Corporate responsibility report 56

Our people are crucial to our success. Achieving our goal The head of Group HR is the Chief HR Officer, who reports to
to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry the CEO.
depends on the talents, enthusiasm and engagement of
our employees. Group HR has three major strategic pillars that all worldwide
initiatives support:
In this section we define our HR functions and goals, and our
HR programme. We also outline how we ensure worker- To create a working environment that stimulates team
management communications through employee spirit, passion, engagement and achievement
involvement in decision-making.
To instil a performance culture based upon strong
Employees have a responsibility to adhere to the Employee leadership
Code of Conduct; and as an employer we have the
responsibility to ensure their health and safety. This includes To make the adidas Group the employer of choice.
preventive and precautionary measures covered by our
Group policies. The way we reward our staff has to be fair As an industry leader, the adidas Group strives to be:
and related to our, and their, achievements.
A champion in leadership and talent management
We aim to develop staff with opportunities for career
progression, while striving to create a climate that A world-class recruiter
celebrates diversity. And we look after our employees by
promoting global mobility, helping staff achieve a healthy A top ten employer in every key market we operate.
work-life balance, and offering access to a wide range of
company sports activities. HR PROGRAMME
HR FUNCTIONS AND GOALS Our people are critical to our continuing commercial
success. With more than 31,000 employees working at more
HR management is a core function within the Groups global than 150 locations around the world, we need HR strategies
organisation. Group HR is responsible for: that can be implemented globally. The first step is to identify
the common challenges we face wherever we operate:
HR management of all Group functions and brands
IVaZcibVcV\ZbZci/ identifying, recruiting and retaining
Recruitment the best people and developing career opportunities for
them that meet company needs
Development and training
:beadnZZ"dg^ZciZYaZVYZgh]^e/ strengthening the
Talent and succession management alignment of management and employees by improving
communication and enhancing employee feedback systems
Performance management
EZg[dgbVcXZbVcV\ZbZci/ instilling a result-driven
Rewards, including reward and mobility management management culture that supports two-way performance
feedback for continuous learning and improvement
Emerging employee programmes and related HR
marketing Bdi^kVi^dc/ providing reward and incentive schemes in a
working environment that promotes commitment,
Company sports programme and work-life balance engagement and well-being
initiatives in Germany.
 Corporate responsibility report 57

8dbbjc^XVi^dc/ increased transparency and efficiency in council played a critical role in exercising its development
all our communications. support, feedback, consultation and approval function.

Rising to these challenges can enhance the adidas Groups The works council paid special attention to the following
business success. initiatives:

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT Implementation and alignment of revised remuneration

structures and bonus schemes
Employee empowerment and participation play an important Roll-out and implementation of the new Employee Code
role in managing employee relations within the adidas Group. of Conduct
The Group has established works councils at adidas in Revised Personal Evaluation and Planning (PEP) system
Germany and other European subsidiaries. The members of rolled out to all employees in 2007
the works councils are elected by the workforce.
HR tools for personnel planning and development
Currently, three representatives of the works council are
also members of the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Alignment of relevant HR policies and agreements post
Board advises and supervises the Executive Board in the Reebok integration.
management of the adidas Group. It is involved in all
decisions of fundamental importance to the Group and is In 2007, the Executive Management issued a formal note to
responsible for appointing and dismissing members of the Line Management to stress the important role and value of
Executive Board. This so-called co-determination structure staff representatives for the company organisation.
is mandatory under German law.
WORKS COUNCIL REEBOK GERMANY
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The relocation of the German Reebok Sales Organisation
Works council representatives participated in various local (separate legal entity) from Unterhaching to Herzogenaurach
and international stakeholder meetings as well as in several required elections to ensure a full-size works council for this
conferences and seminars where the topic was largely establishment. The elections were held at the end of 2007.
Corporate Social Responsibility. Examples of these Two members of the works council of Reebok Germany are
meetings are: also members of the adidas Group works council.
Regional meetings facilitated by Social and Environmental EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCIL
Affairs The European Works Council (EWC) currently consists of
nine delegates from six European countries. Germany, as
adidas Group stakeholder dialogue in Hong Kong with the country with the largest number of employees, has four
Group representatives (SEA, Sourcing, Communication) delegates on the council, including one member from the
and business partners (suppliers as well as transport and works council Reebok Germany.
logistics service providers)
The fruitful collaboration between the European and HQ
Meeting with representatives of the Hans-Bckler works council and the SEA team continued in 2007. Members
Foundation (affiliated to the German Trade Union of the HQ works council, the EWC and representatives of the
Federation) to discuss general CSR-related topics; Trade Unions are regularly updated on progress of the
participants included adidas Group representatives from compliance programme.
SEA, Corporate Communications and the Works Council
At the annual EWC summit, the main topics discussed were:
Seminar on CSR organised by the Hans-Bckler-
Foundation; participants included employee Management updates on sales and staff development in the
representatives of various companies and trade unions European region
Conference on CSR organised by the Hans-Bckler- Implementation status of global HR tools (Performance/
Foundation; participants included politicians, academic Compensation System)
representatives, journalists, media (TV), employee
representatives of various companies and trade unions. Harmonisation of internal agreements
GROUP WORKS COUNCIL GERMANY The management letter on recognition of staff
This works council represents all our sites in Germany, representatives
including our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
The Employee Code of Conduct.
In 2007, it was actively involved in a range of staff-related
projects. Depending on the type and subject, the works The European Works Council held elections in March 2007.
 Corporate responsibility report 58

EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION OUTSIDE EUROPE

DEVELOPING OUR PEOPLE
Creating effective communication channels throughout
the regions at Liaison Office (LO) and factory level is a
constant challenge.

Our internet-based Ask the Management forum gives

employees throughout all regions an opportunity to raise
concerns and post questions to top management.

More direct communications are being established in the Leadership

excellence
sourcing offices throughout Asia. We are setting up employee
committees who regularly meet with management to review
staff issues. This initiative was piloted in the Guangzhou LO.
Now in its fifth year, the committee has incorporated elected
representatives from apparel, accessories and gear as well Actual
performance
as the footwear sourcing department.

The committee has dealt with a number of issues, including: Performance Talent
management management

Organising transport to our operations centres

Providing medical insurance for staff located in different

cities Performance culture

Improving the housing accumulation fund and social Core elements of the adidas Group performance culture.
retirement fund coverage
We aim to identify, recruit and retain the best people by
Introducing flexible working hours in the LO providing development and career opportunities on a
Group-wide level. We achieve this through our strategic HR
Choosing the venues and activities for company outings pillars that focus on:

Conducting sports matches for staff and proposing other Creating a positive work environment
activities.
Instilling a culture of performance
In 2007, the committee held four representative meetings,
one of which was without management participation. Ten A nd being the employer of choice.
employees were elected in May 2007 to represent 388 local
adidas, Reebok and Rockport employees. GO FOR GOLD
Just like athletes, employees of the adidas Group need a
Our Hong Kong office has also set up a staff committee that training plan and a coach to build on their strengths,
discusses relevant topics for employees. overcome their own challenges and improve their technique
to achieve their goals. We Go for Gold and base our efforts
on the three success drivers of our performance culture:
Leadership Excellence, Performance Management and
Talent Management.

LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
Leadership in what we do and how we do it is key to our
success. Our executives and managers enforce Leadership
Excellence and instil a culture of performance. They are the
main drivers and sponsors of the companys performance
and talent management.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance Management is the platform of our success.
Evaluation tools such as PEP (Performance Evaluation and
Planning) measure an employees current performance
based on job and competency requirements. Employee
performance levels serve as an indicator for base salary
development and variable compensation, supporting our goal
of paying for performance. PEP also covers the setting of
 Corporate responsibility report 59

individual business targets and the planning of training

and development activities. For both individual and team
HEALTH AND SAFETY
performance improvement, we offer targeted support based
on need; for example, skill training in team development, Everyone has the right to a safe working environment. This
managing people and objectives as well as coaching and has been recognised the world over and as a global Group,
strategic management. All aiming for one goal: to train and our operations have to comply with a wide range of different
develop our employees to be Fit for Today. legal and cultural imperatives. Naturally, practices and
procedures will vary from one facility to another, but the core
TALENT MANAGEMENT requirements remain the same.
With our Talent Management tools and processes, we identify
employees at all levels who have the potential to become These core requirements are fully explained in our Corporate
leaders in the business our talents. To prepare them for Guidelines for Health, Safety and Environment, which are
new and more complex future roles, they take part in used by all our administrative offices. In addition, our larger
targeted development programmes covering: administration facilities and the Groups small number of
production sites have comprehensive risk, health, safety and
Innovative and state-of-the-art input in the area of environmental management systems coordinated by local
management and leadership facility management.

Individual preparation for new competency requirements The Groups health and safety management also focuses on
travel security as well as health, safety and precautionary
Fostering of global networking measures related to communicable diseases such as avian
flu and SARS.
K nowledge transfer into the current and future business.
Below are some recent health and safety initiatives within
Actively managing internal succession is key to our the adidas Group:
competitive position.
MAJOR INCIDENT RESPONSE
Our new Group-wide major incident response policy sets
REMUNERATION out clear definitions, responsibilities, actions and the internal
and external communications needed to handle major
Our Global Salary Management System (GSMS) sets incidents effectively. Its purpose is to minimise risks towards
employees salaries in a clear, understandable and our employees and our business at any level at any time.
measurable way. It relates to performance evaluation and
uses a clearly defined system for setting salaries in line with HIV-AIDS POLICY
market requirements and performance levels. Managers and In 2006 the adidas Group launched a Group-wide HIV-AIDS
the HR department can evaluate where each employee policy which is available to all employees via the companys
currently is within the system based on his/her current intranet site. The policy is based on guidance from the
salary and where he/she should be. International Labour Organization (ILO) and field testing by
the adidas Group liaison office in Thailand. It contains:
The adidas Group also offers several attractive variable
compensation components: General guidance on HIV-AIDS

EVn[dgEZg[dgbVcXZWdcjhegd\gVbbZ$EgdiH]Vg^c\/ A n employee guide

More than 80% of all employees receive a variable salary
component with an average of 20% of their remuneration Guidelines for HR managers on workplace care
linked directly to individual and/or Group performance. and support.
Adc\"IZgb>cXZci^kZEgd\gVbbZhAI>E/ These include
ONLINE LEGAL SAFETY TRAINING
brand- or business-specific three-year plans for senior
Under German labour safety law, our Headquarters in
managers that are based on the achievement of financial as
Herzogenaurach must train its employees at least yearly on
well as compliance targets.
workplace health hazards and safety measures. Department
BVcV\ZbZciH]VgZDei^dcEaVcBHDE/ Beneficiaries of supervisors are responsible for implementing this training.
the MSOP (members of the Executive Board and senior
management) may exercise stock options granted to them The adidas Group intranet now offers online courses on
in five tranches since 1999 if at least one of two emergency procedures and fire safety measures as well as
performance criteria is met. guidelines for office and monitor ergonomics. Each course
takes only 30 minutes, and the programme is very flexible
Di]ZgWZcZih/ These include our 401-K Pension Plans with regards to when and how much of it can be undertaken.
in the USA and the Pension Plans for our employees in Within one month of the launch of the training programme,
Germany. In 2007, 1,396 employees participated in the we had already trained one third of the workforce on legal
latter, which represents an increase of 20.9% compared safety requirements.
to the previous year.
 Corporate responsibility report 60

PRODUCTION SAFETY TRAINING WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Together with the Textile and Clothing Trade Association, Every employees quality of life should be improved by
22 senior managers from our Scheinfeld production site working for the adidas Group. So we have a responsibility
and the warehouse in Uffenheim, Germany, were trained to address work-life balance. We aim to harmonise the
on their special responsibilities for safety at work in a commercial interests of the adidas Group with the private
one-day workshop. Topics included: and family needs of our employees, thereby assuring the
mutual benefit of both. The programme includes family
The legal safety obligations of a supervisor oriented services, flexible work time and place, people
development and leadership competence related to
How to draft a hazard analysis work-life balance. More information about this topic can
be found in the Employees section of our corporate website
Effective training of production employees. at www.adidas-Group.com/sustainability

Practical exercises in small groups completed the workshop. Hertie Stiftung, the third largest private foundation in
Germany, audited our programme to identify and initiate
SAFETY DAY ways to improve family-oriented personnel management.
Every two years, a Safety Day takes place at all German We were re-audited in 2004 and awarded the official
locations. The day is organised by the Labour Safety certificate as a Family-Friendly Employer.
Committee together with the police, the trade association,
the health insurance and local businesses. For this years COMPANY SPORTS
Safety Day, we supported the prevention campaign Skin We offer our employees a wide range of sports activities at
Care, and the days events centred on healthy eating and our major sites including team sports such as football and
road safety. basketball, fun and fitness courses such as fencing and Tae
Bo, and health and wellness courses such as yoga, healthy
With more and more employees cycling to work, Pimp my back, and swimming. Employees in Herzogenaurach,
Bike was this years main topic. A bicycle obstacle course Portland and Canton have access to a company gym.
was set up so that people could test their cycling skills. The
police demonstrated how to deter bike theft, and explained Our Company Sports department in Herzogenaurach also
the importance of having safe brakes and proper lights and organises several sports events such as mountain biking,
wearing the right protective equipment. horseback riding, kayaking, skiing and ski tours and biathlon.
Special events such as a one-week sports camp for
The days programme closed with practical examples about employees children, trans-alpine mountain bike tours, and
the hazards of multi-outlet power strips (common in most the yearly Berlin marathon weekend (with a suitable training
office kitchens) and with obligatory fire-fighting drills. programme prior to the event) are also available. In 2007,
the Company Sports department offered about 130 courses
LOOKING AFTER OUR PEOPLE and more than 30 events which were attended by more than
2,800 participants.

GLOBAL MOBILITY
Global presence and success in worldwide markets require EMPLOYEE CODE OF CONDUCT
a workforce willing and able to work around the world.
For those employees who are interested in working in We have a Group-wide Employee Code of Conduct in place
different countries, we have a programme of international to help strengthen general governance. The code serves
assignments to worldwide locations within the adidas Group. as the cornerstone of ethical and social behaviour in
Most of these take place between Germany, USA, China, day-to-day operations, and is aligned with the core values
Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The adidas Group provides of the company.
training and cultural preparation to familiarise the relocating
professionals and their families with their new living and The code is part of a Global Compliance Programme and is
working environments. In brief: implemented by compliance managers worldwide, with the
involvement of the works council.
The Headquarters of the adidas Group employs more than
500 international employees from 50 countries The code covers key issues such as:

Between 100 and 150 international assignments at various How to treat business partners and third parties (including
locations begin annually conflicts of interest)

A bout 450 employees are currently on international Handling information

assignments.
Complaints

Special rules for dealing with financial matters.

 Corporate responsibility report 61

All line managers must ensure compliance with the code. We also have a web-based scheme Ask the Management
Employees who violate the Code of Conduct while conducting that allows employees to post questions to senior
Group business will be subject to disciplinary measures, and management. There are six different Ask the Management
may have their employment terminated. All employees are forums across the Group, with the Global Operations one
trained to apply the code through a global e-Learning tool being the most used, often with 50-60 questions posted
which was launched at the end of 2007. each month.

DIVERSITY And more of our main locations are hosting All-employee

meetings, where senior management address topics of
interest and answer questions. There were more than ten
Over the years, the adidas Group workforce has evolved to such meetings organised across all brands, Group functions
reflect the growing diversity of our communities, our varied and regions in 2007.
fields of activity as well as our truly global marketplace.
We will remain committed to understanding, valuing and We encourage employees to use any or all of these channels
incorporating this diversity into the corporate culture of the to voice their concerns, questions or suggestions. The more
adidas Group. feedback we receive, the more we are able to improve our
practices and be a better employer.
We believe that diversity helps us to sustain a competitive
advantage, to foster motivation and to ensure organisational
success and stability. Our approach to diversity is to:

6X`cdlaZY\Z the richness of commonalities and

differences we share; the intrinsic worth of each unique
employee; that our products and our contribution to sports
and the athletes who compete therein are enhanced
through these multiple and different perspectives.

6 he^gZ to create respect for and appreciation of each other;

to further increase diversity within the adidas Group and to
foster a spirit of openness and partnership among our
employees and within our communities.

6Xi to assure an environment that welcomes, respects and

embraces diversity; to capitalise on the value of a diverse
workforce; and to achieve excellence through our products
and our people.

While our recruitment is not quota based, we do have

gender-balanced recruitment of trainees and apprentices.
Over the past three years, the adidas Group has moved its
global male/female ratio in management positions from
79/21 to a 70/30 ratio. Our overall male/female ratio globally
has remained fairly constant over this period at about 52/48.

FOCUS 2007: EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

A fundamental part of our HR strategy is to create an

environment that stimulates team spirit, passion and
engagement. Engaging employees is crucial to our success:
we know that companies with high employee engagement
levels outperform their markets.

We are conducting online engagement surveys so employees

can give anonymous feedback to management, be it
appreciative or critical. In 2007, we covered Europe and Asia
as well as some global Group functions. Although we are on
average scoring in the Performance sector, we analyse the
feedback carefully per country, division and department and
work with line management to address areas of improvement.