Attractive work environment

The LLB Group actively positions itself in what is a competitive market for the best talent. We continually implement new measures so as to be able to offer employees a modern and attractive work environment. We focus here in particular on digitalisation, health promotion in the workplace, improvement in job quality and flexibility of working hours and location.

Flexible work environment

We started to upgrade all the hardware in the offices at the end of 2017. At around 97 per cent, almost all of the 1’500 workstations had been equipped with new PCs and notebooks by the end of December 2018. Since the introduction of the internal Mobile Client (iMC) at the beginning of 2018, it is possible to work on company laptops at all our business premises via the WLAN network connection. So far only a small number of employees have external mobile access (eMC) that allows remote working from home. The opportunity to work remotely is to be extended to significantly more employees in the first half of 2019. By doing this, we are addressing one of the key issues for employees: in the latest employee survey, flexibility in the workplace was stated as a key issue.

Digitalisation of personnel management

At the end of 2018, the LLB Group introduced an electronic employee portal (eMap). It offers employees and managers a uniform platform for a variety of different HR applications, ranging from tools for learning management and onboarding new employees to exchanging views on HR issues in communities. At the same time, two management-intensive processes (performance management and people development) were also system supported and automated, improving and facilitating performance measurement and employee development. We have replaced the working hours and absence management system with a state-of-the-art solution. The learning management system was replaced with a new “learning” module, which allows the integration of virtual forms of learning and gives employees and their supervisors a complete overview of completed and planned training courses.

The new HR portal also enables employees to network better internally over a collaboration platform. It allows them to exchange views with others about new topics they are learning about, to search for information and to hold discussions. Creating your own profile is another state-of-the-art function of the new portal. Through it, employees can give their supervisors and selected HR managers access to details about, for example, emergency contacts, language skills, training, management experience as well as their own expectations with regard to their professional development within the LLB Group, and update this information on an ongoing basis.

Compatibility of work and life situation

A high degree of compatibility of work and private life in different life situations makes for an attractive employer. In recent years, therefore, we have pushed ahead with projects offering greater flexibility of working hours and location. Most employees work under the trust-based working time model. Under this model, they determine, in consultation with their manager, exactly how their working time is to be structured and different workloads managed. A reduction of working hours from full-time to 80 or 90 per cent is, in consultation with their manager, possible as well – also in management positions.

Under the “FreiZeit-Kauf” (purchase leisure time) project, launched in 2017, employees can increase their holiday entitlement by five or ten days and forego a corresponding amount of pay in return. This option is highly appreciated and finding ever greater resonance: 128 employees (2017: 86) purchased a total of 910 additional leave days (2017: 645). We also support paternity leave and permit our employees care leave in the case of a family emergency. In September 2017, the “Villa Wirbelwind” in Vaduz opened its doors for the first time. The crèche is open to the children of all Liechtenstein bank employees.

Permanent employees by employment type*
Permanent employees by employment type (bar chart)

*Including permanent and temporary employees (apprentices and trainees)

Health and safety

Our “Working Atmosphere and Health Steering Committee” was set up in 2016 with the purpose of increasing job satisfaction and boosting staff motivation. We also want to reduce the absenteeism rate, which indicates the incidence of accidents and long-term illnesses, through targeted measures. Here, we managed to keep within our target rate of between 2 and 2.5 per cent. In 2018, we registered 138 absences (2017: 146), corresponding to a rate of 2.2 per cent (2017: 2.3 %). 80 per cent of the costs incurred were due to illness.

We have taken various measures aimed at helping employees to stay healthy. Among these initiatives are seasonal fruit, which have been provided free of charge since the beginning of 2017, as are the water stations with integrated filter system (see chapter “Responsibilities for society and the environment”). The incentive to work out during the lunch break or to cycle to work has increased significantly since showers and changing facilities were installed at our business location in Vaduz. To prevent postural damage, a majority of our employees now have height-adjustable desks that convert to stand-up desks at the touch of a button. Long-service employees are rewarded with a sabbatical. 42 employees (2017: 43) with long-service anniversaries of ten to forty years went on a sabbatical for up to four weeks in 2018.

Standards for the prevention of accidents and illnesses as well as for safety management apply Group-wide. Procedures in the event of a fire or accident at the workplace as well as emergency and disaster management are governed by a directive. Eleven employees from the organisational units Security Management and Facility Management are responsible for carrying out routine building and equipment checks.

Support at difficult times

Surveys conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (www.osha.europa.eu) show that in Europe around 50 per cent of sickness leave is due to stress in some form or other. What is more, mental stress can also often result in physical stress and vice versa. LLB Group employees in difficult work or life situations are able to gain free and anonymous access to psychological support.

Our aim is to reduce short- and long-term absences and to facilitate the return to work. We offer support to employees returning to work after a long absence and to those with serious health problems. Providing practical support enables employees to maintain or regain their productivity.

High employee satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is an indicator of whether it is possible to retain motivated, high-achieving employees in the company. To understand where we stand in this respect, we regularly conduct an in-depth employee survey. In the 2017 survey, the LLB Group achieved very good results in all relevant points. The commitment of the employees, in other words the sense of identity with and being part of the company, remained high with 85 points (2015: 85) out of a possible 100 points. On the basis of these sound survey results, LLB received a Swiss Employer Award in September 2017 for the second time, the first time being in 2016, in the category of 250 to 999 employees. This benchmarking initiative based on the largest employee survey in Switzerland is regarded as a pioneering instrument. Our next employee survey is planned for May 2020.