Continued development of employees

We are determined to promote lifelong learning among our employees as a way of responding to the current and future challenges in wholesale. Our programmes are constantly reviewed and continuously refined. The House of Learning business unit provides customised personnel development measures, learning solutions and services for the management holding company METRO AG as well as the METRO Wholesale sales line. The focus is on employees and executives from operations, sales force, food service distribution, category management and finance departments. Above all, the training curriculum aims to empower our employees to promote implementation of the METRO Wholesale corporate strategy with their actions, as well as to strengthen leadership skills and to intensify personal development. All training programmes can be adapted to local circumstances and, in the case of seminars and on-the-job training courses, delivered by internal full-time and part-time trainers.

In financial year 2017/18, we developed and introduced more learning opportunities, including topics such as delivery and customer service, which serve to provide a better understanding of financial contexts and compliance. Furthermore, the International Human Resources Development department implemented a multi-month programme called METRO2025. The task of the participants was to develop concepts in international teams that complement the corporate strategy of METRO Wholesale and add further value to customers. The most promising concepts are now being refined and implemented. The programme promoted cross-divisional, cross-border cooperation and soli- darity with the wholesale business. At the same time, the participants were able to expand their project management skills. There are plenty more programmes aimed at supporting promising internal candidates in their career development. For example, at Real, more than 100 employees participated in corresponding training programmes during the reporting period before being promoted. The eligibility requirements and selection of participants vary for each programme. For example, employees may be nominated by their supervisor or they may apply by themselves.

Employee commitment

Our global employee survey METRO Voice is an important tool used to determine the commitment of the workforce and their loyalty to the company. We conduct the survey regularly in the country subsidiaries service companies and at METRO AG. Under the slogan ‘Your opinion. Our dialogue.’, more than 101,000 employees were invited to participate in the survey during the reporting period. 88% of the invited employees took part in the survey. The level of commitment, which indicates the degree of connection, pride in the company, loyalty and motivation, increased by 2 percentage points to 78% in financial year 2017/18. It far exceeds the score of consulting firm Aon Hewitt’s Global Retail Benchmark (63%) and continues the positive trend of previous years.

This development can be traced back to an intensive follow-up process at the team level and to group-wide initiatives that we use to promote focus on innovative ideas and encourage the appreciation and recognition of our employees.

Development of the engagement score

in %