Annual Report 2006
GfK Group: www.gfk.com
Human Resources
The GfK Group has a staff complement of almost 8,000 in over 70 countries and these employees make an important contribution to the success of the company. The position of Global Head of Human Resources was created at the end of 2006 in order to better meet the needs of the increasing international nature of the Group.
The aim of this new position is to develop processes and instruments to optimally meet the increased requirements of the international GfK Group, for example with regard to staff recruitment, development and remuneration. Furthermore, networks are to be set up and made usable for cross-border and organizational personnel and knowledge transfer.
The role of the Global Head of Human Resources is to support the local, national and regional Human Resources departments with the challenges posed by the internationalization of their HR work and to provide GfK executives worldwide with suitable tools for international HR management.
Excellence program: review of five successful years
To drive forward the convergence of the GfK Group and support mobility and flexibility for the top positions within the Group, the Management Board of GfK AG launched the Excellence program in 2001 to identify, promote and retain senior managers. This program includes stepping up intercultural exchange within the GfK Group as well as the cross-border and intercompany execution of strategic projects.
In the past years, the various international Excellence teams have looked into the following issues:
- 2001/2002: Excellence I – Corporate Values
Drawing up the Corporate Values of the GfK Group - 2002/2003: Excellence II – Corporate Management Principles
Development of globally binding GfK Corporate Management Principles - 2003/2004: Excellence III – Knowledge Management
Updating of Knowledge Management, which forms the basis for today’s KES strategy (Knowledge Exchange Solution) at GfK - 2004/2005: Excellence IV – Integration of New Companies
Preparation of tailored integration principles for new companies within GfK - 2005/2006: Excellence V – GfK Brand Value
Analysis of GfK’s own brand, providing valuable knowledge of the status quo, the vision and associated initiatives relating to the GfK brand.
The current Excellence VI team is looking at Innovation and Ideas Management. The findings will be presented to the Management Board in October 2007.
All programs completed to date have helped further expand the network that links the GfK companies worldwide. For the individual participants, the projects are also an excellent opportunity to enhance and optimize their intercultural skills and build up a global network of contacts.
Number of employees: growth mainly outside Germany
As of the end of financial year 2006, the staff complement of the GfK Group totaled 7,903. This is a rise of 388 in terms of fulltime posts, which represents an increase of 5.2% on the prior year. Around 20% of this rise was attributable to acquisitions.
At 6,275, the number of employees in the GfK companies outside Germany rose by 347 compared to the prior year. Overall, 79% of the GfK workforce is based outside Germany. Personnel numbers rose in Western and Southern Europe as well as in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular, due to the positive business performance. As a result of restructuring in the UK, Northern Europe was the only region where the number of employees declined, with 40 fewer employees than in the prior year (–3.9%).
A rise in personnel was recorded in all business divisions, but especially in the two major divisions, Custom Research and Retail and Technology. While growth in employee numbers was higher in Custom Research especially in Central and Eastern Europe than in 2005, the rise in Retail and Technology related predominantly to Asia and the Pacific.
Staff turnover: varies from region to region
The staff turnover rate at the GfK Group is expressed as the ratio of employee resignations in relation to the total number of employees. At Group level, this indicator stood at 11.4%. This is slightly higher than in the prior year (10.4%). While the turnover rate in Germany remained the lowest at 2.1%, in Asia and the Pacific, the rate was at the upper end of the scale at 21.1%.
Total remuneration and shares of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board
Information on the remuneration of the Management Board and Supervisory Board as well as their shareholdings is given in the tables and explanations in the remuneration report in the corporate governance report on page 15ff.
An advance was paid on the bonuses for the Management Board for 2006.
There were no other loans and advances to members of the Management Board and Supervisory Boards.
GfK Annual Report 2006