SUSTAINABLE HUMAN RESSOURCE MANAGEMENT

The first question that our HR management team addresses is what sort of employees we want to have: indeed they are not necessarily those that would normally be desired – we want people who, in addition to having expert qualifications, also share our Christian values of sustainability and want to contribute to the promotion of justice in our globalised society and to preserve creation. The prerequisites for this are basic training with a humanistic focus and business qualifications, which we provide to a high standard with our excellent training rate. Our employees must also display integrity in their business dealings. This includes honesty and sincerity, fair dealing and justness, thrift and moderation, orderliness and diligence, vision and determination, and not least the humility and love of people that any service provider needs. The commitment that BIB employees make to society is also demonstrated by the fact that most of them work as volunteers in their free time, which the bank is happy to support.

As socio-ecological issues are an integral component of our corporate strategy and our daily business and we offer meaningful work in this regard, we believe we are and will continue to be in a good position to attract great employees in the future amidst strong competition. Of course, recruitment is also made easier by the fact that employees are also members of our cooperative bank, and therefore co-owners with corresponding rights to vote at the General Assembly. We do not need or want those who wish to maximise their income with the aim of hitting six figures by the time they turn 30. The talented people who are interested in our bank are not attracted by an exorbitantly high salary. Nevertheless, we know that remuneration plays an important part when it comes to choosing a company to work for. We pay reasonable salaries that go beyond the standard pay scale.

We do not pay bonuses or commission, nor do we undercut wages. There is no low-wage sector in our bank. When it comes to service providers such as cleaning companies, we ensure that their employees are also treated fairly and not exploited.


ENDOWMENTS AND DONATIONS

The increasing scarcity of church funds and the emptying of public coffers would make it impossible to carry out many social or environmental projects if companies, foundations or private patrons did not help out with money and voluntary work. That is why BIB has spent many years supporting social, church and artistic projects by means of volunteering, endowments and donations.

In 2004, we established the Bank im Bistum Essen foundation fund for the church and Caritas for this purpose, with the intention of encouraging others to establish their own foundations, in addition to providing financial support for projects and institutions. Promoting foundations is part of our business model. This is also why we are members of and play an active role in the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen (Association of German Foundations). We offer potential founders free advice, as well as providing trust management for legally dependent foundations. A total of 16 legally dependent foundations have now been set up under the auspices of our BIB FairBanking foundation.

In 2012, we once again used our foundation to support numerous community welfare projects directly and quickly. All in all, the foundation, trust foundations and the bank have supported 172 projects and made payouts or endowments totalling EUR 958,000.