Deutsche Post DHL Group wins Top Employer in Europe award

Deutsche Post DHL Group, with some 590,000 employees worldwide, has been named as Top Employer in Europe for the first time while both DHL Express and DHL Global Forwarding, Freight achieved Top Employer Global status, as in the year before.

According to the German logistics group, these recent certifications from the Top Employers Institute confirm that it continues to offer attractive working conditions to some 590,000 employees into 2023. A total of 125 country organizations in 70 countries achieved Top Employer certification last year.

In its assessment of the Group as a whole, the Top Employers Institute highlighted aspects such as the enormous value which is placed on ethics and integrity and on the business strategy in all divisions. DPDHL Group also stood out, according to the Institute, because goals and values were clearly defined and effectively communicated to employees.

The progress made by the company in the areas of management and employee development was commended, as was the company’s focus on sustainability. There were warm words too about the increasing use of technology.

The Top Employers Institute singled out the Smart Connect employee app for special praise. Smart Connect is part of the Smart Workspace, an integrated digital, mobile platform launched in 2022, allowing employees in all divisions and all countries to communicate with each other, access information and benefit from digital training opportunities – whether they work in operations or in the office, as a courier, a manager, or a mechanic.

Divisional scores

Once again, the individual divisions were able to shine in the certification process. DHL Express achieved the highest score out of all five divisions as well as the biggest improvement compared to the year before. DHL Express was particularly commended for a pilot project gathering employees’ wishes, ideas and needs at the various stages of their career with the company. The Institute also praised the launch of a comprehensive change management methodology in operations.

There was special recognition for DHL Global Forwarding, Freight (DGFF) for introducing sustainability as a key performance indicator in 2022. This process will be completed in 2023. DGFF also made a good impression with its pilot project for an online mentoring platform. In DHL Supply Chain’s certification there was a special mention for a newly-launched app designed to improve employee well-being.

“People make the difference”

“Top Employer certification is something we take extremely seriously,” says Thomas Ogilvie, Deutsche Post DHL Group’s Board Member for HR. “In our business, it’s our people that make the difference. It’s only thanks to our committed employees that we can meet our quality standards. External certification confirms to us that we’re on the right track, for example with our tools for people management and employee motivation. This kind of recognition is something that can help us attract new employees – particularly when the labor market is tight and skilled workers are in short supply.”

The Amsterdam-based Top Employers Institute has been assessing how well companies perform as employers for more than 30 years. Its certification process evaluates companies across 20 categories. The Top Employers Institute has been responsible for the external certification of Deutsche Post DHL Group since 2011. 

In addition to this certification, some Deutsche Post DHL Group divisions achieved further recognition for their quality as an employer in 2022. For the second time in a row, DHL Express took the top spot in the “Great Place to Work” ranking published jointly with Fortune Magazine. The ranking was based on surveys with employees from more than 12,000 companies around the world. DHL Express headed the Great Place to Work and The Economist Group European rankings, making it the best employer in Europe yet again. In 2022, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight won seven Stevie Awards in total in the “Stevie Awards for Great Employers” – two of them gold in the “Leadership Development for Women”