At the end of 2018, 32,325 people were employed across the Porsche Group, constituting an increase of 2,548 employees, or 8.5%, compared to the previous year. Over the next few months the company is intending to hire upwards of 1,000 skilled employees just to build the Taycan and its derivative Taycan Cross Turismo, both of which are the first electric sports cars to come out of Zuffenhausen. Production of the Taycan will generate 1,500 new jobs in total.
A crucial strategic goal for the company is to increase the proportion of women in the entire workforce: where this figure was just 12% in 2012, it is now at approximately 16%. The number of women in management positions has doubled in this period and is now 10%.
“This overall growth shows that we are a very attractive employer for women and indicates that we are pursuing the right strategy for employee development,” comments Andreas Haffner, Member of the Executive Board responsible for HR and Social Affairs at Porsche.
This strategy is all about equal opportunities, and fixed parameters for promoting women are enshrined in the target agreements for executives across all executive departments. The defaults are based on the proportion of women in the upper salary bracket in each department, and help to ensure that the promotion policy is fair to women and men. Haffner continues, “If we are going to get more women into management positions, we must consistently fill the pipeline.”
Training is the first step to achieving this, and already the share of female trainees undertaking technical training has increased from 6% to almost 30% in the last few years. The next step is targeted recruitment of skilled female employees. It was possible to recruit women to at least 21% of positions available in 2018. The systematic increase of women in the overall workforce brings about a desirable long-term effect, reflected in the fact that 21% of the promotions awarded in last year’s management-level promotion exercise went to women, where this figure was just 5.5% in 2012.
The 2018 employee opinion survey also highlights the popularity of Porsche as an employer: 94% of employees stated that they consider the sports car manufacturer to be an attractive employer. “Our employees are very happy working with us and strongly identify with the company and its products,” says Haffner, pointing out that “the extremely low staff turnover rate well below one percent” is further evidence of this.
Of course, the fact that Porsche oversees employee development from top to bottom as part of the “lifelong learning” concept also plays a role in its popularity as an employer. The success of this concept is easy to see: in 2018, the sports car manufacturer once again filled around 80% of management positions from its own employees.
The company’s refined cultural concept gives everyone a shared understanding of what makes Porsche tick. The central umbrella terms of family, passion, sportiness and pioneering spirit also form the basis of the Porsche Code, the new management concept.
Even the path to devising this cultural concept was typical of Porsche, as the approach was not simply decreed from above, but was developed by 85 employees from all departments as well as across all levels and age groups. They considered the question of what it is that makes the Porsche culture so unique? And they discussed where the company needs to develop to be successful in the future and to formulate a unique identity – a Porsche DNA – that attracts and retains good employees.
Passion
describes the fervour and enthusiasm with which we strive together to find the best solution every single day. We will continue to embody the Porsche legend in the future, working with joy and pride on innovative products for our customers.
Pioneering spirit
refers to our origins: a small business with a garage feeling that has inspired the world with its sports cars. Porsche must continue to be known for entrepreneurship and courage, exploring new and unknown paths and creating sustainable, unique solutions.
Sportiness
refers to our attitude: We love challenges, act quickly and are always respectful and fair. We will continue to measure ourselves against the best, seek out competition and maintain our flexibility despite strong growth.
Family
refers to our team, which keeps its feet on the ground even while celebrating successes. We will continue with this mindset as we look to the future, using a culture of transparency and diversity to create relationships based on respect and appreciation.
Photographs by Porsche AG.