Audi 2009 Annual Report Download - page 161

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The Audi Group’s human resources policy
The strategic objective of the Audi Group’s human resources policy is making the Company the
most attractive employer. In addition to building up a positive reputation among graduates
and young professionals, the Audi Group places particular emphasis on its relations with its
employees.
Personnel development is therefore especially important. A comprehensive competence man-
agement policy is designed to equip employees for the growing demand for specialist and cross-
specialty competences.
Another priority area is anticipating demographic change. In 2009 the Human Resources divi-
sion teamed up with representatives of other areas to launch a number of measures and courses
designed to maintain high standards of employee performance and motivation. These range
from organizing the conditions of performance at the workplace to topics such as lifelong quali-
fication and age-appropriate management methods.
The human resources objective is clear: to continue treating the workforces at Audi locations
worldwide as the mainstays of the brand’s success. The success of the Audi Group is therefore
treated as the success of all its employees.
In that connection the Company actively took measures designed to protect jobs in 2009, such
as short-time and insourcing at the Group locations in Germany, Hungary, Belgium and Italy.
Employer and employee representatives at AUDI AG joined the other Volkswagen Group compa-
nies in passing a “Working Relationships Charta” in 2009 that also applies to all Audi Group
locations, in order to implement elements of codetermination at the locations worldwide.
Very attractive employer for engineers and economists
The high appeal of AUDI AG as an employer was again confirmed by numerous studies in 2009.
Graduates, students nearing the end of their studies and young professionals in the engineering
sciences again voted the Company the most popular employer in the renowned employer appeal
surveys conducted by the Berlin trendence Institute and the market research institute Univer-
sum (“trendence Graduate Barometer – Business and Engineering Edition,” August 21, 2009;
“The Universum German Student Survey,” May 18, 2009). AUDI AG was also very highly rated
among prospective and practicing economists: It was able to defend its place among the top five
companies in the Universum study. In the trendence employer ranking, AUDI AG moved up from
third to second place and is therefore now the most popular employer in the automotive sector
among economics students, graduates and young professionals.
Employer appeal is one of four strategic goals of the Audi Group. A good working atmosphere,
inspiring products, interesting task areas and scope for personal development all play an impor-
tant role. Thanks to the long-term horizon of its model initiative, the Company is creating a wide
range of task areas particularly for engineering and economics graduates.
Job and family
The Audi Group offers its employees a wide variety of arrangements to make work compatible
with family life. In addition to options such as extended care-giver leave, a sabbatical and
diverse part-time and teleworking arrangements, employees on unlimited contracts have a
guarantee of reemployment for up to seven years following the birth and raising of a child, for
example.
The number of men at AUDI AG taking parental leave during 2009 has furthermore risen sharply
since the introduction of the parental allowance and the so-called “partner months” in 2007,
and at around 71 percent is well above the national average for Germany. In addition, more and
more employees are taking the opportunity to work part-time.