Tailored social counselling in Germany
Wednesday 07 September 2022
Operational changes, incidents at work or personal concerns and struggles – HVB’s Social Counselling Service has been dealing with scenarios like these over the past 30 years, offering care to 1,000 colleagues every year.
One of our UniCredit core values is Caring: we care about our customers, communities and each other – and we are eager to help one another so our people can continue to thrive. We embed the value of Caring into our many behaviours, which is evidenced in the history of HypoVereinsbank’s (HVB) Social Counselling Service which began in 1992 with a single employee, a social worker who is still with the bank 30 years later.
Over the years, a team of psycho-social advisors has grown and is recognised as the "oil in the gears" of HVB. Whenever employees throughout Germany feel the need to contact HVB's Social Counselling Service, they can anonymously and confidentially receive the help they seek.
Bank employees, who are trying to overcome a traumatic incident, such as a robbery at a branch or the sudden death of a colleague, are able to contact the Social Counselling Service, in addition to employees struggling with other personal concerns.
"Preventive healthcare is an important part and function in our workplace, especially in these times" commented Hans Plank, Head of Health Management at HypoVereinsbank. This means coaching managers, members of the staff council, HR business partners and trainers in recognising and dealing with problems.
On the contrary to services offered by most other companies, employees are not assisted by external help during emergency situations, but psychosocial advisors who are fellow colleagues within the Group. They are fully embedded in HypoVereinsbank’s internal structure and are aware of all corporate practices.
HVB’s Social Counselling service today represents a successful story for the bank with its 30 years legacy. Further development of the programme continues to be a priority, ensuring critical resources are offered to employees seeking support in several personal and professional matters.