More than a job

A strong corporate culture requires strong values. Consistent customer focus, entrepreneurial thinking and action, and discipline guide our daily conduct.

The basic rules for our business: the Code of Conduct

Tchibo gives highest priority to fair conduct, ethical business practices and compliance with all laws. We want our employees to feel committed to these principles at all times. This is why we stipulated them in our Code of Conduct (CoC). The thirteen basic rules for working together apply to all employees of Tchibo GmbH and its subsidiaries and are the foundation of our business conduct. In 2010 we added new guidelines to our Code of Conduct, including a new chapter on our data protection policy and integrating additional aspects of environment protection, just to name two.

Providing information, promoting dialogue

A family-owned company from Hamburg, Tchibo attaches great importance to open and honest communication among employees. For our part, we feel committed to regularly updating our colleagues on all current developments, thus creating transparency. We use different communication channels such as the intranet, welcome packs, corporate brochures and events to regularly provide employees with information relevant to their activities at Tchibo.

Our employee magazine “smile” is published three times a year and serves as an important communication tool, helping us promote dialogue among employees and between management and the workforce. We also conduct regular round table discussions: At each two-hour session, twelve employees from all levels can discuss various issues with a Board member. Our colleagues in Eastern Europe also have regular get-togethers with their responsible Board member. All Tchibo employees can use our intranet forum – even anonymously, if they prefer. All threads, and therefore all topics discussed, are started by the employees themselves.

Discuss, understand and live the Tchibo DNA

We want our employees to live up to our Tchibo DNA corporate identity, maintain this identity and pass it on to new employees. In 2010 we rewrote the Tchibo DNA. It describes the key factors in the success of our unique brand: our coffee expertise, our Non Food concept, our distribution system, our marketing activities and our corporate culture. Tchibo’s very special profile helped us to earn trust among our broad customer base. The future success of the company will depend to a very large degree on whether we are determined and able to secure and further strengthen this trust in our brand. This is why we launched the “DNA dialogue” initiative, comprising a diverse range of communication activities: video messages from the Board, discussions at staff meetings organised by the works council, web seminars, competitions, keynote speeches and subsequent moderated discussion at management level. All dialogue tools have one overriding goal: We want every single Tchibo employee, whether manager, order picker or shop staff, to learn about the Tchibo DNA and understand how our corporate mission statement influences their day-to-day work, their team, their department and our company as a whole.

Leisure-time activities strengthen the bond among employees

We want to have committed and satisfied employees. They are the basis of a strong corporate culture and the key to securing our business success. We offer a varied range of leisure-time activities to improve the bond among our employees and contribute to a positive work-life balance. At our site in Hamburg, such activities include the Tchibo Big Band, running events, free swimming courses for children and many more. We also organise an annual 6-day sailing event on the Baltic for our trainees.

Our greatest reward: happy employees

Employee satisfaction provides proof of our efforts to establish and maintain a strong corporate culture. Tchibo reached the 97th place in the Germany-wide “Great Place to Work^®” competition, putting the company back among “Germany’s Top Employers 2011”. We are very proud of this achievement. In 2009, Tchibo did not rank among the top-100 organisations. Overall, 319 companies participated in the competition. Great Places to Work^® evaluates the corporate culture and conducts an anonymous survey among the employees. Yet the study also revealed that there is potential for improvement in various areas. Many surveyed employees would like to receive more cross-departmental information and have more time to adjust to changes. We have taken the first steps to improve these aspects by initiating DNA dialogue and developing an unbureaucratic team feedback process.

Strengthening corporate culture – even across cultures

Our rules for working together also apply at an international level.

We are firmly convinced that our employees’ commitment is an essential key to success. This is why we started to conduct the “Hewitt Best Employer Studies” employee survey annually in all our Eastern European subsidiaries in 2010 (or earlier, in some cases). The survey provides valuable information as to how satisfied our employees are at the moment and which aspects of their overall working environment have to be improved to further boost their motivation. We discuss the results with the employees and jointly develop ideas for optimisation. In 2010, we had our first big success in the Czech Republic. Thanks to the good results of our survey, we ranked among the “Top 5 Best Employers” in the country in our sector.

Another essential aspect for establishing consistant principles of collaboration was the implementation of minimum standards for contracts of employment for all country organisations in 2010. By way of example, these regulations stipulate that the Code of Conduct must be an integral part of all contracts. To give our sustainability efforts a firm footing in emerging markets, we launched an internal training programme for employees in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The one-year campaign serves to raise awareness of corporate social responsibility among our colleagues in Eastern Europe and to jointly work out how CSR can be implemented in their daily business activities.

In 2010, the rate of turnover at Tchibo was 9.7 per cent (7.4 per cent in 2009). The turnover rate for women was 9.2 per cent (6.4 per cent in 2009) and 12 per cent for men (8.9 per cent in 2009).

Employees by fields of activity (2008-2010)

Staff turnover by reason for departure (2008-2010)

In 2010, the rate of turnover at Tchibo was 9.7 per cent (7.4 per cent in 2009). The turnover rate for women was 9.2 per cent (6.4 per cent in 2009) and 12 per cent for men (8.9 per cent in 2009).