dm-drogerie markt
Germany's favourite employer is a culture case, not a structure case
dm is the German reference for dialogic leadership: stores plan their own rosters and order quantities, the founder's anthroposophical idea of the self-determined employee runs through everything, and the company keeps growing. But assortment, prices, store design and purchasing are central, and the CEO says so himself.
Last reviewed: 16 September 2026
Why this status
Commercially and culturally strong, and the model survived the founder's death in 2022. But the decentralisation is real only at the store-operations level; the structure is a conventional retailer with an unusual leadership culture.
What makes it a Beta case
- Dialogic leadership (Götz Werner, with Karl-Martin Dietz): decisions are prepared in dialogue, the store manager is a colleague, not a supervisor; training is designed as personal development.
- Store autonomy in operations: rosters, order quantities and local promotions are decided in the store.
- Subsidiarity as the stated principle: "regulate as little as possible centrally" (Christoph Werner, February 2026).
- No individual sales targets in stores, no bonus culture, above-average pay in the sector.
What is documented
- Financial year 2024/25 (to 30 September 2025): revenue EUR 19.2bn (+8.2%), Germany EUR 13.28bn (+6.5%), 93,426 employees, 4,189 stores (2,154 in Germany), more than EUR 250m of investment planned. Profit is not published.
- Top employer #1 in the stern/Statista ranking 2025; the founder's death in 2022 did not change the leadership language or the growth.
- Christoph Werner (CEO since 2019) continues to describe subsidiarity as the operating principle.
Where it cracks
- The same CEO admits that "many decisions are centralised". Assortment, prices, store design, supply chain and marketing are central; in December 2025 purchasing was reorganised under three assortment heads; SAP S/4HANA is being rolled out group-wide.
- Store autonomy stops at rosters, order quantities and local promotions - there is no store profit and loss, no relative league table, no pricing authority.
- Labour disputes exist: ver.di criticism of a distribution centre in 2023, a "union-busting" accusation in 2024 over a lawsuit against a works-council chairman (settled).
- Profit is not published, so the economic claim rests on revenue growth and rankings, not on margins.
Verdict
dm belongs in the list because it shows that a humane leadership culture is compatible with 93,000 people and 8% growth. It does not belong in the list as a Beta structure. The honest description is: a centrally run retailer that treats its store staff as adults - which is more than most, and less than Beta.
For a talk
dm proves that treating 93,000 people as adults is good business - it does not prove that the store is the company.
Sources
- dm Newsroom: Geschäftsjahr 2024/25 (2025-10)
- Markt und Mittelstand: Interview Christoph Werner (2026-02)
- Supermarkt Inside: dm strukturiert die Geschäftsführungsbereiche neu (2025-12)
- Lebensmittel Zeitung: dm verteilt Verantwortung für Sortimente neu (2025-12)
- Oliver Wyman Podcast: Christoph Werner - Eintauchen und wirklich verstehen (2025-04)
- AustriaWiki: dm-drogerie markt (ver.di-Kritik 2023/2024) (2024)