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In 2020 we closed the Global Talent Pool of 2019 and were working on a new concept of talent management, which is launched in the fall of 2020. The new concept focuses on identification, validation and long-term development of talents with the aim of placing them into strategically critical roles. In this new concept we allow leadership to identify employees with potential but also employees can raise their hands to be assessed. Employees go through a validation process of personality assessment and structured interviews, upon which leadership selects the future members of the hub – best matching role requirements. In the hub they will have a personal advisor brokering them to opportunities in line with their potential and targeted critical role. Our Board members are patrons and a broad group of business leaders serve as business sponsors of the hub. They mentor, make talents visible and open doors for them.  In the hub we will work on the development of members on the long-term, over multiple career steps.

There are 5,500 different job descriptions at Deutsche Telekom in Germany alone. As digitalization progresses, many of them no longer match the tasks and skills now required.
The skillsUP! program launched in 2018 aims to cut the number of job profiles to less than 1,000 and adapt them so that they last for the next three to five years. However, skillsUP! involves more than just modernizing job profiles. The new, up-to-date job descriptions are linked to the Group’s skills management so as to ensure holistic, integrated HR planning, make it easier to identify possible gaps in required skills, initiate training measures, or advertise new jobs. Deutsche Telekom is the first large German company to have such a mechanism. skillsUP! is the Group-wide implementation of several pilot projects that have been conducted since 2016.

With the "Everyone needs education – education needs everyone" project, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Telekom Stiftung support the corporate volunteering efforts of Telekom employees at day care centers and schools since 2010. Employees who engage as volunteer readers or offer workskhops for programming with microcontrollers in schools can apply for sponsorship with Deutsche Telekom Stiftung.

ICT products can contain processed minerals, some of which are mined under inhumane, illegal conditions. The proceeds are often used to finance civil wars in Africa. Telekom is committed to ensuring that the devices it trades do not contain any raw materials produced under critical conditions. It supports the efforts of the Responsible Minerals Initiative, which is committed to responsible raw material extraction and procurement. Their central instrument is the Conflict-Free Smelter Program and the corresponding Smelter Database, which is used to control the metalworking and smelting plants (Smelter). Independent auditors check whether the raw materials obtained come from responsible sources and create publicly available audit reports for each processed metal. To make it easier to report abuses, there are contact addresses where whistleblowers can submit their information anonymously.

In 2014 we became the first DAX company to develop a training program to prepare employees for supervisory board positions. The program was developed in collaboration with the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT). We are particularly interested in encouraging women to take a seat on the supervisory board. In addition to information on the traditional activities of supervisory board members, the training also provided insight into practical experiences presented by supervisory board members, case studies from the Group, and a simulated supervisory board meeting.
We also offered additional workshops for former program participants on topics such as “What’s new in corporate governance” and leadership networks.

The Diversity Charter is an independent economic initiative that is supported by around 3300 companies and institutions in Germany. Its goal is to promote the recognition, appreciation, and inclusion of diversity in everyday working life in Germany, creating a work environment that is free of prejudice. Deutsche Telekom is a founding member of the initiative.
As in past years, we participated in the seventh nationwide German Diversity Day in 2019. In addition to a conference with around 150 managers from partner companies in the Rhine-Ruhr network participated, the Deutsche Telekom headquarters in Bonn hosted a exhibition with fact, figures and statements from Board Members and employees to show how diverse DTAG is.