2020 Sustainability Report

64 Social affairs “ To allow our employees to develop their full potential, we give them sufficient freedom to make decisions and act as independently as possible. ” Employee satisfaction Having a culture of open discussion and feedback, and holding annual reviews where employees can assess their satisfaction, their performance and their line manager, are important components in helping us to understand the needs of our staff. In the annual reviews, satisfaction is measured on the basis of five factors, on a scale from 1 (minimum) to 10 (maximum). With an average assessment of 8.3, the outcome in 2020 was even bet- ter than in previous years. Our internal communication, in particular, received much better ratings. In 2019 the notice boards at both sites were reviewed and redesigned. Now all the docu- ments which are displayed there in hard copy are also available to employees digitally at any time. During the review of the notice boards, the emphasis was on making our com- munication transparent, meaningful and appropriate to the relevant target groups. The notices covering the three main areas of quality/HSE (health, safety, environment), staff and business trends were revised in terms of both their content and their presenta- tion. We also took care to ensure that our internal communications are always regular and up-to-date. All employees at Girsberger companies are kept informed about current business trends at a “notice board” meeting roughly every two months. During the year of the pandemic in 2020, because the situation was changing almost every week, these information events took place far more frequently, for small groups, organised by managers who were working from home, and taking place by phone or email or as online meetings. The main focus was on the pandemic - information about it and the precautions we were taking. One of the priorities during these two reporting years was to establish the general principles for reaching a decision on new and more flexible working time models, taking account of local legislation and collective bargaining agreements. Based on these general principles, new working time regulations will be drawn up by the middle of 2021 and introduced at the start of 2022. Girsberger also works continuously to improve its IT and EDP systems. If we are to meet the needs of our employees and the modern world of work, it is essential for us to invest in flexible, mobile work tools and up-to-date software. During the pandem- ic, working from home and holding meetings online have come to play a more important role, accelerated by the official safety measures. Our evaluation of staff satisfaction shows that this is also a matter of great importance to our employees, and so we need to pay close attention to it. Steps in this direction have al- ready been introduced or implemented in Bützberg and Endingen, with employees who did not previously work from home being equipped to do so. The option of working from home will remain in future. Whether and to what extent it is feasible will be looked at in each individual case and will depend on the nature of the employee’s work. During the next reporting period we intend to make mobility a higher priority. Office 365 should enable us to work using any device that supports the software, regardless of where we are.