Deutsche Bank

Introduction

The transformation of employee surveys from a nice-to-have hygiene item to an important management measure is illustrated in microcosm by their use at Deutsche Bank over recent years. Managing Director of HR Communications and Quality, Klaus D. Mittorp, explains:

"Like many other large employers, originally we saw employee surveys as an additional ad-hoc tool to support organizational change, particularly in our smaller businesses. ,Now they are pivotal to our success. HR is a strategic partner to the business and, arguably, the way in which our employee surveys now feed and inform management decisions is one of the strong contributions we have made."

Change both triggered and fueled the process. In the late 1980s, Deutsche Bank embarked on what would be the greatest expansion of its 130-year-long history. In 1994 the Bank fully integrated its subsidiary London-based merchant bank Morgan Grenfell into its mainstream operations. Four years later it bought the New York-based Bankers Trust. This overseas growth was accompanied by a rapid build-up of a branch network in the eastern part of the parent country following German re-unification in 1990.

The rapid expansion not only doubled Deutsche Bank's assets and boosted its net income by 60 per cent, it fundamentally changed the nature of the business. Prior to 1990, the Bank's structure had been based on geography; now it is based on product. At the beginning of the 1990s, Deutsche Bank staff accounted for less than 20 per cent of the total workforce. Today, half of the company's employees do not work in Germany.

Given this transformation, it is hardly surprising that the acquisition of the Bankers Trust triggered a major re-think of Deutsche Bank's HR agenda. An internal study conducted by the HR Quality function at the time concluded that apart from the financial and strategic merits this acquisition also triggered or accelerated a number of HR 'outcomes' that otherwise would not have been achieved as quickly or at all.

These included:

-  The globalization of the Bank

-  A broader and more attractive employer proposition

-  A stronger sense of purpose

-  A clearer set of values throughout the Bank and in the market.

Taken together, this created the basis for a powerful employer brand that the Board of Managing Directors saw as the deciding factor in Deutsche Bank's ability to face down ever-keener competition.

As the then Head of Corporate HR Policies and Development, Michael Svoboda, commented in 2001:⁹

"Differences between national and business cultures are not regarded as obstacles but are seen as levers for value creation for both customers and shareholders. Due to the fact that the Bank wants to leverage the diversity of its workforce as an important competitive advantage, the focus lies especially on the realization of common values."

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