A STRONG MANAGEMENT APPROACH

SAP recognizes that employees perform at their best when management provides a clear understanding of the company’s strategy, and the role of each individual employee in helping to achieve it. Therefore, all SAP managers are responsible for translating SAP’s mission, strategy, and values to be specifically relevant for their teams. This creates a productive, engaging environment where team members can use their talents, achieve their potential, and contribute to the success of our business. In addition, special programs have been established to foster management excellence and provide SAP staff members with the highest quality management possible.

ENCOURAGING EXPRESSION AND INNOVATION

SAP values the perspectives of every team member. And through our “open-door” policy, we encourage employees to express their opinions and ideas with others at every level of the organization. Open areas in every building are continually alive with formal and informal gatherings. Regular town-hall meetings foster a dialog between management and staff – with online participation across time zones and borders. And forums such as FutureScope and CIO@SAP offer employees the chance to learn and converse about customer issues, technology trends, and other topics from experts in various fields. The result is a culture of free expression that is driven by a spirit of cooperation, adaptability, and passion for excellence. And to help stimulate a strong flow of new ideas, SAP provides compensation and peer recognition as incentives for inventiveness.

ROLE-BASED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Many SAP professional development programs are tailored to individual roles within the company. For example, through our “Development Meets Customer” program, SAP developers are able to spend time with a customer, to experience firsthand how our solutions are used in a variety of real-life applications. The insights they gain are one reason why SAP solutions are so effective at meeting the everyday needs of our customers around the world.

KNOWLEDGE-BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES

Every year, SAP’s collective knowledge grows substantially, through professional development programs and innovative, onsite education options that enhance each individual’s opportunities within the organization. All together, SAP employees participated in more than 2,000 classroom training courses through the SAP University, with more than one-third of their education time spent in non-classroom training. In this way, employees benefit firsthand from knowledge transfer through the focus on coaching, mentoring, and on-the-job-training.

In addition, SAP has developed an Employee Excellence program, focusing on strategic knowledge and skills for all of our lines of business. And global programs bring together employees from different countries and lines of business, to promote fresh perspectives.