Keeping on improving together

It is a give-and-take from which both sides benefit: Motivated and competent employees push Tchibo forward day after day – thereby securing our company’s future. In return, we support our workforce with numerous training and career development measures. For us, this is a key element of an corporate culture that appreciates employees.

A variety of roles and responsible tasks

We see the great importance of providing the workforce with training and ongoing further and advanced training. The importance we attach to this issue is reflected, for example, in our vocational training programme, because one of the features of training at Tchibo is that trainees pass through a variety of stages, holding different positions and taking on responsible tasks. In this way, Tchibo’s vocational trainees, who currently number 143, are challenged and developed – a good foundation for a young person’s professional future.

Our training programme focuses on business and commerce. But young people can start a career at Tchibo in other areas, too – we train them for trades ranging from industrial mechanics to warehouse clerks to chefs. The number of trainees in our Tchibo shops rose from 22 in 2010 to 44 in 2011.

Good training for our graduate trainees

The number of graduate trainees also grew in this period, from ten to 15. We also plan to introduce a graduate trainee programme in eastern Europe in 2011. We aim to win qualified future managers for the company and to train them. Young talents from various eastern European countries will learn the ropes at Tchibo for 18 to 24 months, so that they can later work in marketing or as a Tchibo shop manager. A cooperative course of study and vocational training in logistics will be launched in 2011 in partnership with the NORDAKADEMIE in Elmshorn.

Our training is award-winning

Completing vocational training at Tchibo is often just the beginning of a journey. For example, shop-based trainees who score an average grade of at least 2.0 (‘good’, on a scale of 1 to 6) are offered a permanent full-time position after completion of their training. In-house trainees are generally offered a one-year position.

Given the wide range of courses available and the intensive support that trainees receive, we are very pleased that Tchibo was named “Ausgezeichneter Ausbildungsbetrieb 2011” (2011 award-winning training company) by the Chamber of Commerce of the German city of Schwerin, in special recognition of the outstanding performance of our cooperative professional qualification. We see this as an incentive to invest more in supporting Tchibo’s up-and-coming workforce.

Our employees: constantly developing

Landing a job at Tchibo opens the door to a plethora of career development opportunities for our employees. Management positions are often filled from within our own ranks. To promote this development, we not only set great store by sound training, but also by ongoing advanced training: Our wide range of courses and units includes seminars, workshops and other training programmes, covering everything from skills training to foreign language instruction. Together with HR, individual training measures may also be agreed and carried out depending on the needs of the individual employee and of the area they work in. These are all joined by additional programmes such as Tchibo Future Lab, a programme for potential executives. This development programme is tailored to the needs of middle management and was also successfully carried out in 2010. Top management and the Management Board use the results of the project as strategic support.

A day of events focusing on ongoing training was a highlight of 2010. The day’s features included live coaching and taster seminars. There was a huge amount of interest: approximately 1,200 people registered, with some 250 able to take part. They attended seminars on topics such as “Body language in presentations” or participated in a business game, to name but a few.

Seminars teach skills – including sustainability-related ones

Our range of training courses is based on a series of regular events. The “Bohn Apart” training programme allows us to provide our employees with intensive support and to help managers and teams in times of change. In coffee skills seminars, which were are currently developing and will be offering our employees, we will impart coffee knowledge, including issues around sustainability and social commitment. The same also applies to units such as our induction event “Tchibo stellt sich vor” (An introduction to Tchibo) or leadership seminars.

Impressive HR development

On average, managers and shop staff underwent ten to 12 hours per year each of training and further development in 2010. For employees in middle management and administrative staff, the average was between 20 and 25 hours per year. This means that our administrative employees (executives, middle managers and administrative staff) benefited from approximately 51,000 hours of training in 2010, and shop staff from approximately 59,000 hours.

Investment in training for Tchibo administrative and shop staff in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (2008-2010)

We adjusted our data collection systems in 2010 due to changes in internal requirements. This means that expenses for training and education hours in 2009 and 2010 can only be given as a total sum and cannot be shown per country. The 2008 figures refer to Germany only. This results in significantly higher figures for 2009 and 2010. However, we plan to revamp the existing controlling system for training and education in 2012, which will allow us to show costs per country.

Performance is assessed – and good performance recognised

All employees need feedback on their performance for their own professional advancement. We conduct feedback interviews and assessments with employees, with the aim of identifying strengths and weaknesses – and, as a result, remedying any shortcomings, if required, with help from line managers or HR. Overall, around 2,000 employees benefited from such performance assessment in 2010. In the year under review, to further improve the effect of this feedback for professional prospects in 2010, we combined the performance assessment with the interview on the employee’s targets and opportunities for development. From 2011, managers will receive anonymous assessments from their employees. This 360-degree feedback means that managers will receive objective feedback on their skills and abilities, as well as their potential for improvement.