Management & facts

Climate protection along the supply chain
Working on behalf of investors, the non-governmental organization CDP  regularly assesses the climate protection activities of listed companies worldwide and compiles an index of leading companies, referred to as the A List. In 2021, Deutsche Telekom was included in this list for the sixth time in a row.

In 2017, we reported our ESG KPI  “CDP Supply Chain Program” for the first time. It shows the degree to which our procurement volume from carbon-intensive suppliers is covered by the CDP Supply Chain Program.

As part of the CDP supplier program, companies ask their key suppliers about their emissions and their climate strategy. And we make use of this: In 2021, we invited 462 suppliers to participate in the CDP Supply Chain Program. The suppliers in question account for more than 80 percent of our procurement volume. Of the suppliers we contacted, 268 participated, a group accounting for 72 percent of our procurement volume (2020: 70 percent).

Through our commitment to climate transparency in supply chains, we were awarded a place in the “Supplier Engagement Leader Board” for the third time in a row in 2021.

Top climate-protection commitment in 2021: Top marks for our climate protection
A study carried out by FOCUS magazine recognized our commitment to climate protection by giving us 200 out of 200 possible points, along with the special distinction “Top climate-protection commitment in 2021” (“Top-Klima Engagement 2021”). The study team reached its conclusions by comparing companies’ absolute-emissions trends over the course of several years, looking carefully at products’ climate impacts and querying companies about their ambitions with regard to future targets. A total of 130 companies amassed enough points to qualify for the final list, but only two achieved the maximum number of possible points.

Plastics Recycling Award Europe
In the year under review, Deutsche Telekom’s “Speed Home WLAN” router, whose housing consists of over 90 percent recycled plastic, received the Plastics Recycling Award Europe. It came in first, among six finalists, in the category “Automotive, Electrical or Electronic Product.” The international jury of experts was especially impressed with how the device has an esthetically pleasing design, even though its percentage of recycled plastic is extremely high for an electronic product.

Connected Car Award 2021 for the “Digital Guardian Angel”
Readers of the magazines Autobild and Computerbild chose the “Digital Guardian Angel” app as the winner of the Connected Car Award 2021 in the “Safety” category. The app, which was developed in cooperation with Continental, warns particularly vulnerable road users – such as pedestrians and cyclists – when they are in danger of being hit by a motor vehicle.

The Representative Office in Berlin is certified as a Sustainable Partner
Deutsche Telekom’s Representative Office in Berlin makes event facilities available to internal and external groups / organizations. In 2021, the association visitBerlin Convention Partner again audited the Representative Office in Berlin and, as a result, certified it as a Sustainable Partner in its top category, “Leader.” The Office’s sustainability performance was audited in four categories: governance, risk & compliance; environmental aspects; social aspects; and economic aspects. 

Awarded the “DigitalPakt Alter” seal of approval
The “DigitalPakt Alter” initiative has recognized our Digital Home Service as senior-friendly. With this service, we offer our customers comprehensive advice by phone or on site - in the case of difficulties with the PC, smartphone, WLAN  or TV. The five digital innovations selected from among the 51 solutions submitted were awarded the “DigitalPakt Alter” seal. The initiative honors innovative solutions that promote the digital participation of older people.

Best European telco in the S&P Assessment
In 2021, we qualified, for the seventh time in a row, for the renowned sustainability indexes “Dow Jones Sustainability Index  World” (DJSI  World) and “Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI Europe).” DJSI World represents the top 10 percent of the largest 2 500 companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria, and selected companies have to requalify each year. In Europe, the Group took first place in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment of the telecommunications industry, and we attained the third-highest score at the global level. 

Bloomberg Gender Equality Index
In the year under review, we were again selected, as one of 418 companies, for the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI). Furthermore, our score in the Index was considerably improved over our score in 2020. The GEI measures and evaluates gender-equality performance in a total of five areas: Female leadership and talent pipeline; equal pay and gender pay parity; inclusive culture; anti-sexual harassment policies; and pro-women brand. 

A complete overview of the indexes in which the Deutsche Telekom T-Share  is listed, in the year under review, is available here.

Digital Inclusion Benchmark
In 2021, we were once again listed in the top 10 of the Digital Inclusion Benchmark’s listing of the world’s 150 most influential tech companies on digital inclusion. In Europe, we were even ranked as one of the top three companies. These rankings, which are carried out by the World Benchmarking Alliance, indicate how well information technology and telecommunications companies are doing in providing equal-opportunity access to digital opportunities, as well as how responsibly and proactively they are addressing risks. We received very high marks in the categories “Use” and “Innovation,” and above-average marks in the categories “Access” and “Skills.” These results reflect our long-running commitment to digital inclusion.

Awards for our campaign #TAKEPART – No hate speech
With our campaign “#TAKEPART – No hate speech,” we are working to ensure that people have nothing to worry about as they navigate cyberspace. Our message for the campaign is “Words must not become a weapon.”  Via channels such as video and radio spots, workshops and podcasts, we are calling attention to hate speech, social media outrage and cyberbullying, and encouraging people to show “civil courage online” and stand up against such negative trends. In the year under review, we received several awards for this campaign:

	Gold at THE BEST AGENCY 2021 Gold for our campaign: The customer jury of “THE BEST AGENCY 2021” – consisting of decision-makers in the marketing and communications sectors – gave us top honors in the category “Loud and Bold,” which highlights ideas and campaigns that attract attention in creative, innovative ways.
	Best national media strategy: Deutscher Mediapreis 2021 In June 2021, our #TAKEPART (#DABEI) campaign won the Deutscher Mediapreis (German media award) in the category “national media strategy” (“Media-Strategie national”).
	Deutscher Digital Award 2021: Silver In the Deutscher Digital Award’s “Digital Advertising Campaigns” category, our campaign against online hate speech was honored with “silver” award.
	Gold at the Radio Advertising Awards 2021 At the Radio Advertising Awards 2021, we received “gold” honors, in the “Best Brand” category, for three radio spots on the topic #TAKEPART – No hate speech (#DABEI – Gegen Hass im Netz).
	Effie Germany Awards: Bronze In their “Doing Good” category, the Effie Germany Awards – sponsored by the GWA association of communication agencies – awarded our campaign a “bronze” award.

1st place in the Boston Consulting Group’s Gender Diversity Index 
In 2021, we once again won first place honors in the Boston Consulting Group’s Gender Diversity Index. The Index highlights the percentages of women in management positions at major companies, along with the impacts of those percentages. It has now been published for the fifth time.

Female Allstar Board: Award for Board of Management member Claudia Nemat
At this year’s Female Allstar Board awards, Claudia Nemat was honored as one of Germany’s five outstanding female executives – of its “FAB” She received the award in the category Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The award is designed to enhance the visibility of female executives and to help build a growing network of women in business.

“eg-check” certificate for fair salaries
In 2021, we once again received the “eg-check” seal for our fair remuneration system. Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency awards the seal for equal-pay policies – and uses it as a means of highlighting discrimination in the area of remuneration. To determine whether an employer qualifies, it reviews whether the employer pays women and men equally for the same or equivalent work.

Best employer, according to the magazine “Brigitte”
In a study carried out by the magazine “Brigitte,” looking at aspects such as work-life balance, career advancement, transparency, and gender equality, we were named one of the best employers for women – and received five stars, the highest ranking. 

Diversity awards for T-Mobile US
For its commitment on behalf of diversity, T-Mobile US received the prestigious honor of being named one of Forbes’“Best Employers for Diversity 2021.” As part of the honor conferred by Forbes, T-Mobile was listed as one of 500 companies that are recommended by their own employees, have diversity in their boards of directors and among their executives, and carry out initiatives for diversity and inclusion.

For employers competing to recruit IT and tech specialists, it is vitally important to have an excellent employer brand. Consequently, we continually aim to improve Deutsche Telekom’s attractiveness, on a lasting basis, as an employer for IT/tech talent. In 2021, we again received various awards for our achievements as an employer and training provider. This strengthens our conviction that we are on the right track with our recruiting and employer-brand strategy. 

Most attractive employer for career starters
Universum, an employer-branding company, carries out annual surveys of students in order to identify the most attractive employers for career starters. In 2021, we were chosen as one of the top companies for IT talents, by placing 15^th out of 100 companies.

HR Excellence Award for virtual student internship
Also in 2021, we received the HR Excellence Award, in the category “apprentice and university marketing”, for having developed and conducted a virtual student internship program. In order to support young people in finding career and vocational guidance, and in keeping with the constraints of the pandemic, we developed a virtual version of our student-marketing concept. In it, we offer, online, an impression of what everyday training at Deutsche Telekom is like. We provide all kinds of insights into Deutsche Telekom's world, offer assistance for choosing a career, help participants identify their individual strengths and give participants a sense of assurance for their first steps into the workplace. 

First place for our career website
In the market research company Potentialpark’s 2021 Talent Communication Rankings, our career website took first-place honors – thereby becoming Germany’s best corporate presence for potential job applicants. We also did well in the other categories (applying online, social media, and mobile), and were awarded second place overall.

Apprentice Communication Study 2021
In addition, we earned second-place honors in the “Azubi-Communication-Studie 2021” (“apprentice communication study 2021”) of Potentialpark and ausbildung.de. In the study, a total of 2 800 school pupils evaluated 100 employers in four different categories: career website, applying online, mobile pages, and social media platforms. 

German Award for Online Communication
In the 2021 Deutsche Preis für Onlinekommunikation (German Award for Online Communication), our 2020 CR report was awarded first place in the “CSR & Annual Report.” The strong features for which the report was singled out included entertaining stories that present complex topics in interesting and understandable ways. Each year, the company Quadriga Media uses the prize to honor outstanding projects, professional campaign planning, and forward-looking strategies in the area of digital communication.

ESG  Reporting Awards
The ESG Reporting Awards 2021 prove that our CR reporting is also convincing for experts; in the awards, we won in the category “Best Sustainability Reporting: Technology & Telecoms.” The ESG Reporting Awards rate the best listed companies for their sustainability and climate reporting. For the awards, the jury reviews candidate companies’ overall reporting strategies, along with their commitment and their communication to investors and stakeholders.

ARC Awards
At the 2021 international ARC Awards for business reporting, the concept behind our CR report was upheld in that the report won two prizes. The award winners were selected by independent experts. In the “Cover/Homepage: CSR Report” category, the report won silver, and in the “Interactive Annual Report: CSR Report” category, it won bronze. Submitted reports have to achieve a minimum number of points in order to be eligible for awards. In both of the categories in which it won awards, our report was the only report to be considered.

PR Report Award
Our 2020 CR report received the PR Report Award 2021 in the category “Sustainability and CSR.” The prize is awarded to creatively exceptional communication campaigns. In making the award, the jury praised the playful, interactive elements in the campaign.

CSR Benchmark of NetFederation
In the framework of NetFederation’s CSR Benchmark, we were honored for having the best sustainability communication. The CSR Benchmark is an annual study on the current status of digital sustainability communication. For the 2021 study, the CSR websites of 50 selected companies were analyzed.

MERCURY Awards
At the MERCURY Awards 2021/2022, our Corporate Responsibility Report was twice awarded best report and won silver in both the “Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Interactive” categories. In the “Sustainability Report” category, we achieved third place with bronze. A minimum number of points is required for placement in order to receive an award.