Global survey of Volkswagen employees: Workforce offers positive feedback to the Group

- Further improvement in integrity and cooperation ratings

- Gunnar Kilian: The annual employee survey is an important global instrument for measuring the workforce’s morale. I am really pleased by the exceptional scores we received for integrity and cooperation. They clearly show us that our steps and initiatives to foster our corporate culture are having a positive impact around the world.

- The mood index has risen to 82.4, the highest level ever recorded during the 14 years that the opinion barometer has been conducted

The results of the annual opinion barometer for the Volkswagen Group are out. With an overall score of 82.4, the mood index rose once again by +0.1 point compared with last year’s level. As a result of this rise, the Group recorded its highest score on the opinion barometer since its inception. The Volkswagen Group received its highest individual rating (88.0 index points) regarding the opportunity to act with integrity in the company.

Gunnar Kilian, the Chief Human Resources Officer at Volkswagen AG, said: “Nearly one-half million employees responded once again to this year’s opinion barometer. With the help of their responses, we can continuously measure employees’ feelings about us as an employer. This is particularly important in fast-moving times like these in which we have to overcome many different challenges all at one time. Fundamental factors like the work environment, work processes and, above all, cooperation must be consistent.”

The opinion barometer is one way to collect feedback around the world. The subsequent discussion of the results and the development of measures that arise from these responses are a key aspect of the company’s corporate culture. The measures developed by teams are designed to improve cooperation and the work environment and have a positive effect on the corporate culture in the process.

“I am really pleased by the exceptional ratings we received for integrity and cooperation,” Gunnar Kilian said. “They clearly show us that our steps and initiatives to foster our corporate culture are having a positive impact around the world.”

The highest score was given to the question regarding opportunities to act with integrity in the company. (+0.2 index point to 88.0 points). Cooperation among the Group’s brands and companies also was rated highly. (+0.5 index point to 79.7 points). The highest gain was achieved by the rating on the Group’s positive image among the general public and customers. (+0.6 index point to 81.1 points). The rating for cooperation within an organizational unit also rose once again. The entire index rose here by 0.2 index point to 84.1 points. The area includes cooperation inside and outside teams as well as the work environment, assessment of the supervisor, transparent ways of working and observance of policies and processes.

Employees also expressed their approval of the opportunity to retrain for new jobs (+0.5 point to 82.2 points).

The overall result of the survey is reflected in the mood index. The opinion barometer consists of 24 questions. Scores on the mood index extend from zero to 100 points. The questions posed on the Volkswagen opinion barometer are aimed at all employees who work in the 160 companies of all Group brands. With approximately 600,000 potential respondents, the opinion barometer is the most comprehensive and widest-ranging employee survey in the Volkswagen Group. More than 475,000 employees took part in the survey in 2022. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. By organizing the opinion barometer as a Group-wide survey, Volkswagen regularly gives its employees the opportunity to express their views on a defined set of topics relating to leadership, cooperation, integrity and culture. The survey was conducted for the 14th time in 2022.