DHL 2008 Annual Report Download - page 94

Deutsche Post World Net Annual Report 2008
Sustainable practices counter environmental risks
Monitoring developments in environmental policy is an integral part of the
Group-wide risk management process. We do not currently know of any environmen-
tal risks with signi cant potential  nancial implications for the Group over the period
to . During , however, the debate advanced within the  on the adoption
of an emissions trading system for air transport and we expect that air transport will
be included in emissions trading by .  e  nancial impact will depend heavily on
how the emissions trading system is set up. It also remains to be seen what volume of
emission allowances will be needed and at what price they will trade. It is therefore not
yet possible to estimate reliably the speci c  nancial consequences of emissions trad-
ing for air transport in Europe. In our opinion, however, the Group is generally well
placed to minimise the  nancial risks by virtue of its GoGreen programme.
Strong position in the competition for talent
Like any other company, we have to compete for highly quali ed specialists and
managers. Workforce  uctuation can lead to losses of expertise and customer relation-
ships. Action is taken on various fronts to counter this risk.
We promote initial and further training for our workforce and identify outstand-
ing managerial talent. Upcoming talent is nurtured in various ways, including through
international educational opportunities, the Group’s own university and challenging
responsibilities. We o er performance-based pay packages with performance assess-
ment which is standardised Group-wide, linked to human resources development activi-
ties tailored for each employee target group.  is enhances the Group’s attractiveness
overall along with our prospects in the competition for highly quali ed specialists and
managers. We aim at all times to be the  rst choice for customers and our workforce.
Our success in this regard is repeatedly borne out by Group-wide employee surveys.
An element of  nancial risk remains despite these measures, although we do not esti-
mate this risk to be great.
On  January , we discontinued our domestic express business in the
 and are now concentrating on international business in that market. We began
the restructuring process in November , which will further reduce the number
of employees there by ,. As reported in connection with business strategy risks,
the overall cost of the restructuring, including severance payments, will run to some
  billion and the majo rity of this cost has already been recorded in .
IT security is indispensible
Information technology is a key success factor for our logistics and service
processes. Systems must be accessible and available at all times; unauthorised access
to data and data manipulation must be prevented, and it is important to ensure that
so ware is not delivered with defects or too late.
Sustainability, page 77
90