Focus topic staff development

Inside KfW IPEX-Bank

International project and export finance is our business; our employees are our DNA. The success of the bank is inextricably linked to our work culture, and this motivates our continual development – also as an employer:

• Awards: In 2025, we again demonstrated our quality as an employer and held the following certificates:
  
  • Trendence “Fair Trainee Programme”
  • “Top Employer”
  • Handelsblatt “Fair Company”
  • kununu “Top Company”
  • Diversity Charter
  • Handelsblatt “Corporate Health Award”
  • FKi Inclusion for Excellence
• Work-life balance = freedom: Following our successful introduction of the workation, combining “work” and “vacation” – in other words, the option to work remotely from abroad for a certain period of time, for personal reasons – we took another step in our flexible working journey during the reporting year with our “time-credit sabbatical” (Anspar Sabbatical). This model enables employees to take paid short-term leave of up to three months, compensated by overtime hours saved up in advance in a working time account.
• Promoting young talent – the X-plore trainee programme: We have expanded our marketing activities and our involvement with universities in an effort to attract highly skilled young talent. Engaging in dialogue at various career fairs, guest lectures and workshops helps us to factor in the needs of students when designing our trainee programmes. We now have six distinct programmes on offer, providing a wide range of options for embarking on a career in the world of international project and export finance.
• Continuous professional development: We see continuous professional development for our staff as providing a breeding ground for ideas and success – both personal and professional. With this in mind, we further expanded the programme at our internal IPEX Academy in 2025 to enable us to meet the requirements both of our worldwide customers and of European banking regulators with maximum expertise.
• Staff development tools and change support: Our staff development is based on a versatile toolbox designed to meet the specific needs of our employees. These tools include coaching and mentoring – both internal and external – a targeted development programme for potential managers, and a scholarship programme for personal development. At the same time, we provide active support for change processes at KfW IPEX-Bank with our change expertise. We launched a cultural transformation in 2025 with our “cultural journey” to drive cooperation and reinforce our corporate culture for the long term through tailored change formats, workshops, and team and departmental offsites.
• Diversity – a strategy not an end in itself: We believe that diversity improves the bank’s innovative strength and competitiveness for the long term. Our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is embedded in our human resources strategy and is closely linked with the overarching purpose and vision of the bank. Our commitment to diversity and equal opportunities is manifested in our commitment to the Diversity Charter, the provisions of which are also set out in our Code of Conduct and integrated in the organisation through a range of measures.
• Solutions for family-related challenges: KfW IPEX-Bank employees have access to professional solutions in the areas of mental health care, childcare and elder care through our employee assistance programmes and the use of specialist service providers.
• Works council: Successful human resource management is based on close and trusting cooperation between management and the works council in the interest of employees. We work hard to maintain this.