Reebok 2008 Annual Report Download - page 74

070 Group Management Report – Our Group Corporate Functions — Employees
Number of employees 1)
2004 2) 14,219
2005 2) 15,935
2006 3) 26,376
2007 31,344
2008 38,982
1) At year-end.
2) Figures refl ect continuing operations as a result of the divestiture
of the Salomon business segment.
3) Including Reebok business segment from February 1, 2006 onwards.
2008 employees by segment
2008 employees by region
adidas 59%
Europe 52%
TaylorMade-
adidas Golf 5%
HQ functions 13%
Latin America 5%
Asia 15%
Reebok 23%
North America 28%
Employees
We know that our people are crucial to our
success. Becoming the global leader in the
sporting goods industry depends on the per-
formance, potential, enthusiasm and dedication
of our employees. We strive to create a working
environment that stimulates team spirit, pas-
sion, engagement and achievement. We pro-
mote a performance culture based on strong
leadership and therefore link employee com-
pensation to Group and individual achieve-
ments. We aim to continuously develop our
employees with opportunities for career pro-
gression, while upholding a culture that cele-
brates diversity and encourages global mobility.
Global employee base continues to grow
On December 31, 2008, the Group had 38,982 employees, which
represents an increase of 24% versus 31,344 in the previous
year. This development is primarily related to new employees
in adidas and Reebok own retail, mainly on a part-time basis.
Personnel expenses increased 8% to € 1.283 billion in 2008
from € 1.186 billion in 2007, see Note 25, p. 187, representing
30% of the Group’s total operating expenses (2007: 30%) and
12% of Group sales (2007: 12%).
Emerging markets and own retail drive employee growth
The development of our employee numbers varied signifi -
cantly from a brand perspective. The number of employees at
the adidas brand increased 24% to 23,202 at the end of 2008
(2007: 18,678), mainly driven by the brand’s strong expan-
sion, especially in own retail and in the emerging markets of
Eastern Europe (e.g. Russia), Asia and Latin America. Staff
at Reebok increased 31% due to the expansion of own-retail
activities in emerging markets. Hence, the Reebok segment
comprised 8,836 employees at year-end (2007: 6,751). At
TaylorMade- adidas Golf, the number of employees increased
by 33% to 1,852 (2007: 1,393) mainly due to the acquisition of
Ashworth, Inc.
The number of employees working in our Group functions
increased by 13% to 5,092 (2007: 4,522). The main reason for
this development was the expansion of our sourcing function.
At the end of 2008, 52% of our staff were employed in Europe
(2007: 47%), 28% in North America (2007: 31%), 15% in Asia
(2007: 18%) and 5% in Latin America (2007: 4%). As a global
company with less than 10% of our employees located in
Germany, we actively encourage global mobility and offer our
employees the opportunity to go on international assignments.
To support relocating professionals and their families in new
living and working environments, we provide, for example,
relevant language and cultural training.
Three-pillar human resources strategy
We strive to have the right team in place by focusing our
activities on the implementation and execution of our Group’s
Human Resources strategy, which is based on three pillars:
— Creating a working environment that stimulates team
spirit, passion, engagement and achievement
see “Engagement drives performance”, p. 071
see “Internal communication activities further enhanced”, p. 071
— Expanding our performance culture based upon
strong leadership
see “Fit for today and tomorrow”, p. 071
see “Performance-driven remuneration system”, p. 072
— Being an “Employer of Choice”
see “Employer of choice: creating an attractive work
environment”, p. 073
Measures taken in order to implement our strategy are
explained in the subsequent sections.