Leadership

During the year under review we began to introduce and implement enhanced leadership standards. They define responsibilities and outcomes against which managers throughout the company are individually assessed. They place leadership at the centre of corporate success and address aspects that are critical for future success in a competitive market. On the one hand, leadership encompasses the acceptance of responsibility for financial success, the underlying business model and a stringent operating platform. On the other hand, it also includes measures aimed at strengthening and supporting corporate culture and values. Leadership ultimately means taking responsibility for motivating and developing people – individually and in teams. This comprehensive approach goes well beyond the traditional notion of leadership, but is crucial for sustained corporate success.

Staff

Finding and developing talent. Managing talent means identifying and developing staff with outstanding performance and strong potential. Retaining these talents in our organization is a decisive factor for our competitiveness. We have therefore implemented throughout the bank talent development processes which are closely aligned with the assessment of capabilities and performance on the basis of uniform criteria. We begin this process at a very early stage with our junior staff. But we also have a cross-divisional pool of senior talents who can be deployed throughout the Group without much delay, especially in senior management positions.