Personal development enhances the Organization’s performance

Through the systematic training and development of personnel based on a transparent competence model, the Group aims to continuously improve its employees’ knowledge and capabilities. This increases not only the performance of the organization as a whole but also the motivation and self-confidence of individual employees.

Via targeted further training, employees improve their performance in the workplace and grow their expertise beyond the requirements of their current job profile. In addition to a large number of classroom training courses, more and more web-based training courses are being offered in different languages, particularly in the Group’s own retail business, which allow standardized training of employees worldwide. More than 46,000 web-based training courses were successfully completed throughout the Group in the past fiscal year (2013: 33,000). Last year, the Group’s own stores were equipped with tablet PCs running training apps to allow store employees to gain access to training more easily and to permit flexible learning.

Apart from this, the personal development of individuals is supported on a case-by-case basis through transfers to other departments or functions both within the Group’s headquarters and to subsidiaries abroad, by expanding the employee’s area of competence or promoting them to a management position. The Group supports every manager on their career path by providing targeted advice and continuously fostering personal, methodological, specialist and leadership-related competencies.

In order to assess and clearly document the performance, competencies and development potential of each individual, all supervisors conduct annual feedback conversations with their employees. During the talks, tasks and personal objectives for the year ahead are set and training and development needs to meet these goals defined.

Specialist career path as a supplement to a management career

The specialist career path was introduced to supplement the management career path. It allows particularly capable and talented employees to broaden their knowledge over the transparent development stages of a specialist career path. Clearly defined job profiles and the use of external salary benchmarks ensure transparent and targeted monetary development. Employees who have embarked on the specialist career path are offered an excellence program aligned to the requirements of this career, providing them with the expertise and methodological skills they require and offering a platform for sharing what they have learned. Last year, three employees of HUGO BOSS AG were promoted to the highest level of the specialist career path for the first time.