LLB as employer

As at the end of December 2019, the LLB Group employed 1'234 employees filling 1'077 full-time positions (2018: 1'086). With 711 employees in Liechtenstein, LLB ranks among the largest employers in the Principality.

Performance pledge and employee development

As a modern employer, we position ourselves as having the following strengths: We offer a corporate culture based on partnership, interesting work content and plenty of scope for growth. High-achieving employees have excellent development opportunities and prospects. Standardised processes allow both managers and employees to receive regular feedback on their performance and their development potential.

The performance pledge formulated by Group Human Resources was set out in a strategic HR vision (see illustration below). This is an important instrument to raise awareness of the supportive yet demanding work environment.

Corporate culture and value basis

The LLB Group’s vision is encapsulated in the motto: “We set standards for banking with values.” Our managers and employees should act in line with our values: integrity, respectfulness, excellence and pioneering. By living these values, our managers spread the culture throughout the organisation. We also motivate our employees to embody our values while going about their day-to-day business through various live-the-brand measures.

To keep up with changing markets and client needs, we rely on employees who are willing to engage and have the courage to initiate improvement processes. In an effort to promote and exploit this potential to a greater extent, we launched the cultural journey in 2018. Through it we encourage employees to bring in ideas, to question their actions and to exchange views. Last year too, various teams and managers across the Group dealt extensively with the cultural journey. Specifically, they looked at the question of how the changing work environment was affecting their business model and how it could be optimised. More teams will work intensively on the cultural journey in 2020.

Value-oriented compensation

The LLB Group offers attractive employment conditions. It spent CHF 192.9 million (2018: CHF 182.4 million) on salaries and social contributions in 2019 (see “Notes to the consolidated income statement”).

The LLB Group takes aspects of value orientation into consideration in all areas of the company. We have a modern compensation system that is considered exemplary in the banking sector. For the majority of employees, it includes a variable remuneration component. In 2013, we decided to introduce the Market-Adjusted Performance Indicator (MAPI) so as to be able to make a careful and objective evaluation of the management’s performance (see chapter “Compensation report”). The model was developed in conjunction with FehrAdvice & Partners AG, Zurich, and is based on the results of behavioural economics research carried out by Professor Ernst Fehr from the University of Zurich. In Switzerland, LLB’s compensation system is regarded as being a model for others to emulate. After it was introduced, it received an award from the Swiss Institute of Directors.

Strategic vision

Freedom from discrimination

We set great store by fair compensation that explicitly recognises skills and performance. Women and men in the same position and at the same performance level are in the same pay scale and wage model. This is valid for all our business locations. All decisions concerning the employment relationship, including decisions on compensation, are based on the qualifications, the performance and the conduct of the individual or on other objective corporate considerations.

Internal communication channels

Addressing employees in a clear and consistent manner increases acceptance and trust in the employer. “Integrity – we create clarity and stand by our word” is a value our company embodies and also the basis for internal communication. Through the StepUp2020 strategy and the associated corporate targets, the employees understand where we stand and where we are going.

The intranet is the most important channel for us for communicating internally. The Group CEO also uses this channel to report about ongoing projects and new developments in a quarterly newsletter. At least once a year, the Group CEO invites all the employees to a Group Forum, which is broadcast by livestream to our representative offices and subsidiaries abroad. Other channels include the annual Group Night event and the “InSight” staff magazine, which is published four times a year.

Major employer in the region

It is important to us that our managers understand the mindset and concerns of our clients. And for this reason, almost all of the managers and the majority of employees in the main business locations have their roots in their respective region. As a result, they are highly dedicated to the company and have a high level of integrity. And they also take a long-term view, which is very much appreciated by the clients.

To meet the demand for skilled employees, we rely on commuters who travel every day from eastern Switzerland (2019: 264; 2018: 243) and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg (2019: 85; 2018: 83) to Liechtenstein. This makes LLB a major regional employer in the Rhine Valley. Bank Linth recruits almost all of its professionals from the Swiss regions of Lake Zurich, Sarganserland and Winterthur.