BMW Group: 2009 AARP International Innovative Employer Awards

By: AARP.org | Source: AARP.org

BMW Group
Winner Year: 2008
Industry: Motor Vehicles Production
Location: Munich, Germany
URL: www.bmwgroup.com

Highlights of 2009 Winning Strategies

With “Today for Tomorrow,” BMW Group has implemented a comprehensive package of measures addressing demographic change in the workplace. This program includes innovative initiatives in health management, training and knowledge management, the work environment, personalized retirement models, and others. When staffing a new production plant a few years ago, BMW Group specifically targeted unemployed, older job seekers to ensure a well-balanced age structure and to support the regional labor market.

Other Policies and Practices

Lifelong Learning and Training: Within the framework of its “Today for Tomorrow” initiative, BMW Group has established a training program with a special focus on demographic change and senior employees.

Regular analyses of the company’s age structure indicate when and what kinds of knowledge will flow out of the company when employees leave. These findings help departments address projected losses of competence in their operations.

Furthermore, BMW Group has a training program for managers, called “Demographic Development: Challenges and Prospects,” which seeks to dispel prejudices and raise awareness of an age-based leadership.

Opportunities to participate in training programs are available to all employees, irrespective of age.

Flexible Work Arrangements: BMW Group introduced flextime at most of its German locations in 1993. As a result, 25,000 employees are able to arrange their individual work times more independently and with a greater sense of personal responsibility.

At BMW, the wide variety of collective-shift models is supplemented by a broad range of individual work schedules. BMW Group maintains a principle of accepting every request for part-time work and promotes new work arrangements, such as temporary part-time positions, intermittent part-time work, and job-sharing among several employees. This is particularly beneficial for older workers, who often like to reduce their working hours.

Other flexible work arrangements include a sabbatical program and a new scheme called “Full-Time Select,” which gives employees the option to take up to 20 additional days off per year. This program was created within the framework of the “Today for Tomorrow” program, to give older employees the opportunity to preserve their performance.

In addition to tele-working arrangements, BMW also offers a formal phased-retirement program that allows employees to halve their weekly working time for a period of five years before retiring.

Health Promotion and Protection: Associates at BMW Group can choose from a range of opportunities to promote wellness or to recover their health on a lasting basis.

Examples of areas of activities and measures:

Ergonomics: BMW Group uses ABAtech to draw up individual workplace-requirement profiles for associates with special needs. The latter are then deployed on the basis of a restriction profile prepared by the company doctor (ABAmed). Fitness centers and physiotherapy facilities are available at almost all plant locations.

Moreover, BMW uses ergonomic workplace design in its production plants. These include

• Moving floors that enable associates to move with the car body.
• Mandatory floor mats, safety shoes, and chairs to relieve the musculoskeletal system.
• Height-adjustable lifting equipment for whole car bodies or modules of them.

Health Forums: Health forums are part of a preventative health-care program that encourages employees to deal sensibly with their own health. Each of the employees who participate in the forums  receives an in-depth health profile. The company also can compile the data to identify areas in which employees need further education.

Health Seminars: The “Fit for Job” and “Fit for Leadership” seminars aim to teach employees about a healthy, balanced diet and physical and mental balance.

Network Rehab: The BMW Group Health service, the company’s health insurance fund, the German Pension Fund, and seven rehabilitation clinics have come together to form “Network Rehab,” an optimized rehabilitation process to help reintegrate employees into the workplace after long illnesses.

Finally, BMW has an initiative to raise employees’ awareness of the importance of early cancer detection.

Diversity Promotion: Cornerstones of BMW’s diversity philosophy are maintaining a culture based on trust, mutual appreciation, and enabling and encouraging each employee in his or her professional development.

BMW supports the UN Initiative Global Compact and conforms to international guidelines set by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the OECD guidelines for multinational companies, and the Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The principles of basic labor rights, equal opportunity, and equal treatment are integrated into training programs for employees and managers.

BMW further has a focus on ensuring the working capability of older employees—their physical health and their know-how and competencies. BMW supports project groups with employees of various ages. The company created its “Today for Tomorrow” to intensify the focus on older employees, their working capabilities, and their know-how.

Recruitment: During the recruiting process for a new production site in Leipzig, a special emphasis was placed on hiring unemployed workers over 40. When 130,000 applications failed to yield enough applications from this target group, BMW launched a special project called JOBIMPULS, in cooperation with PUUL GmbH and the Federal Employment Office, which targeted unemployed older workers.

BMW’s interest in older workers is based on its value of social responsibility for the region and its goal of supporting the regional job market. Moreover, a well-balanced age structure allows a continuous change within the labor force and a constant flow of know-how.

Miscellaneous: BMW Group is collaborating with the Works Council to develop new retirement models that will take into account the needs of the individual employee. In addition, the BMW Group has been supporting personal-pensions financing for employees with Personal Provision Capital (PVK) for several years now. An attractive finance model offers associates the opportunity to convert a salary share into a provision for later life.