ManpowerGroup 2013 Annual Report Download - page 19

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 19 of the 2013 ManpowerGroup annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 92

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92

Letter to Investors ManpowerGroup 2013 Annual Report 17
Growth is one of the most important means to achieving higher profitability in 2014.
Although we cannot completely go against the grain of macroeconomic challenges,
we can bend them ever so slightly. Considering the reduction in our expenses over
the past year, we have the potential to create sizable operating leverage. We are
optimistic that we are on a better trajectory, but are always mindful of the certain
uncertainty plaguing the labor market and global economies.
OUR NEXT CHAPTER
As I told our colleagues at the close of the year, 2013 was about celebration—as
we acknowledged our company’s 65th anniversary—but more so, transformation.
As we worked through many challenging decisions, I thought often of one of my
heroes, Mitchell Fromstein, who passed away on November 7 at the age of 85.
I succeeded him as CEO in 1999. We remained in touch over the years, and I can
confidently say he never lost his passion for the business. During his tenure, Mitchell
fought tooth and nail to create breakthroughs in our industry, like Skillware and the
Predictable Performance System, and he never lost sight of our mission to do well
by doing good. He consistently took this company to new heights, even through a
hostile takeover in 1987. Mitchell will be missed, but I can assure you that we will
double our efforts to protect his legacy, especially now as more change comes.
As ManpowerGroup continues to grow and focus on simplification, change remains
our constant. For us, change is not episodic. We never take it lightly, and we’re
purposeful in our actions. We don’t make change for sport, only when it has a
direct correlation to better results.
A great example of this is in the recent decision of the Board of Directors to name
Jonas Prising as Chief Executive Officer and me as Executive Chairman, effective
May 1, 2014. Years of thought and planning went into that decision, and we are
assured that Jonas’ appointment, along with the creation of the Chief Operating
Officer role and a new leader for the Asia Pacific and Middle East region, will only
accelerate our success in the future.
We don’t make change for sport, only when
it has a direct correlation to better results.