Prime employer for women, DHL Group sees Top Employer status

Deutsche Post DHL Group continues to offer attractive working conditions to some 590,000 employees into 2023 - as confirmed by the recent certifications from the Top Employers Institute.

A total of 125 country organizations in 70 countries achieved Top Employer certification. For the first time, the Deutsche Post DHL Group as a whole was awarded Top Employer status in Europe. As in the year before, DHL Express and DHL Global Forwarding, Freight achieved Top Employer Global status, placing them among the best employers in the world.

"We are very proud of all colleagues contributing to this recognition and making DGFF an Employer of Choice. Congratulations to everybody!" said DHL.

A strong focus on sustainability

In its assessment of the Group as a whole, the Top Employers Institute highlighted aspects such as the enormous value which is placed on ethics and integrity and on the business strategy in all divisions.

DPDHL Group also stood out, according to the Institute, because goals and values were clearly defined and effectively communicated to employees. The progress made by the company in the areas of management and employee development was commended, as was the company's focus on sustainability. There were warm words too about the increasing use of technology. The Top Employers Institute singled out the Smart Connect employee app for special praise.

Smart Connect is part of the Smart Workspace, an integrated digital, mobile platform launched in 2022, allowing employees in all divisions and all countries to communicate with each other, access information and benefit from digital training opportunities - whether they work in operations or in the office, as a courier, a manager, or a mechanic.

Individual divisions shine

Once again, the individual divisions were able to shine in the certification process. DHL Express achieved the highest score out of all five divisions as well as the biggest improvement compared to the year before. DHL Express was particularly commended for a pilot project gathering employees' wishes, ideas and needs at the various stages of their career with the company. The Institute also praised the launch of a comprehensive change management methodology in operations.

There was special recognition for DHL Global Forwarding, Freight (DGFF) for introducing sustainability as a key performance indicator in 2022. This process will be completed in 2023. DGFF also made a good impression with its pilot project for an online mentoring platform. In DHL Supply Chain's certification there was a special mention for a newly-launched app designed to improve employee well-being.

"Top Employer certification is something we take extremely seriously," said Thomas Ogilvie, Deutsche Post DHL Group's Board Member for HR. "In our business, it's our people that make the difference. It's only thanks to our committed employees that we can meet our quality standards. External certification confirms to us that we're on the right track, for example with our tools for people management and employee motivation. This kind of recognition is something that can help us attract new employees - particularly when the labor market is tight and skilled workers are in short supply."

Measuring employee satisfaction

Deutsche Post DHL Group is one of the world's largest employers, with a workforce of some 590,000 employees. In five divisions and 220 countries and territories, people are busy working in more than 1,000 different occupations. As part of an internal training initiative called "Certified", supervisors train employees to become "Certified Specialists" in their particular areas of responsibility. And Deutsche Post DHL Group runs its annual Employee Opinion Survey, an important tool to measure employee satisfaction and to identify potential areas for improvement.

The Amsterdam-based Top Employers Institute has been assessing how well companies perform as employers for more than 30 years. Its certification process evaluates companies across 20 categories. The Top Employers Institute has been responsible for the external certification of Deutsche Post DHL Group since 2011.

A Great Place to Work

In addition to this certification, some Deutsche Post DHL Group divisions achieved further recognition for their quality as an employer in 2022. For the second time in a row, DHL Express took the top spot in the "Great Place to Work" ranking published jointly with Fortune Magazine.

The ranking was based on surveys with employees from more than 12,000 companies around the world. DHL Express headed the Great Place to Work and The Economist Group European rankings, making it the best employer in Europe yet again. In 2022, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight won seven Stevie Awards in total in the "Stevie Awards for Great Employers" - two of them gold in the "Leadership Development for Women"