Our employees are one of our company's most important success factors. Employing successful staff on a long-term basis is one of ten key points of our Group Strategy. With this in mind, we systematically support the professional development, personal growth and health-related well-being of our employees and anchor this approach in our strategic principles governing human resources management.
In the context of our Sustainability Strategy 2015 – 2017 we have defined concrete measures for employee retention, development and advancement, which we are acting on purposefully and continuously expanding.
As a central interface function, our human resources management is steered worldwide for the most part from our Home Office in Hannover. Our Chief Executive Officer, within whose scope of responsibility human resources falls, is responsible for ensuring that the measures defined in the Sustainability Strategy are acted on.
In keeping with the goals of our Sustainability Strategy 2015 – 2017, we further expanded our measures in the field of employee retention, development and advancement. Thanks to our new learning management system, our staff are now also able to view and book many training opportunities online and they can access blended learning offerings through the system. Our executives are similarly able to benefit from advanced training and support measures tailored specially to their needs. Succession management planning is also carried out every two years.
When it comes to preserving the well-being of our staff, we are continuing our commitment to health management with a focus on prevention.
For the first time in 2015 we evaluated the satisfaction of our staff in an international, Group-wide survey and we are delighted to see a very good overall level of satisfaction in the workforce. We are cultivating the positive working environment and the motivation of our employees through further measures geared to promoting a work-life balance. Our performance-based remuneration and extensive fringe benefits, combined with opportunities for part-time employment and teleworking, are conducive to a low staff turnover ratio compared to the industry average.
One of the cornerstones of our successful business activities, along with our employees' skills and commitment, is the considerable degree of diversity in the workforce – since this is vital to safeguarding our high global quality standard. By expanding our mentoring programme we help women at our company to reflect on their professional development so far and take active steps to shape their future career path. Our range of seminars serves to develop all the company's employees and is designed to encourage a positive attitude towards life-long learning, even among our more seasoned staff.
For our company it goes without saying that in all the countries where we operate it is imperative to respect and observe local laws and regulations as the legal foundation of our business activities. There are also recommendations and standards handed down by national and international organisations. We endorse the requirements contained in these conventions and recommendations and expect our employees, suppliers and business partners worldwide to observe them in their actions.
The participation of our employees in decision-making processes within the company is ensured by their right to have a say through the SE-Employee Councils, the joint German Employee Council of Hannover Rück SE, E+S Rückversicherung AG and International Insurance Company of Hannover SE as well as through the three employee representatives on the Supervisory Board elected by this joint Employee Council.
When it comes to the formulation of employee rights, it is the applicable laws in the various countries that are determinative for us. Along with these national statutory regulations, we are guided by the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO), especially in relation to eliminate child and forced labour. Further human rights issues such as equal treatment and discrimination or the right to protection of personal data are governed by the Code of Conduct and our information security and data privacy policies, which are applicable to all employees of our company.