Qualifications

We ensure that our staff have the appropriate qualifications primarily by means of continuous, personalised, and needs-based staff development measures. We offer a wide range of options to help our staff develop their knowledge and skills, including external seminars, internal work shadowing, language courses, and in-house workshops. As an important component of our personnel strategy, we track the number of continuing education days per employee, which came to an average of 3.3 days per employee in 2024.

Compliance training

The bank raises awareness of relevant regulations by requiring employees to participate in regular training courses on subjects such as money laundering and fraud prevention, data protection and information security. Employees’ participation in these courses is subject to monitoring. In addition, employees are continually informed about the latest trends, attack patterns, and specific warning indicators to further raise awareness of IT security issues.

Artificial intelligence

We started a test phase with our “AI Sandbox” in autumn of last year. This is a virtual test environment in which our employees can try out different AI applications for themselves and develop specific use cases for the bank. Workshops on the subject of prompt engineering were offered and supplementary learnings materials were made available to optimally prepare employees to use the AI Sandbox tool.

Mentoring programmes

Rentenbank’s internal mentoring programme entered its third year in 2024. Over a 12-month period, mentors and mentees meet regularly to share knowledge, discuss their experiences, and learn from each other. Everyday work challenges are discussed and personal development paths explored in a protected atmosphere. In the cross-mentoring programme organised by an external partner, mentees from Rentenbank are advised by mentors from other companies, thus broadening their horizons. In exchange, Rentenbank makes mentors of its own available to other companies.

Trainee programme

A new round of our trainee programme begins twice a year. During the nine-month programme, the trainees are familiarised with different areas of the bank before being assigned to a core department where they will apply and develop their skills. All trainees must complete certain mandatory stations, as well as certain elective stations chosen on the basis of the participants’ individual interests and tasks. Trainees also attend regular seminars and off-site courses offering opportunities for both professional and personal development. Trainees are hired under a permanent employment agreement and they are specifically prepared to take on a permanent position in their core area of expertise after the trainee programme is completed. We welcomed five new trainees in 2024. A highlight of this trainee class was a field trip to the Dottenfelder Hof farm in Bad Vilbel and the Karlshof farm in Roßdorf, where the trainees were treated to a first-hand look at projects promoted by Rentenbank.

Training courses for senior managers

As part of the senior manager development programme, four off-site training events were held for senior managers in 2024. Particular emphasis was given to the application of new management instruments and practical discussions of the newly developed corporate values. These events gave the participants the chance to discuss their experiences with each other, reflect on their progress, and devise concrete measures to strengthen the bank’s corporate culture.