At 47,265, the 2011 headcount was 1 percent below the prior-year level.

Employee retention instruments, talent management, and the diversity strategy contribute to a low employee fluctuation.

The internationality of our workforce reflects our business policy of filling local management positions with local employees, and ensuring that we have international teams at our corporate headquarters in Germany.

Compared with international levels, the total percentage of female employees is good. This applies to managerial staff as well. This is a result of our consistently applied diversity strategy.

The average age of our employees has remained constant over the years. Retirements are continuously offset by the hiring of new young employees. We thus ensure that Henkel’s workforce is a good mix of experienced older employees and younger employees whose development we can foster.

On average, five employees per day were promoted in 2011. This demonstrates the dynamism of our company and the need for qualified young professionals. To conduct our global business successfully, international management experience is essential for our managers. The number of international job rotations is thus constantly increasing.

Employees from 54 countries purchased just under 3 million preferred shares in 2011. Some 31 percent of all employees own Henkel shares.

An intensive formal and informal dialogue with employee representatives has a long tradition at Henkel, even in countries where employee representation has not been established.

The number of projects and the volume of donations lie at about the same levels as the previous year. A more focused selection of projects resulted in a slight increase in the number of people supported. There was, however, a large increase in the number of days off from work compared to the year before. Generally speaking, employees may request as many as five days off from work per year. Half of all the financial donations were initiated by employees and retirees.