MERLIN Properties Annual Report 2021

80 | Annual Report | 2021 MERLIN believes that employee commitment is essential and therefore seeks to ensure that employees identify with the corporate philosophy, values and objectives. The Company works to motivate and reward employees through three main lines of action: 1. Performance-based remuneration MERLIN employees receive a fixed annual salary along with a yearly bonus tried to the fulfilment of the Company’s objectives and to each employee’s individual performance. In addition, all Group employees receive life and accident insurance for themselves and health insurance for the employee’s entire family unit. The workforce also benefits from flexible compensation options (Merlin Flex) for training as well as childcare vouchers, transport vouchers and meal vouchers. In 2021 MERLIN introduced exclusive discounts for employees in different categories such as dining, health and beauty and hotels. MERLIN also offers employees the possibility of acquiring shares in the company. 2. Continuing professional development MERLIN offers all professionals opportunities to get involved in different projects and to assume new responsibilities throughout their professional careers. Training is a fundamental aspect of career development and to that end the Company ensure that training is available to all employees. 4,855 hours of training were provided in 2021, an increase of 13.3% compared over the year before. This represents a total investment of €157,072 in training in 2021. As in years past, the training activities focused primarily on the following categories: training tailored to each employee’s needs (68%), languages (31%) and in-house (1%) provided by MERLIN’s own professionals. 3. Direct relationship with employees The horizontality of the Company’s organizational chart fosters direct relationships between employees and, in particular, between those with varying levels of responsibility. In 2021, MERLIN reinforced communication channels and initiatives such as the Employee Portal. Improvements were made to the platform to facilitate communications between employees and management. Emails were sent on a regular basis, there were face-to-face meetings between employees and visits to different Company assets. Also in 2021, MERLIN relaunched the Employee Satisfaction Survey with a special emphasis on employee motivation, relationships with colleagues, training and workplace ergonomics. The participation rate was 76.5% and the average satisfaction rate was 7.18 out of 10. TALENT RETENTION MECHANISMS hours of training in 2021 (€ 657.2 per employee) 4,855 67% 65% 68% training for “other staff” category training for employees under 50 years of age personalized training