Volvo 2000 Annual Report Download - page 18

16
The year with
The Volvo Way
During the year, The Volvo Way was
developed further resulting in the
Volvo Human Resources Agenda. The
agenda shows how the Volvo Group’s
core values – safety, quality and envi-
ronmental care – are to be reflected
in policies and operational activities,
all with the aim of fulfilling the Volvo
Group’s strategic objectives. The
agenda is broadly established within
the organization and is an important
tool in implementing The Volvo Way
throughout the entire Volvo Group.
To support a continuous dialogue
on The Volvo Way, a series of work-
shops were held during the year. The
employees are given the opportunity to
have a dialogue with their colleagues
and their managers on key issues in
The Volvo Way. It is the employees
who make The Volvo Way a reality.
Multicultural competence
A strong organization prepared for changes
The development of the Volvo Group’s structure in recent years has placed major demands
on its employees’ willingness to change. In order to strengthen and unify the global company,
a development program The Volvo Way, started in 1999. It describes Volvo’s values and cor-
porate culture and how managers and employees should cooperate in the best way. By expend-
ing more energy and passion, and showing respect for the individual, Volvo’s objectives will be
fulfilled more rapidly.
The personnel strategy for change is based on three components: a sense of belonging and
identity, created through The Volvo Way; insight into change, created through open dialogue
with employees and union representatives; and acceptance of, and identification with, Volvo’s
vision, achieved through clear, realistic and challenging goals.
Focusing on leadership
During periods of major change, effective leadership is crucial for the outcome of this change.
Accordingly, Volvo continuously invests in management development, and this will also
include the expertise added by Mack and Renault V.I. Volvo believes that value-driven leader-
ship is fundamental to success and has therefore created a model showing the values required
when setting the direction, creating structure, energy and commitment and delivering change
and results. The leadership model is used when recruiting, promoting, developing, evaluating
and rewarding managers within the Volvo Group. Measures to master key
competencies are an integral part, and when management personnel are
working to attain these competencies the targeted behavior is reinforced and
rewarded.
Furthermore, a global introduction program for new managers was introduced during the
year to strengthen the global integration and the internal culture of the Group. In this way, a
global company with common basic values and a strong network within management will be
created.
Health and wellbeing
The sound health of employees is of major importance, both for the individual and the com-
pany. Volvo works actively with health and the work environment and various activities were
carried out in this area during the year. In the autumn of 2000, a health conference was
A global company
with multicultural competence
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