Personnel and social report
HR management of strategic importance
A key principle in MLP’s consulting code reads “We are committed to providing the highest quality and excellent services that will impress our clients.” Our company’s service culture is a central component in our corporate culture. As such, the HR department sees itself as a service provider for its internal clients, our employees. At the heart of everything we do is the question:
What can the company do
- to win the best talents and
- to form a connection between employees and their employer, on both an emotional and intellectual level, so that they remain committed to providing the best possible service at their workplace?
Our personnel policy is therefore of great strategic importance, as it must create the framework conditions that cater to employees’ requirements and wishes with regard to their employer, while also allowing the company’s targets to be met.
Increased efficiency at all levels
In the reporting year, project teams from all organisational levels within the company worked on making utilisation of resources at MLP even more efficient. Within the scope of this, the average annual number of employees in continuing operations in 2009 dropped as scheduled by 4.3 % over the previous year to a level of 1,900 employees (2008: 1,986). We did not make any forced redundancies here, but rather offered individual, socially responsible solutions in dialogue with every single employee. The number of marginal part-time employees employed at the branch offices was also reduced. On the balance sheet date of December 31, 2009 the proportion of temporary workers among all personnel was below 1 %. In addition to this, 55 employees moved to our IT service provider Hewlett-Packard to increase the efficiency and quality of our IT services.
Average number of employees
| Continuing operations | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Feri Finance AG was acquired in 2006 | |||||
| Financial Services | 1,624 | 1,718 | 1,564 | 1,508 | 1,403 |
| Feri | 265 | 257 | 246 | 40 | * |
| Holding | 11 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 14 |
| Total | 1,900 | 1,986 | 1,819 | 1,558 | 1,417 |
| of which in Germany | 1,900 | 1,978 | 1,813 | 1,552 | 1,413 |
Personnel expenses of € 111.4 million (€ 108.9 million) were disclosed, of which € 94.4 million (€ 93.1 million) are attributable to salaries and wages, € 12.8 million (€ 12.1 million) to social security contributions and € 4.2 million (€ 3.6 million) to old-age provision. 1,624 (1,718) of our employees worked in the financial services segment in 2009. With 11 people, the number of employees in the holding company remained at the previous year’s level. Feri Finance AG increased its head count to 265 (257).
Age structure of MLP staff in 2009
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Key performance indicators for environmental, social and governance issues
| 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of advanced training days per employee | 2.4 | 1.6 |
| Expenditure for advanced training per employee | € 540 | € 190 |
| Total expenditures for advanced training in % of revenues | 0.19 % | 0.06 % |
| Number of employees, who will be pensioned in the next five years | 12 employees | 14 employees |
| Average staff membership | 7.47 years | 6.44 years |
| Number of absent/sick days per employee per year | 4.5 days | 3.2 days |
Family-friendly employer
We would like to draw particular attention to the fact that the employee turnover rate at MLP, which has been reflected within employee statistics for years, is largely due to the high proportion of female staff at the headquarters in Wiesloch (55 %) taking time off work to start a family. In the reporting year, some 65 female employees took extended maternity leave following the birth of their child. A total of 128 women and 4 men were off work on parental leave. MLP has a comparably young staff base, with 64 % of our employees under the age of 40. The average age was 35.9 years in the reporting year. In the HR department we therefore once again placed great emphasis on helping employees combine the requirements of their family and career. The following offers from MLP’s family programme proved particularly successful in 2009:
- Child daycare: MLP covered up to 50 % of daycare costs for its employees with children not yet of school age, up to a limit of € 250 per month.
- Holiday camps for school children: Employees with children of school age had the opportunity to send their children to holiday camps during the summer holidays. 12 mothers and fathers took up this offer in the reporting year (2008: 17).
- Free-of-charge consulting on family issues: MLP employees were once again able to rely on a qualified consulting offer in and around family issues in 2009. They were offered free-of-charge and uncomplicated support on questions of childcare and care for the aged.
Other important modules geared towards combining family and career, as well as further qualifications, were offered within the large range of courses for employees at the Corporate University. The number and scope of courses on offer were once again significantly increased in the reporting year, with courses ranging from software training, through presentation training, right up to training events on topics such as conflict management. And within the scope of personnel development, a new training career was also created to open up new professional opportunities for employees from 2010 onwards.
“Top Employer 2009”
MLP received further reinforcement of its positive image as an employer in the media when it received the “Top Employer” award. This award is presented annually by the Corporate Research Foundation (CRF) and the magazine “Junge Karriere”. This year represented the third time in succession that we have won this prestigious award.
Being a family-friendly employer today goes hand in hand with being open to individual working hours models. Offering the highest possible level of freedom in terms of how employees perform their work and organise their working times are par for the course at MLP, as these factors stimulate motivation and loyalty to the company. As such, numerous part-time and jobsharing contracts were concluded and home office workplaces set up in 2009. Some 24 % of our employees worked part-time last year (2008: 22 %).
MLP’s salary structure includes performance-linked and service-based components to stimulate the best possible performance among staff. Individual, target agreement-based remuneration components for managers are just as much a part of this performance-related system as the option to award team members bonuses and special payments for exceptional performance. In addition to this, phantom shares for all employees have been in use since 2008 to provide financial incentives and keep them loyal to the company. Occupational pension provision and the relief fund were further important social benefits in 2009.
Key figures for leadership quality
Alongside regulating working times and remuneration, the quality of leadership received by their direct line managers has a significant influence on the motivation levels of employees. Various measures were implemented in 2009 to anchor MLP’s open leadership and communication culture in the operative personnel management instruments. Following intensive discussions between Executive Board, managers and employees, management guidelines were passed, standardised MLP employee appraisal meetings introduced and thereby the seeds sown for creating a KPI system to secure high quality management. In November 2009, employees also gave their superiors 180-degree feedback.
Last year, 15 students from Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University and 22 trainees began their training at MLP. As such, a total of 115 employees were in training or still completing their studies. 3 trainees and 4 students of combined degree programmes were able to successfully complete their training with us in 2009. Within the scope of HR marketing, our company was represented at all relevant graduate fairs, while an average of 50 applicants attended the 12 Assessment Centres for finding new consultants in 2009.
Thank you from the Executive Board
The Executive Board wishes to thank all employees and consultants for their trusting cooperation in 2009. Given the difficult economic environment, the management would also like to offer its express gratitude for the constructive climate, in which the workforce helped carry the heavy load of the previous year. Internal solidarity among colleagues forms an important foundation for securing our future in a fiercely competitive market environment.