HR Report 2010/2011 - Deutsche Telekom AG

Correct management, exemplary service conduct by our executives, and above all, a corporate culture devoted to entrepreneurial co-responsibility – these are the keys to Telekom’s future as a highly efficient service company and creative driver of innovation.

Competitive workforceHR Big 4 and Group strategy Service culture Talent agenda HR@2012 21 Service Academy continues. We have built on the success of the German Service Academy to give our executives a better understanding of good service. Since 2008, the Academy has been driving this development and helping to anchor the new service focus throughout Deutsche Telekom. In a series of workshops, training courses and practical assignments, execu- tives at the German Group learn to center their conduct around the custo- mer and to lead their employees in a service-focused manner. While the first two phases focused on communicating and experiencing a shared under- standing of management (“service leadership”), since May 2010, phase 3 has concentrated on the practical application of what they have learned in real projects. Service Academy courses were attended by more than 1,900 executives in 2010, around 900 of whom have already completed phase 3. Many of the national companies have introduced similar service initiatives to inspire their executives and secure their commitment. Guiding Principles Motor as an online teamwork tool. Interactive tools such as the Guiding Principles Motor are another way of making our Gui- ding Principles more real and anchoring them in everyday life. Since July 2010, the Guiding Principles Motor has supported executives and teams at T-Systems by linking the Guiding Principles to very specific business tar- gets, and breaking down behavior patterns to team and individual level. Employees play the leading role here; the executive is merely the modera- tor. He or she inputs a specific business target, such as “Improve custo- mer satisfaction,” and asks the team which Guiding Principles are crucial for meeting this target; this helps to anchor the Guiding Principles as a natural part of daily working life. The employees prioritize the Guiding Prin- ciples online, and initiate measures to improve their conduct. The Guiding Principles Motor supplies interim results in the form of clear charts. The out- come is specific, prioritized action plans that are subsequently developed by the teams as part of workshops. Living guidelines: the first Group-wide Guiding Principles Focus Day. The “Guiding Principles Focus Day” on October 6, 2010 highlighted the fact that our philosophy has reached the global Group. It focused attention on our Guiding Principles in 19 languages, 34 countries, and 50 business units – sending a clear message that these principles will play a vital and permanent role in the development of our company. Numerous employees showed what the Guiding Principles mean to them in their day-to-day busi- ness operations with a range of creative activities – in video messages and tweets, telephone conferences, meetings and posters. The Guiding Princi- ples Focus Day was a resounding success, and will now become an annual event. Living service culture throughout the Group. Service training and international service initiatives. Top excellence in customer service: We have consistently pursued this goal in Germany and the rest of Europe, as well as in the USA. . The three years up to and including 2011 were spent training its technical personnel on all aspects and concerns of the service culture. Their declared aim is “Customer de- light drives our action.” Here in Germany, we are also intensively involved in service training. In our three service companies alone, employees completed more than 100,000 service training days in 2010. Service careers – a distinct career path for top service-providers. The service career is a new career path that is precisely tailored to all three ser- vice companies. A total of 1,100 employees have commenced their training to prepare for their additional role, or new function or activity as part of the service career. The training phase takes no more than ten months and qua- lifies employees for a range of activities in Sales and Service in Germany, for instance, as a customer service representative, team leader, top agent or workforce manager. This initiative aims to improve our employees’ personal development opportunities as well as enhance their solution-providing and service competency for our customers. The service career also offers finan- cial rewards. A distinction is made between horizontal and vertical service careers. The vertical service career is designed for those taking on duties at a higher level, whereas a horizontal service career involves different duties at the same level or salary group.