Corporate Culture and Employees

We have been hit particularly hard by a skills shortage on the labor market, particularly when it comes to the manual trades and technical positions. Vonovia uses its own tradespeople to handle a wide variety of tasks. As a result, falling behind in the competition for qualified staff and managers is a significant risk for us. If we are unable to fill vacant positions in the company, we would be forced to procure these services on the market at a more expensive price. This would restrict our ability to grow as a company, while also having the potential to have a negative impact on the satisfaction of our customers due to their receiving a relatively poor level of service. The battle for talent has also made it easier for qualified staff and managers to pick and choose where they want to work from a variety of different options.

This makes it even more important for Vonovia to position itself as an attractive and modern employer in order to make the pool of highly qualified applicants as large as possible.

What staff want from their employer is changing – issues like work-life balance, flexible working and benefits are becoming increasingly important, particularly for the younger generation. Like any other employer, Vonovia needs to accommodate these changing priorities. The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed rapid change in society and the world of business – the last two years have seen a steady stream of new challenges. This has increased the importance of security and reliability in the eyes of employees, along with a desire to work for a company which values sustainability.

The sustainability debate has also made us all much more aware of the importance of people being treated equally, regardless of their socio-economic background, gender, faith or ethnicity. Diversity is now one of the main issues which people take into consideration when choosing an employer. Companies have to respond to this change in society – this involves transforming their corporate culture while also taking action to support potentially disadvantaged groups.

We want to be an employer which provides its employees with ways to develop, both personally and professionally. We are committed to having a workforce which reflects the social, cultural and linguistic diversity of our society. We want to be a place that fosters new ideas and approaches that benefit society. This will allow us to live up to the expectations of our current workforce while also meeting the needs of the next generation.

Vonovia has identified Attractiveness as an Employer and our Approach to Diversity and Equal Opportunities as material topics. Our approaches to these topics are described below, along with the steps that we are taking to embed them into how the company operates. We will also address some relevant targets and measures. We have also identified some other topics that are important to us: Training and Personal Development, Fair and Appreciative Remuneration and Health and Safety. These areas also affect how attractive we are as an employer.