Corporate culture and corporate values
The impact of the economic crisis has made a long-term change of corporate culture in the financial sector absolutely imperative and cultural change is needed. We understand the message: Responsibility has to be the focus of our actions. In 2013, we laid the foundation for long-term change with the release of our new values and beliefs.
Current
Corporate culture: essential part of our corporate strategy
After the financial crisis, it is essential for the banking industry to restore a firm bond of trust with the communities we serve. That applies to Deutsche Bank as well as the entire industry. We have set ourselves the goal of taking on a pioneering role in the change that is indispensable in the business sector: Cultural change was therefore an essential part of our Strategy 2015+ and corporate culture remains one of the key levers in our Strategy 2020. From 2012 onwards, Senior Management initiated a comprehensive dialogue with employees and managers. One crucial step is to bring the attitudes and goals of our staff in line with the needs or our clients and the overall economy.
Since 2014, we have integrated our corporate values and beliefs into people management tools such as objective setting, performance management, leadership, management assessment and people development tools. We are developing organizational metrics and systems to support the measurement and adoption of desired behaviors. This will be achieved through the use of client management information systems, client satisfaction metrics and performance measurement systems, including the creation of a scorecard with financial and nonfinancial metrics.
Since we launched our Strategy 2015+, we have worked intensively on our corporate culture. We implemented some essential short-term actions, such as redefining our compensation practices and policies, and creating an Independent Compensation Review Panel. We also rolled out a programme of measures to tighten our control environment.
Managing operational transformation
We have embedded our values and beliefs in our recruiting, interviewing, and on-boarding processes as well as development activities. In 2014, we focused on engaging employees throughout Deutsche Bank with what these values mean in practice. We encourage visible and measurable changes in behavior as well as in policies, processes and practices. Workshops across Deutsche Bank aim to engage small groups and reinforce the need for alignment and change, while also identifying opportunities to drive business performance.
In the past, we may have underestimated the potential emotional effects of change. We have therefore developed a series of measures to support leaders and employees throughout the transformation. These include: guidelines on managing change; surveys to assess how employees are processing the change both mentally and emotionally; and coaching, workshops and trainings on how to increase efficiency.
Intensified oversight of ethics
In 2013, our Supervisory Board intensified its oversight of ethics through the creation of an Integrity Committee. The committee advises and monitors the Management Board on its measures to ensure the economically sound, sustainable development of the company while protecting the resources of the natural environment, maintaining social responsibility and observing the principles of sound, responsible management and corporate governance. It is also concerned with the integration of these aspects into corporate culture.
In particular, the committee deals with:
- Monitoring the Management Board’s measures to ensure the bank’s compliance with legal requirements, authorities’ regulations and the company’s own in-house policies.
- Regular review of the bank’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics with a view to fostering ethical and moral conduct within and outside the bank.
- Precautionary monitoring and strategic analysis of the bank’s legal and reputational risks that could place the entire bank at risk or lead to material claims for damages against current or former Management Board members and regularly advising and monitoring the Management Board with a view to avoiding such risks.
Cultural change at Deutsche Bank
Questions & Answers
Our progress on strengthening corporate culture
Since we launched our strategy, we have worked intensively on our corporate culture. We introduced the process of deep, longer-term cultural change and established our new corporate values.
Management Board apologises for former misconduct
John Cryan's letter
Message from all members of the Management Board on variable compensation for 2016
Message
Deutsche Bank agrees on settlement in principle with the DoJ regarding RMBS
People Survey results: a message from John Cryan and Karl von Rohr
Message from John Cryan and Karl von Rohr
Hauptversammlung 2016: Reden der Co-Vorsitzenden des Vorstands
Deutsche Bank publishes 2015 HR report alongside Annual Report
Deutsche Bank introduces new compensation framework
Message from John Cryan and Karl von Rohr
Deutsche Bank announces details on the implementation of Strategy 2020
Results of the 2015 Deutsche Bank People Survey announced
Winners of the 2015 Living the Values Awards announced
15 teams were recognised for achieving business success through demonstrating the values and beliefs
Strategy 2020 announced
Reaffirmation of commitment to being a leading global bank based in Germany
Press release
Group Reputational Risk Committee empowered to report directly to the Management Board
Ensure oversight and coordination of the Reputational Risk Management Programme on behalf of the Management Board
The new Human Resources report is published
The new Human Resources report is published: It provides insight into the strategic HR priorities and greater transparency on key employee figures.
Red Flags process rolled out across the Bank
Monitor and assess adherence to certain risk-related behaviours, policies and procedures
Publication of the first Human Resources report
The report provides transparency on key employee figures
Living the Values award winners announced
10 teams from across the Bank were recognised with this new Co-CEO sponsored award for putting the values in action in business
Updated Code of Conduct and Ethics launched
Disciplinary process strengthened
Oversight of global disciplinary process and outcomes through the establishment of the Group Disciplinary Oversight Panel
Over 60,000 people answer Deutsche Bank People Survey
Survey results communicated in divisions and in internal media
Creation of an Integrity Committee
Our Supervisory Board intensified its oversight of ethics through the creationof an Integrity Committee.
Group People Committee set up
Support the Management Board in exercising its responsibilities for development of senior management cadre
Tightening of the control environment
The Compliance department was strengthened by adding some 200 people in 2013 and with plans to hire a similar number in 2014.
Three Lines of Defence programme launched
Structurally improve Deutsche Bank’s internal control system
Pulse survey measures familiarity with values and beliefs
82 % of employees are familiar with the values
Launch of our new corporate values
Presentation of our six new company's values and underlying beliefs. Management Board and GEC lead discussions with 11,000 employees in workshops and townhalls.
Commitment to ethical remuneration principles
Commitment to ethical principles in the remuneration of management. Position paper
Role of Chief Governance Officer created
Sustainably enhance and strengthen the Bank’s corporate governance
Recommendations of the independent compensation review panel
Recommendations of the independent compensation review panel for future compensation structures and practices. Press release
Employee surveys
52,000 employees took part in surveys relating to corporate culture.
Independent compensation review panel
Members of the independent compensation review panel announced. Chairman: Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, former CEO of BASF. Compensation
Operational Excellence launched
Tackle inefficiency and increase resilience
Our corporate values and beliefs
| Our Values | |||||
| Integrity | Sustainable Performance |
Client Centricity |
Innovation | Discipline | Partnership |
| Our Beliefs | |||||
| We live by the highest standards of integrity in everything we say and do | We drive value for shareholders by putting long-term success over short-term gain | We earn our clients’ trust by placing them at the core of our organization | We foster innovation by valuing intellectual curiosity in our people | We protect the firm’s resources by always thinking and acting like owners | We build diverse teams to generate better ideas and reach more balanced decisions |
| We will do what is right – not just what is allowed | We encourage entrepreneurial spirit which responsibly balances risks and returns | We deliver true value by understanding and serving our clients’ needs best | We enable our clients’ success by constantly seeking suitable solutions to their problems | We live by the rules and hold ourselves accountable to deliver on our promises – no excuses | We put the common goals of the firm before ‘silo’ loyalty by trusting, respecting and working with each other |
| We communicate openly; we invite, provide and respect challenging views | We pursue lasting performance by developing, nurturing and investing in the best talent, and by managing based on merit | We strive to pursue mutually beneficial client relationships in which the value created is shared fairly | We continuously improve our processes and platforms by embracing new and better ways of doing things | We achieve operational excellence by striving to ‘get it right the first time’ | We act as responsible partners with all our stakeholders and regulators, and in serving the wider interests of society |
Our corporate values lie at the core of everything we do. They will guide our behaviour with clients, with each other, with our shareholders and with the communities we serve. They define the type of institution Deutsche Bank aspires to be.
Each of the values rests on a clear set of beliefs which set out how we seek to conduct ourselves as we live by our values. Our beliefs reflect our own history, the interests of our stakeholders, and the changing environment in which we operate.
By living these Values and Beliefs in daily interactions with our stakeholders, employees have a critical role to play in helping us to restore the trust lost during the financial crisis, which is also at the heart of our Strategy 2015+.
Establishing our Values and Beliefs
Throughout the year, we undertook an intensive process of internal consultation and collaboration to establish the Values and Beliefs that underline our cultural change. We conducted our most comprehensive dialogue exchange to date, engaging with employees and management immediately after our strategy review. We gathered feedback from more than 52,000 employees, representing over half of the bank’s global population. This feedback was used by senior management to identify the cultural themes that needed to be developed to support the delivery of Strategy 2015 +. These include: fully focusing on our clients, observing the highest levels of integrity across all our client relationships, maintaining operational discipline and collaborating more effectively across departments.
Our Group Executive Committee (GEC) took a strong lead in developing and interpreting our cultural themes as well as the Values and Beliefs. Extensive sessions were held with the bank’s top 250 leaders to ensure that these Values and Beliefs were fully endorsed by our most senior employees. Co-CEO-led Managing Director Culture Forums across key regional locations focused on the definition of good conduct from the perspective of our employees and society at large. The collective feedback received was acknowledged at the 2013 Senior Management Conference, during which the bank’s top 250 leaders endorsed the new Values and Beliefs.
“We ask our top-250 people to report personally to us on how each one of them has engaged with their teams.”
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