A culture of performance and development

Our employees’ performance objectives are aligned with the Group’s purpose, which places clients at the center of all that we do. We measure our employees’ performance based on their contribution to the achievement of our business goals and against behavioral expectations. These expectations have been captured in our Conduct and Ethics Standards framework since 2017 and will now further evolve to our cultural values going forward. Our globally consistent performance management process enables line managers to assess the performance, behavior and development potential of employees throughout the year.

The setting of clear objectives at the beginning of the year, followed by mid-year and year-end reviews, allows line managers to perform a comprehensive individual performance evaluation in accordance with global process standards and guidelines. This performance assessment process allows us to identify the potential of our employees in order to effectively manage our pool of talent and promote individual development.

Consistent with our performance culture, we recognize the need to compensate our employees fairly and competitively, while complying with regulatory requirements and our cultural expectations (see Compensation section on pages 33–35 for more details).

Our 2020 Pulse Survey was conducted in early summer and resulted in a high engagement score, with more than eight out of ten employees saying they are proud to work at Credit Suisse and are ready to go above and beyond in their job. For the 2020 survey, we added three specific questions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were encouraged to hear that 92% of our employees said that they felt their wellbeing had been supported during the pandemic and that they felt they had been well informed.