Benchmarks & Trends, Best Workplaces, Employee Experience, Employer Brand, Purpose
There may be no company more global than DHL Express.
The package delivery and logistics business operates in more than 220 countries and territories. But DHL鈥檚 worldwide reach meant that the global COVID-19 pandemic posed huge challenges for the company.
What would the crisis mean for DHL鈥檚 104,000 employees? To their livelihoods and to their lives, given the health risks and the physical, international nature of the work? How would DHL continue to serve customers as countries shut down their economies to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus?
Could DHL continue to live up to its mission of 鈥淓xcellence. Simply Delivered鈥�?
Put simply: Yes, it could. And it has.
The company is not only #2 on the list of the 2020 Fortune World鈥檚 Best Workplaces. It is a living testament to the notion that a global problem requires a coordinated global solution, one based in mutual trust and relentless commitment.
Committing to employees鈥� safety
Consider how DHL delivered for its people.
Employee safety is the top priority for leaders. Frank Appel, CEO of DHL Express parent company Deutsche Post, formed a COVID-19 task force early on. It has met daily, in part to ensure that the organization, in all countries, follows the safety protocols of international and local country health authorities. Similar task forces were set up across DHL globally and regionally, with daily meetings.
The safety protocols protected tens of thousands of DHL employees in the field, including couriers on the frontline delivering packages to customers. DHL also took steps to safeguard its 30,000 office-based staffers. As fast as an overnight delivery, they all moved to virtual work. DHL rapidly prepared mobile IT equipment for many to ensure they all had an appropriate home setup.
鈥淧eople matter and this was clearly evident in the management of pandemic. Safety of employees was paramount and employees were given freedom to work from home and manage/ensure their own safety and their families鈥�.鈥�
鈥擠HL employee based in Malaysia
Committing beyond physical safety
DHL leaders also have worked to help employees with their mental well-being and sense of financial security. With people around the globe afraid of losing jobs and income amid economic shutdowns, DHL promised not to lay off any employees and to continue paying 100% of salaries.
These pledges carried weight. Heading into the pandemic, 88% of DHL employees trusted management to deliver on its promises. That figure is well above the U.S. average. In our 2018 normative study of the U.S. workforce, between just 39% and 66% (depending on employees鈥� seniority) thought management delivered on its promises.
DHL went further to ease employees鈥� minds during the pandemic. For example, the company sent motivational messages to employees through their package scanning devices. It also offered virtual yoga classes and facilitated meditation sessions.
And DHL acknowledged the emotional burdens of employees with caregiving responsibilities working from home. The company made clear that family duties come first in a flier. It read, 鈥淎re you worried about having to juggle work and family while working from home? Don鈥檛 be.鈥�
Committed to their communities
DHL has a long history of giving back to the communities in which it operates. It took that sense of social responsibility to the next level amid the pandemic.
From the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, DHL prioritized shipping critical medical supplies such as personal protective equipment. The company has its own fleet of 250 aircraft that it devoted to this task. But those planes weren鈥檛 enough to make sure communities around the globe received urgent shipments. So the company coordinated a network of charter flights, and purchased passenger flight cargo space鈥攕ometimes at prices three times the usual rate.
DHL didn鈥檛 make decisions during this period based on the cold financial logic of spreadsheets. Instead, the choices were driven by a bigger, big-hearted purpose: to help the world overcome COVID-19.
A foundation of trust, a mission to serve
DHL鈥檚 positive response to COVID-19 was possible because the company entered the crisis with a foundation of trust and a mission to serve.
A sign of that profound trust between employees and leaders was the DHL executives鈥� decision to conduct a companywide survey during the pandemic. While some companies have canceled or postponed employee surveys during this difficult time, DHL showed employees it respected them enough to listen to their needs and learn about their experience amid COVID-19.
Using 逸遊娛樂城鈥檚 Trust Index鈩� employee survey, they have surveyed over 18,000 employees in 15 languages across 23 countries since March.
The survey responses showed a community of people coming together. DHL employees described their workplace with words such as 鈥渃are,鈥� 鈥渇amily,鈥� 鈥渨ell-being鈥� and 鈥渃amaraderie.鈥�
With this foundation of employees feeling physically and psychologically safe, customer service has been stellar at DHL. Its on-time delivery rate during the pandemic has been higher than 99%.
In effect, DHL used the crisis of COVID-19 to deepen its commitment to its community of employees, customers and humanity overall.
That commitment was captured perfectly in a new, beautifully simple, company motto:
鈥淲e keep moving, so you don鈥檛 have to.鈥�
Read our full report: World鈥檚 Best Workplaces 2020: Rising to Historic Challenges
