BASF Report 2021 Management’s Report – We Value People and Treat Them with Respect 98 Compensation and benefits as well as offerings to balance personal can thrive and perform at their best. We regularly calculate the Our specific expectations of leaders’ conduct are derived from and professional life complete our diverse total offer package. In employee engagement level as an index score based on five ques- these: The CORE Leadership Values serve as the guiding order to continue to attract talented people to our company in tions on set topics in our employee surveys. The most recent survey principles for all leaders and set out BASF’s expectations of leader- the future, we work continuously on BASF’s attractiveness as an from 2020 revealed an engagement index of 82% (2019: 79%). Our ship behavior. They are aligned with BASF’s strategic goals and employer. Our employees play an important role here as ambassa- aim is to keep this score above 80%. We support our leaders with a reflect our company’s leadership vision (see also page 31). dors for BASF. range of follow-up measures to decentrally address individual action areas and in this way, help to further strengthen employee engage- We offer our leaders a wide variety of learning and development ment together with their employees. opportunities for each phase of their career as well as various Number of employees formats that enable them to learn from one another and external Pulse checks were carried out to identify and address employees’ experts. Global, regional and local offerings are optimally coordi- As of December 31, 2021, the number of employees increased specific needs in 2021. In North and South America, for example, nated. We aim to develop leaders who lead their teams with to 111,047 employees compared with 110,302 employees as of surveys were conducted on the inclusion of diversity. These optimism, empathy and trust, and in this way, create a competitive December 31, 2020. The rise was primarily due to staff increases revealed a desire to further embed inclusive behavior in the work- advantage for BASF. in Asia Pacific, especially in connection with the formation of ing environment, among other things. Employees in Germany and BASF Shanshan Battery Materials Co., Ltd., as well as for our new Europe were surveyed about their current work situation, flexible In order to anchor the CORE Leadership Values in day-to-day life, Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The divestiture of the pigments working, stresses caused by the coronavirus pandemic and team an in-depth training course – CORE Leadership Upskilling – was business, which affected around 2,500 employees, had an off - sentiment. Among other things, the results showed that employees offered in 2021. The virtual training comprised a series of modules setting impact. We employed 3,028 apprentices1 (2020: 3,120). feel safe working at our sites and that employees who have been that encouraged self-reflection and provided opportunities for 2,329 employ ees were on temporary contracts (of which 47.6% working flexibly since the start of the pandemic are coping well with global dialog. The training modules were initially completed by all were women). it. Regular global employee surveys remain a focus, and we plan to senior executives worldwide. Work in small, mixed groups aimed conduct the next survey in spring 2022. to deepen participants’ understanding of the CORE Leadership Values, enable in-depth discussion of these and expand global Employee engagement networks. Since the fall of 2021, additional leadership levels have What we expect from our leaders undergone training and activities modeled on CORE Leadership BASF can rely on the engagement of its employees. This is shown Upskilling. by a passion for the job, a dedication to top performance and a Our leaders and their teams should contribute to BASF’s success. strong commitment to BASF. Global employee surveys and pulse This is why we promote high-quality leadership and measure its Regular feedback plays an important role in the development of checks are established feedback tools in the BASF Group and are impact. We understand impactful leadership as leaders that serve leaders. We have therefore adapted our global feedback tool to used to actively involve employees in shaping their working environ- as role models by having a positive influence on the engagement enable leaders to, in the future, even better reflect on how these ment. The results are communicated to employees, the Board of and development of their employees, and developing and imple- values are anchored in their leadership behavior. Executive Directors, the Supervisory Board and stakeholders. We menting business strategies in line with our corporate values. have performed regular global employee surveys since 2008. We These expectations are part of the standard global nomination Since 2020, various existing leadership development tools have aim to keep the high level of employee engagement determined by criteria for leadership positions. Our leadership culture is based on been converted to virtual formats to optimally support our leaders – these surveys and increase it even further as far as possible. As part BASF’s corporate values: creative, open, responsible and entrepre- including during the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic. of the BASF strategy, we therefore set ourselves the following goal neurial – CORE. in 2018: More than 80% of our employees feel that at BASF, they 1 At BASF, the apprenticeship program trains students for technical, scientific and business vocations as well as for trade and craft professions.