Training and Further Education Policy

Good employee retention is a top priority for employee development at LEG Immobilien SE. We see employee satisfaction and workplace culture as a success factor and accordingly shape them in the company in a sustainable, systematic and empathetic manner.

Our training and development strategy is geared towards providing each colleague with the necessary tools for his or her original task and the further development of his or her personality. In the practical implementation of training needs, it is important for us to examine together with our employees which form of knowledge transfer suits each individual. LEG employees have a wide range of options at their disposal, such as seminars, coaching, shadowing a colleague, learning videos and much more. By measuring the success rate, the target accuracy and topicality are regularly checked and adjusted if necessary.

LEG's continuing education programme includes various technical seminars, for example on current rental law, traffic safety or construction project management, leadership training and offerings to develop personal skills. All new employees also receive compliance training. A separate section on all compliance topics is accessible to employees on the LEG intranet and is updated regularly. In addition, all employees receive regular data protection trainings. Employees in selected areas, e.g. Central Customer Service (ZKS), Receivables Management and Operating Cost Management, are supported with training specifically geared to the area. It is important to us to strengthen LEG employees for current and future challenges and to equip them with the appropriate know-how for their job. In this way, we create an optimal basis for the successful implementation of the diverse current, but also future tasks of each employee and thus ensure knowledge that is always up to date and meets all requirements.

In 2020, we initiated the "LEG Academy" project, a digital training platform via SAP Success Factors, and will introduce it at the beginning of 2022. In addition, in 2020 we further developed an onboarding process for all functions in our branches: New colleagues in the operational areas will undergo onboarding for the core IT applications and all processes, e.g. in the form of cross-functional workshops. Further onboarding content will be developed in 2022.

At LEG, the team concept and mutual appreciation are understood as motivators – they make leadership strong and effective, hold the company together and ensure a uniform understanding of togetherness and for each other. For example, the mentoring programme has been implemented since 2019: Over a period of three months, colleagues from different areas are brought together to gain a better understanding of each other and increase collegial exchange. New employees are also supported by mentors.

All branch managers and department heads of the operational areas take part in a comprehensive culture development programme. The aim is to raise awareness of their own leadership work and the cultural change in the company and to trigger reflection. The process, which was initiated in 2020, will continue until 2022 and is both exchange- and learning-oriented.

We support learning without age limits. For example, as part of the #lifelonglearning project, an internal training concept to share knowledge on existing processes and enable continuous exchange, we have trained all team leaders, head of leasing and head of customer service to share knowledge via MS Teams.

Working from home and mobile working have become integral parts of management work. The exchange and transfer of knowledge took place largely via digital media such as MS Teams in 2020 and partially in 2021. In addition, in a survey on mobile working, our employees wanted the entire team to come to the office together on regular fixed days. At the same time, there is also a desire for flexible working hours. All this is to be reflected in a new company agreement on mobile working in 2021/2022.

All employees in operational functions at LEG Wohnen NRW GmbH have access to the online portal EBZ4u of the EBZ Business School – University of Applied Sciences (Real Estate Academy). There, real estate business learning content is available for further training around the clock. This can also be used to show the continuing education obligations according to the Real Estate Agent and Property Developer Ordinance.

The employee dialogue is an essential instrument of communication between LEG employees and managers. It enables an exchange of expectations and requirements, an assessment of both the employee's performance and the quality of management and cooperation. In addition, the employee has the opportunity to give structured feedback to his or her supervisor. Finally, concrete measures for action can be agreed upon.

The regular pulse check surveys are also an established feedback instrument for employees. They are given the opportunity to anonymously express their opinion on certain topics in short, topic-related surveys, for example on the existing working time model and mobile working or LEG's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. The results are published transparently on the intranet and corresponding fields of action are derived.

Globalisation, digitalisation and demographic change require special measures, such as securing skilled workers. Therefore, we promote people of different age groups with both apprenticeships and dual studies. LEG's training was repeatedly recognised by the business magazine Capital in the study "Germany's best trainers" in 2021. LEG is thus one of the best training companies in Germany. In addition, the Dusseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce presented LEG 2021 – as in 2020 – with a certificate of excellence for outstanding performance in vocational training.   

Under the motto "Enthusiasm for LEG – right from the start", new employees take part in a Group-wide welcome day to get to know each other and network. To this end, LEG has developed a uniform, centralised onboarding (familiarisation) process for all frequent functions. All new employees receive the same knowledge in the same amount of time; to this end, we have standardised processes and internal procedures. The new employees complete the workshop modules within the first two months of their probationary period.

LEG takes into account the trainees' individual deployment preferences from the middle of the second year of training. As early as the 3rd year of training, trainees have the opportunity to receive a promise of subsequent employment in a vacant position at a very early stage through in-depth assignments in areas. Independent work and assumption of responsibility are the focus of the training. After each training assignment, structured feedback meetings are held with the training officers of the departments to promote development.

In 2020, LEG has amended the selection procedure for trainees in order to achieve an even greater market reach and acceptance among applicants with an even leaner application process and, at the same time, valid selection procedures, and to attract suitable candidates even more quickly and accurately. The focus of the selection process is shifted away from school grades towards the personality and social commitment of the potential trainees. If trainees are taken on, this is done on an open-ended basis.

Regular participation in the "Great Place to Work" competition underlines LEG's claim to quality and long-term, joint success. The most recent survey, conducted in 2020, showed that employee satisfaction was also very high in this year, which was marked by the pandemic. 78 % of employees agreed with the statement that they work in a "very good workplace". The so-called Trust Index, a mean value collected by "Great Place to Work" across all core dimensions of employee satisfaction, was at 66 %, one percentage point higher than the result from 2017 with 65 %. In addition, since 1 January 2021, the remuneration of the Executive Board and top managers has been measured, among other things, against key sustainability goals, which include the Trust Index of the "Great Place to Work" survey. In the "Best Employers in NRW 2021" competition, LEG was named one of the best employers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The next "Great Place to Work" survey will take place in 2022.  

With the legal entitlement to five days of educational leave per year under the Employee Further Education Act (Arbeitnehmerweiterbildungsgesetz, AWbG) for the purpose of professional and political further education in recognised educational events, the state promotes the job-related action competence of employees and improves their professional mobility also with regard to lifelong learning. Learning for a week, gaining new knowledge, on a topic of one's own choice – on leave from work and with continued payment of salary. The costs are shared by the employee for the seminar fees and LEG as the employer, which supports the educational leave and ensures continued payment of wages.

Lars von Lackum (CEO)

Dr. Kathrin Köhling (CFO)

Dr. Volker Wiegel (COO)

Düsseldorf, Germany, Autumn 2021
(Validity confirmed in Autumn 2023 - Next policy review in 2024)