the year under review, there were only 11.3 reportable accidents per 1 million hours worked at our German companies. That represents a decrease of a third compared with 2001/2002, when there were still 17.1 accidents per 1 million hours worked. Our activities to improve occupational health and safety are now paying dividends. We expect a similarly encouraging reduction outside Germany as our health and safety measures have been adopted by foreign subsidiaries in a cross-segment and cross-country exchange of experience.
Despite the high standards achieved, we will continue to work hard to reduce accident numbers even further. The Groupwide initiative launched in 2005 under the name "Company target: zero accidents" has spawned new activities to further enhance health and safety at work. One key area is a broad-based management training program. Over a period of three to five years, all managers will attend health and safety seminars which we offer in conjunction with the Employers' Liability Insurance Associations (Berufsgenossenschaften). These seminars were attended by 1,700 managers – from foremen to board members – in the first year of the program.
Worldwide social responsibility
ThyssenKrupp takes a socially responsible approach to its employees around the world and observes national labor law standards. We attach particular importance to the principle of equal opportunity and to the diversity of people and cultures at our worldwide locations. We regard preventive healthcare measures, safety at work and healthy working conditions as key management duties.
At ThyssenKrupp we do not tolerate discrimination against members of the workforce and take decisive action if the need arises. This clear stance, anchored in an agreement with the Group Works Council and the European Works Council and widely communicated, is one reason why work in our companies is characterized by tolerance and mutual respect.
Universities and graduates
As a forward-looking company we are constantly on the lookout for talented and qualified employees for a wide variety of specialist and management duties. In the competition for the best young graduates, we have stepped up our university marketing activities. Engineers in particular see us as an attractive employer. We also have a tradition of cooperation with German and foreign universities. All of these activities will be continued and expanded.
In these collaborations we promote a stronger exchange of knowledge in education and teaching, realize joint projects in the areas of technology and innovation, and provide support for highly talented students. Activities range from workshops, excursions and joint projects through to fellowships and prizes such as the "ThyssenKrupp Student Award". For the first time we organized career days and trainee days throughout the Group.
Our university marketing activities also focus on selected target groups who are expected to perform particularly well after completion of their education. These include senior high school students who intend to take up a degree course, competitive athletes at university and talented female students who have already started on engineering and science degree courses. At the TU Berlin, ThyssenKrupp cooperates with the university careers center for women "femtec" with a view to recruiting more women specialists and managers to technical professions.
Our efforts to attract young talent are rounded out by the ThyssenKrupp study support program. In addition to financial support and interdisciplinary seminars, the accompanying mentoring program has proved important for students. The mentors are experienced executives who support students on the program with individual advice on personal and career development.
New direction: Thyssenkrupp PerspActive launched
Given our strategy of expansion and the increasing internationalization of our business, outstanding executives are of more importance than ever to our Group. In the past fiscal year we intensified our efforts to develop our present and potential managers and to attract new executives.
In summer 2006, a Groupwide "Management Development Initiative" was launched to analyze the existing instruments, processes and structures of management development and develop a concept for a viable "ThyssenKrupp management development model". In March 2007, this model was presented to the Group's top managers at the annual management forum under the heading "ThyssenKrupp PerspActive".
Management development as a management task
The name ThyssenKrupp PerspActive reflects the fact that it concerns the perspectives of individuals and the Company and that realizing these perspectives requires initiative and action by individuals and the Company as a whole. ThyssenKrupp PerspActive is guided by the principle that sustainable management development requires a common philosophy, i.e. a clear understanding of an individual's performance, potential and management competencies as well as the requirements made on positions in the Group. Furthermore, management development processes in the Group should be systematized and standardized in just the same way as, for example, our financial management.
Our management development tools and processes have been developed further on the premise that 90% of management development should take place on the job, that management development is a priority management task, and that managers must also accept responsibility for their own development. Our competency model has been revised and expanded in particular to include the aspect of employee and management development. Based on this extended management competency model we have initiated a new assessment and development process for this level.
Search for talent stepped up
ThyssenKrupp is intensifying its efforts in the competition to attract the best young talents. Our internet career portal has been revised and a new applicant management system installed which speeds up selection and decision processes for both us and the applicants. On the one hand we are looking for employees who have already gained experience in their specialist area and who would like to apply these skills to a wider area of responsibility at ThyssenKrupp. But in the future our search for talent will also focus more strongly on the ability of applicants to take on new duties flexibly. In addition, our executives will be more actively involved in the selection of senior and junior managers, in keeping with the principle of ThyssenKrupp PerspActive that the search for talent and management development are management tasks.
Thyssenkrupp Academy aligned to strategic requirements
The ThyssenKrupp Academy opened at the start of 2006/2007 as a Groupwide management academy for executive development. In its first year more than 500 executives took part in its programs. A total of 22 programs were carried out for top management.
The programs and courses are aligned to the Company's requirements and strategy. The main objective of the Academy's Management School is to impart and build knowledge, but it also offers participants an opportunity to network with colleagues to the benefit of their business. The one-week general management program "Breaking New Grounds" was developed for top executives in collaboration with the Harvard Business School. Executive managers can take part in the "Creating Growth Strategies that Work" program, developed in conjunction with the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT). The seminar "Leading for Growth and Continuity" is designed to help senior managers reflect on their own management style and their underlying understanding of management.
The "Competence Forum" comprises specialist conferences aimed at providing impetus which can be taken up in the Group to develop further solutions. One successful example is the Mobility Competence Forum, attended by more than 100 of our top executives. In the "Impact Workouts", the ThyssenKrupp Academy has started to develop its own case studies based on past decision-making situations of major importance for ThyssenKrupp.
Compensation systems boost motivation
Performance and success-oriented compensation systems are an important prerequisite for qualified and motivated employees and executives. Our Group companies in all countries have attractive compensation systems based on the customary local regulations and the wishes of the workforces. In Germany, for example, in addition to a fixed salary, which is subject to the provisions of collective or individual employment contracts, and regular vacation and Christmas bonuses, we also pay special annual bonuses to reflect outstanding business results. Many employees in Germany also had the opportunity for the first time to acquire company cars, with payments offset against their salaries.
In addition, in spring 2007 some 82,000 employees at German Group companies had the opportunity to buy ThyssenKrupp shares on favorable terms up to a total value of €270 under the ThyssenKrupp employee share program. National programs have now also been carried out in France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Our executive compensation policy utilizes earnings- and share price-oriented instruments. The Mid Term Incentive Plan (MTI) launched in 2003 was issued for the fifth time in the reporting year. The development of the stock rights issued under this plan is based on the share price and ThyssenKrupp Value Added (TKVA). The discounted share purchase program introduced in fiscal 2005/2006 for executives who are not included in the MTI met with a very positive response and was repeated in the year under review. Under this model, beneficiaries can purchase ThyssenKrupp shares at a specific discount, the amount of which depends on the development of TKVA.