Adidas 2000 Annual Report Download - page 48

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44
At December 31, 2000, adidas-Salomon employed 13,362
people, representing a growth of 4% over the previous year.
This increase mirrors our strategy of growing the business in a
targeted and market-oriented way. One example is the number
of employees working for our Company in the retail sector,
which increased 19% overall and 54% in the United States
in 2000. This sector represented 75% of the total employee
growth within our Company and shows our commitment to
building up this important channel of distribution. At the same
time, we have streamlined and rationalized our organization
wherever necessary. Among other areas, this is reflected in the
21.5% reduction in management positions which has taken
place since 1997.
Our Culture
adidas-Salomon is multi-cultural. At our headquarters, we have
employees from 38 different countries. As a result, we have the
ability to draw ideas and inspiration from all over the world.
Further, nearly half of our workforce is under the age of 30,
ensuring closeness to our target consumers. Most importantly,
the employees of adidas-Salomon work together as a team.
All of our employees are bound together by their passion for
competition and their dedication to a sporting lifestyle.
Our Team
Our employees are unique and that means they deserve both
support and opportunities to advance. We are creating pro-
grams throughout our Group to support their needs. At our
headquarters in Germany, we have created programs such as:
Flexitime – A Matter of Trust: Since the beginning of last
year, we have had an advanced flexible working hours
program in place, which is based on trust and personal
accountability.
Programs and infrastructure to support educational and
cultural opportunities for new employees and their families:
An international school (FIS), and an association for promot-
ing the integration of families moving into the region (IWG)
are just two of the projects initiated and sponsored by
adidas-Salomon.
These developments, along with many others, have succeeded
because of the ambition, pride and will to win of every single
person working in our Company.
Our Rewards System
At adidas-Salomon we believe in rewarding our employees for
their competence and contribution. Two major elements of this
system are our “pay for performance” bonus program and our
management stock option program (MSOP). The “pay for
performance” bonus program offers a performance-based
component to the salaries of eligible employees in all areas
within the Company. 18% of our employees now have a variable
salary component, an average of 20% of the remuneration is
directly linked to corporate performance. Moreover, the number
of our employees participating in our “pay for performance”
bonus program has nearly doubled since 1997. In addition to
this bonus system, our management stock option program
links the compensation of key executives worldwide to the
development of our share price. This actively enhances share-
holder value by ensuring that management and shareholders
have the same goals.
Our Pension Program
It is the policy of the adidas-Salomon Group to contribute
actively to pension programs of all our employees. For example,
in 2000, adidas-Salomon AG took advantage of the opportuni-
ties provided by recent German legislation to introduce a new
pension plan called the “PP 2000” for its employees based
in Germany. In conjunction with the existing company pension
trust fund, it is designed to encourage employees to ensure
that their total pension packages are both realistic and sufficient.
Participation is on a voluntary basis.
Our Employees