Employees

The honest and accurate advice provided by the employees to customers is a crucial key to customer satisfaction and business success. Establishing a lasting relationship between the right employees and the company requires a good employment terms policy.

Proud of our employees

­The employees are our company’s representatives. They ensure the provision of professional services in a pleasant store environment. Because local people are the best at serving the local market, the management positions are held by local employees in all the countries.

Quality of the employees

The commitment and quality of the employees largely determine the success of the company, with personal high-quality advice having a direct effect on the amount of revenue. Evaluation and performance interviews are carried out annually in order to ensure the quality of the employees. All the employees have these annual evaluation moments in order to assess whether there are still good working conditions and whether they are satisfied, and to explore potential development opportunities. The company began applying 360-degree assessments in 2016.

Training and education take place on a structured basis. The Beter Bed Academy has, in association with the NCOI and the Dutch National Consortium for Corporate Groups (NCvB), been developed for this purpose in 2010. Training on the job with electronic support (e-learning and e-training) was introduced in 2014 for all employees working in the stores and in logistics in the Netherlands.

The last time employee satisfaction was surveyed at Beter Bed Netherlands was in 2014. The organisation will have employee satisfaction measured again by an external agency in 2017.

Employee safety and health

­The company attaches great importance to the safety and health of all its employees. The policy is aimed at further reducing work-related absenteeism by ensuring a safe and healthy working environment and by providing employees with intensive guidance.

The company’s absenteeism due to illness rate stood at 3.9%. A slight rise was seen in Germany and Austria, while the absenteeism rate fell in the Netherlands.

Diversity

­The company is convinced that a balanced composition of teams and management teams makes a positive contribution to its performance. Beter Bed Holding has signed the D&I Company’s Charter (formerly Talent to the Top). This initiative is a code containing clear agreements and a public commitment to realising gender diversity at the top of the organisation.

The company stated in the last annual report that it will carry out additional activities aimed at increasing the number of women in management positions. The number of female managers increased by two and the number of male managers increased by three in 2016. The percentage of women in management positions has consequently risen from 24.8% to 25.4%.