Employee participation

Employees can actively help shape the Company by participating in the opinion survey. This uniform, Group-wide employee survey gathers information about employee satisfaction once a year. Following the survey, the results are discussed together by supervisors and employees. Complaints and problems are addressed, as are suggestions on how to better organize work. The measures agreed are then implemented before the next survey. The opinion survey was conducted for the sixth time in 2013. A total of 121 locations and companies in 40 countries were included in the survey. More than 400,000 of the over 450,000 employees invited to participate took part. This corresponds to a participation rate of 89%.

Employees from Porsche, MAN, Volkswagen Group Retail Deutschland GmbH and Volkswagen Group Polska Sp. z o.o took part for the first time. The sentiment rating is a key parameter for the opinion survey, in addition to the level of employee participation. In 2013, this was 79 (79) out of 100.

Another instrument – and one whose success depends significantly on employee involvement and participation – is the “Volkswagen Way”. This has been an integral feature at Volkswagen for six years. It aims to safeguard competitiveness and employment in equal measure. It focuses on a permanent improvement process that aims to achieve continuous process optimization in the areas of productivity and quality, ergonomics, leadership and teamwork. In the reporting period, a particular focus was on optimizing overarching workflows. In addition to the “Volkswagen Way”, the Group also has similar programs designed to optimize processes and structures. For example, during production, a uniform Group-wide production system is used for all brands.

Employees use their creativity, knowledge and initiative to take responsibility for process and product improvement under the Ideas Management program. Employees have submitted approximately two million ideas since 1949 using the suggestion scheme in place at that time and today’s Ideas Management program, saving nearly €3,000 million at Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH locations. Ideas Management is an important leadership and motivational instrument for line supervisors. It also helps make work at Volkswagen safer and more compatible with good health.

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IDEAS MANAGEMENT IN THE VOLKSWAGEN GROUP*
as of December 31, 2013

 

 

2013

 

2012

 

 

 

 

 

*

31 (30) participating production locations.

Ideas suggestion

 

532,053

 

536,532

Suggestion implemented

 

412,795

 

380,475

Savings in € million

 

312.5

 

358.1

Bonuses in € million

 

34.9

 

34.1