Employee participation

Codetermination and employee participation are important pillars of our human resources strategy. Volkswagen aims to promote high levels of expertise and a strong sense of team spirit. This includes employees’ opinions, assessments and criticisms being heard.

With the opinion survey, a Group-wide poll, the Company not only regularly gathers information regarding employee satisfaction, but also inquires about the shape of our corporate culture and the manner in which, for example, compliance requirements are implemented. Based on the results, follow-up processes are implemented in which measures are developed and implemented. Over 600,000 employees from 175 locations and companies in 50 countries were invited to take part in the survey. The participation rate was 79%. The average result that is regularly received through the opinion survey – the sentiment rating – is an important parameter in the opinion survey; in 2018 it stood at 78.9 out of a possible total of 100 index points. The score achieved in 2018 was thus slightly higher than the previous year’s figure that amounted to 78.3 points.

In addition, we also encourage our employees’ commitment through idea management: employees can use their creativity and knowledge to contribute their ideas for improvements, thus helping to streamline workflows, further enhance ergonomics in the workplace, reduce costs and continuously increase efficiency. Idea management enables employees to participate actively in the planning and organization of their work. The system also provides monetary incentives by offering set rewards.