Human resources in 2023

(incl. representative offices; as of December 2023)

¹ Temporary employees, external staff, employees who work in the representative offices (locals) or staff with fixed-term contracts that have run out are not taken into account. The survey includes all employees who voluntarily left the organisation or are no longer available due to termination, retirement or a fatal work-related accident (calculation according to the GRI standard).

In 2023, the “Employer Positioning” project was launched in order to position KfW as an employer fit for the future and thus to retain, attract and develop employees.

In order for KfW to be attractive and top-performing, we need a cultural basis that has a positive impact on the KfWplus transformation agenda and supports its implementation. As an employer, we inspire our future and current employees by offering unique purpose, outstanding cooperation and effective leadership.

With the employer positioning aspects of flexibility with regard to location and time, conditions, infrastructure and attractive further development opportunities, we are well positioned in the market. The 2023 employee survey and other dialogue formats provided valuable input on KfW’s status quo as an employer (e.g. on the topics of leadership, cooperation, strategy and innovation).

Another important aspect is that the issue of employer positioning is developed in line with our culture in order to provide appropriate support for the necessary changes. For example, a company-wide cultural journey will begin in 2024 to determine which positive elements of our corporate culture we want to promote even more strongly, and which characteristics are more likely to impede us and hold us back.

A relevant part of our corporate culture and for us as an attractive employer is flexibility. As a test, the option of working remotely was made more flexible in 2023. Following positive experiences, we have permanently established this flexibility – at the end of the year – in an amendment to the remote working staff agreement.

However, face-to-face meetings remain an important and central part of our cooperation. In order to strengthen awareness of personal interaction and motivate employees to seek personal contact, the “#begegnung_verbindet” initiative was launched in 2023 to further develop our culture of encounter. The initiative provides incentives and ideas to deliberately shape personal encounters with each other. For example, cross-departmental “AfterWork@KfW” events took place at all locations. The “Executive BoardXchange” format was also introduced as a personal exchange format between employees and the Executive Board.

With the implementation of KfWplus, KfW has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming THE digital transformation and promotional bank on a global scale. Special focus is placed on “leadership” as an important basis for successful strategy implementation and thus also in the positioning as an employer. This is how KfW wants to inspire – with “effective management”.

KfW defined what effective management means in 2023 using four focus areas:

• Act responsibly and sustainably
• Make and implement decisions
• Live ONE bank
• Create an inclusive environment

Management development measures were aligned with the four focus areas in 2023.

Management is therefore primarily aimed at making responsible and sustainable decisions and implementing them within a positive environment for the benefit of the entire bank.

Equality was an important issue at KfW even before the employer positioning project. However, with the aim of positioning ourselves as an attractive and forward-looking employer, greater focus is once again being placed on the issue of equality.

KfW’s Fifth Equal Opportunities Plan was valid until 31 December 2023. The Sixth Equal Opportunities Plan (valid from 2024 to 2027) was therefore developed in 2023 according to the German Federal Equality Act (BGleiG), together with the Equal Opportunities Officer. This includes the following agreed targets to be implemented by 2027:

• Incorporating equal opportunities into the culture
• Identifying and removing structural hindrances
• Improving the reconciliation of work, family, care and private life
• Increasing in the proportion of women in management positions

In addition to the objectives, the Equal Opportunities Plan includes stock-taking and measures to achieve these objectives. According to the German Federal Equality Act (BGleiG), the Human Resources department and the Executive Board as well as all managers are obliged to implement the measures and objectives.

As a result of collective bargaining negotiations, the number of weekly regular working hours was reduced to 38 hours as of 1 January 2024. The operationalisation required for this was implemented and concluded in 2023.