Our employees are the key factor that enables Conti- nental to succeed in bringing outstanding products and solutions onto the market, remaining competitive through innovations and organizing business process- es efficiently.
Around the world, some 170,000 employees contrib- ute to the company’s success each day. Responsibility for our employees is therefore a central element of our actions. We respect the countries and cultures in which we operate. Everyone at Continental enjoys equal opportunity, regardless of age, gender, race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation.
HR strategy based on corporate strategy and values
In the year under review, we made further develop- ments in our HR strategy to equip our company for the growing requirements of the future labor market. More than ever, the task of attracting, retaining and develop- ing talented employees will be a central prerequisite for Continental to operate successfully in a global envi- ronment.
We also continued to develop our corporate culture, which is characterized by our four values: Trust, Pas- sion to Win, Freedom to Act and For One Another. Only in an inspiring environment can we successfully create optimal development opportunities for our em- ployees. The fine progress we have achieved here externally, too, is demonstrated by our good positions in various employer rankings, in which we improved significantly in the year under review.
HR marketing – Continental as a top employer To attract, retain and develop the most talented em- ployees and to increase our presence on the labor markets, we expanded our HR marketing activities further in the year under review. Our goal here is to position ourselves as an attractive employer with out- standing development opportunities for graduates,
► We organize external and internal events that we hold at career fairs, universities and at our locations in order to inform school pupils and students in par- ticular about the wide range of career opportunities at Continental.
► We use major international events sponsored by Continental, such as UEFA EURO 2012TM in the year under review, to strengthen our contact with the students we would like to take on as employees through our own activities, for instance public view- ing events at selected universities.
► With the student retention program ProMotion, we ensure that we stay in contact with interns and work placement students who impressed us with an ex- cellent performance and whom we would therefore like to take on as direct entrants or trainees after they complete their studies.
► Our proven Ambassador Program with around 600 managers and experts worldwide and roughly 300 events at universities and schools each year contrib- utes to intensive dialog with selected students and school pupils.
► Continental has programs with the German universi- ties RWTH Aachen and TU Darmstadt to promote particularly high-achieving students. Selected pro- spective electrical engineers at Óbuda University in Budapest, Hungary, are also promoted by Continen- tal in the final year of their studies.
► Through our involvement in the Formula Student contest, we aim to establish intensive contact with students from various fields of study relating to the automobile. We support almost 40 teams of engi- neering students at international universities around the world who are given the challenge of designing, engineering and constructing a prototype for a race- car over a period of one year. Continental also plays
Structure of the workforce Dec. 31, 2012 Dec. 31, 2011 Total number of employees 169,639 163,788 thereof permanent staff 158,971 149,817 outside Germany 112,488 104,624 in Germany 46,483 45,193 Trainees* 1,987 1,884 Female employees in %* 21.7 21.8 Average years of service to the company* 14.6 14.6 Average age of employees* in years 42.1 41.9 *In Germany.
We maintain a social media presence
It is important to our HR work to communicate with younger employees in particular in a way that takes account of their individual lifestyles as far as possible. For this reason, we significantly increased our social media activities in the year under review. Continental has a presence on several different social networks, giving users the opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments at the company.
However, the focus of our activities is still the career website, which is accompanied by key dialog-based platforms. Here, all target groups can find out about opportunities in the corporation and can apply directly for one of the positions advertised. And with the newly- released free Continental career app, smartphone owners now have online access to our job postings. We also continue to present our company at career fairs and in job application portals around the world. We support and develop our staff
Our employees make Continental strong. We expect commitment, determination and loyalty. In return, we promote qualifications, as well as education and train- ing as a matter of course.
In our programs for specific HR development, we take into account the different development levels of the individual employees. New employees with university degrees are welcomed at the Corporate Entry Confer- ence (CEC), where they are given information about processes and structures at Continental. In addition, through our Corporate Entry Program (CEP) these new employees get to know the company at a national or local level, form networks and are given the capacity for self-direction. With our HR development center, we also offer employees guidance in positioning them-
selves. At national or regional level, junior managers undertake successful measures as part of the Leader- ship Entry Program (LEP) and the International Manage- ment Program (IMP) that prepare them to solve com- plex problems and strengthen their management skills. Managers at a global level are equipped with additional leadership skills in the Corporate Executive Develop- ment Program (CEDP). New senior executives are offered a customized development program in the form of the New Senior Executive Workshops (NSEW). For our production employees, we offer specific and local training and further education programs world- wide that are designed to improve both product quality and occupational safety.
Targeted global talent management
Strategic talent management at a global level will play a crucial role at Continental. The objective of global talent management is to ensure that at all times we have the right people in positions that are vital to our success in a global context.
We create an environment and open up possibilities that encourage targeted, systematic learning and growing. Talented employees are given plenty of scope to develop their potential in order to prepare them optimally for a wide range of challenges. Accompany- ing training and individual measures, such as coaching, mentoring and targeted lateral career moves or foreign assignments, are geared towards the employee’s individual development requirements and the needs of the business.
To promote intercultural exchange and the exchange of expertise and to gain a supraregional perspective on our international business, we offer our employees an
assignment program, among other measures. In fiscal 2012, a total of around 930 employees worked outside their native countries as part of this program. The trend has been rising for years. Asia is still leading the field regionally, with just under 40% of participants working there. An international mindset, experience of other cultures and the mobility of our employees is playing a growing role in light of the advancing internationaliza- tion of Continental.
A global and proactive talent management approach aims to ensure that talented employees are given the same opportunities regardless of the division they belong to and the region they come from.
Appropriate performance-based remuneration and value sharing for all employees
With regard to remuneration, we apply the principle of good pay in line with the market for good performance. In this context, variable remuneration components play an increasingly important role – and not just for the top management. Our goal is to reconcile Continental’s value creation and success with appropriate perfor- mance-based remuneration.
We therefore offer our employees attractive remunera- tion systems all around the world:
► Middle and top management throughout the corpo- ration shares in the company’s profits by means of annual variable remuneration. The variable compo- nent of the executive’s salary is based on a scale structure and increases in accordance with his or her position ranking. The bonuses are determined by three parameters: the value created year-on-year by the executive for his or her business unit, the return on capital employed and the attainment of individual goals. In addition, the Executive Board sets a strate- gic corporate goal for executives.
► There is also an annual consolidated value sharing
Pension plans becoming increasingly important Demographic shifts are imposing an increasing burden on state pension systems in many of the markets where Continental operates. Company and private pension plans have thus risen in importance.
Our international pension strategy is focusing on switching from defined benefit to defined contribution plans in order to offer both employees and the com- pany a sustainable and readily understandable pension system.
In many countries, Continental promotes private con- tributions made by employees by adding corporate subsidies to the money they invest. We also encourage employees to pay into a deferred compensation plan. In Germany the employee relinquishes part of his or her pay, which is then invested by the employer in the company pension plan.
Diversity makes us strong
We understand diversity as meaning variety among people with regard to aspects such as their ethnic and social origins and their religion, gender and age. It is an important source of staff development and creativity and we therefore give it high priority. Diversity is a key factor in our HR management. Around the world, peo- ple of different origins work at Continental, using their different ways of looking at things to contribute to finding creative solutions and winning over new mar- kets and customers.
We focus on achieving a good mix of women and men in senior management as well as an increased mixture of diverse nationalities.
► Gender mix: The global proportion of female manag- ers at Continental amounts to 8%. In order to im- prove that mix, we are striving to attain a 16% share of female executives by 2020. Here, it is not a ques- tion of fulfilling a quota for women in management
principles, will ultimately benefit both female and male employees.
► Internationality: Around 70% of our employees work outside Germany. Internationality is therefore estab- lished practice already. At our global locations, we fulfill regional requirements for HR management as well as the corporation’s strategic requirements, so as to ensure that we are attractive as a top employer for the best employees. Furthermore, internationality also arises from the various nationalities of employ- ees working together at individual locations. Here, too, we promote diversity.
It is not only internally that Continental fulfills its global obligation with regard to diversity. The company also shows its commitment to this topic to the outside world. For example, we emphasized this when we signed the “Diversity Charter”, an initiative supported by many companies, in Germany in December 2008. This initiative aims to promote the acceptance, appre- ciation and integration of diversity within the company and is officially supported by the German Chancellor. In countries with high growth potential, such as China, the proportion of women has already increased par- ticularly substantially as a result of a targeted recruit- ment policy.
We promote compatibility of recreation and work One key factor for satisfied and high-achieving em- ployees is the compatibility of their work and their private life. We make an active contribution to this with flexible working time options for our employees. The main measures with regard to compatibility of recreation and work include providing individual con- tractual solutions for flexible working hours, part-time contracts, job sharing and agreements on working from home, as well as various health programs and child care options. The availability of these agreements and the form they take depend on the applicable laws and customs in Continental’s different international locations.
Our Demographics Program
Companies will face considerable challenges in coming years in view of the demographic trend in western industrialized nations. There will be an increase in the number of older employees – especially in our produc- tion locations. We expect the number of employees
aged between 55 and 65 in our plants in Germany alone to triple between 2005 and 2015.
To address these changes, we have developed a comprehensive concept in the form of our Demo- graphics Program. Our activities focus on four topics:
► workplace design,
► keeping healthy for a longer working life,
► targeted qualification measures,
► motivation for a longer professional career.
In 2012, we also increased the proportion of non-age- dependent production jobs across all locations in Germany from 29% to 35%. This was achieved by means of a number of organizational and technical measures. For example, over 600 employees (mostly engineers) in Germany were given further training in ergonomics.
All of these measures aim to allow our older workers to contribute to their own personal success and the eco- nomic success of the company at their usual high performance level.
At the same time, we have steadily increased our training figures in recent years. In a total of 22 training programs and eight dual courses of study at 33 Conti- nental locations, 635 young people in Germany began training as ContiTrainees or ContiBachelors in the year under review. All in all, there are thus more than 1,900 young people completing a dual course of study or training program with Continental.
Based upon the dual education system in Germany we are developing a standardized approach of installing appropriate measures at our worldwide locations to help guarantee that young people receive the most comparable education and training qualifications. At the same time we take into consideration the specific aspects of the local schooling and education system and try to bridge any knowledge gaps through com- pany training programs.
Safety and health take top priority
Safe working procedures and health protection are basic necessities. For this reason, environmental,
work, health, fire and corporate protection form a permanent cornerstone of our corporate culture. Under the responsibility of our Corporate Safety & Health (S&H) department, which reports directly to the Chief Human Resources Officer, we invest in a working environment that allows for healthy conditions and safety at work in all areas of the company. With its protection standards, which apply across the entire corporation, S&H sets the foundation for safety at work and safe production plants and processes, and reflects our responsibility to our employees. Our goal is: “We go for zero incidents!” Our integrated protection con- cept therefore aims to avoid incidents of any kind. With regard to health protection, this means avoiding work- related health problems, with regard to work safety, the avoidance of accidents, and for corporate protec- tion and fire safety, uninterrupted operating processes. A number of measures and programs link S&H with all of our global locations to provide for intensive collabo- ration. Safety standards at our manufacturing sites undergo constant further development as a result of internal and external audits, certifications and special safety programs. With our health services comprising a range of programs, we aim to promote our employees’ knowledge and personal responsibility in looking after their own physical and mental health while also giving them support whenever it is needed.
The reduction in the number of accidents and acci- dent-related absence attest to the success of our systematic safety work. The figures for the other pro- tection departments also reflect this positive develop- ment.
Specific improvements through employee surveys In “BASICS live”, we have a proven tool for conducting global surveys of our employees. In addition to 45 standard questions for employees throughout the corporation, each division or location can also address
were implemented in the fiscal year already and anoth- er 45% were initiated.
Focal areas for the many different measures arose in the areas of employee development, communication, departmental/divisional strategy and development of our corporate culture.
We and the individual departments will inform our employees about the implementation of the measures on a regular basis up until the next survey in 2014. The employee magazine “conti intern”, which is published six times a year in twelve languages, is also an im- portant tool in this context. The comments/feedback function introduced in the year under review extends the role of the employee magazine towards that of an interactive corporate blog and helps us to intensify dialog within the organization in all directions.
The results of the “BASICS live” analyses are also incorporated into training courses and workshops that are held to communicate the “BASICS” corporate guidelines. In this way, we ensure that the ongoing development of our corporate culture takes into ac- count the focuses of the employee survey as far as possible.
We keep thinking: Continental Ideas Management What began back in 1930 as an improvement sugges- tion system has now developed into Continental Ideas Management (CIM). In 2012 alone, more than 400,000 ideas were submitted worldwide, of which over 80% were put into effect. The locations in Rubi, Spain, and Icheon, South Korea, took the lead globally, with 95% and 100% employee participation respectively and aver- ages of 68 and 53 implemented ideas per employee. Many small improvements make a big impact overall. The improvements implemented in 2012 led to savings of more than €130 million on a global level. Our CIM thus makes a significant contribution to increasing our
Our activities have also been recognized outside the company. In May 2012, Continental’s German loca- tions were honored by the German Institute of Eco- nomics (Deutsches Institut für Betriebswirtschaft, dib) with third place for “best idea management in the category of automotive suppliers with more than 5,000 employees”.
Communication via ConNext – networking without hierarchies
Last year we laid an important foundation to enable us to communicate faster, more directly and across differ- ent regions with the introduction of the ConNext busi- ness network.
After just a few months, a third of employees world- wide are already involved in the dynamic exchange of knowledge and information and in establishing and updating knowledge databases. The new “social” functions have already seen frequent use in traditional project management, too. Self-commitment of the Executive Board members also includes active partici-
pation with their own blogs and status reports through to direct dialog with employees.
ConNext is anchored in our broad cultural develop- ment, in which the core values of Trust, Passion To Win, Freedom to Act and For One Another provide guidance.
A global, cross-hierarchical network of over 400 “social