Volvo 2015 Annual Report Download - page 70

By the end of 2015, the Volvo Group had 88,464 per-
manent employees and 11,037 temporary employees
and consultants, compared to 92,828 permanent
employees and 11,750 temporary employees and
consultants at the end of 2014. The reduction of 5,078 people is
a consequence of the Group-wide structural cost reduction pro-
gram announced in autumn 2013, and finalized during 2015.
Attracting the right talent
Being an employer of choice involves participation at student fairs
at the top engineering and business universities. We collaborate
with target groups of students through study visits at Volvo and
on-campus company activities. The Group also runs the 12-month
Volvo Group International Graduate Program with the aim of
recruiting the right competence to develop future key talent.
Our Academic Partner Program (APP) is a highly exclusive pro-
gram for selected universities working in areas that support the
Volvo Group’s long-term plan. We have APP partners in Sweden,
France, the US, China, India and Japan. APP includes two kinds
of partnerships: Preferred Research Partners and Preferred Tal-
ent Partners.
Personal business plan to ensure progress
All employees are expected to have a personal business plan that
translates our corporate strategic objectives into individual objec-
tives and contributions. It includes business-related and compe-
tence development targets, and provides essential feedback for
both short and long-term individual development. Employees
review their plan annually together with their manager to ensure
mutual understanding of roles and expectations.
Survey to measure engagement and performance
The annual Volvo Group Attitude Survey (VGAS) is a tool towards
higher commitment and a higher performing organization, by rais-
ing employee engagement.
In this survey the Volvo Group measures itself against an interna-
tional database of approximately 15 million employees from over
80 countries used by over 400 companies. Our target for 2015 was
to be one of the world’s top 25% companies. Our results remain
above the global norm, but our target was not achieved. The VGAS
2015 shows slightly lower employee engagement compared to last
year (71% versus 72%) and compared to high-performing organi-
zations, which are following an upward trend. The performance
excellence index (PEI), which indicates whether the Volvo Group
has the right structures and processes to support customers, fell
one percentage point to 73%. The 2015 leadership effectiveness
index stayed at 70%.
Targeted action plans are being implemented in order to
increase engagement and performance levels.
Harmonized job evaluation
In 2015 the roll-out of global, common job evaluation methodol-
ogy continued. 85% of white collar positions across all the busi-
nesses are now evaluated using a common methodology.
Based on this, locally-competitive pay structures have been set
up for our 15 biggest countries, using a harmonized methodology
but linked to local market data.
Volvo Group University
Every year we allocate around half a million training days to our
employees and retail organizations worldwide. The Volvo Group
University is now established as our center of further education
and learning activities to efficiently support our strategy in all
major competence areas in the Group. The University enhances
the consistency and quality of the training we offer and ensures
that the training outcome support business operations.
Developing high-performing leaders
Talent review at the Volvo Group is a key tool in developing and
managing talent. It is the formal review of performance and
potential across the pool of leaders, including succession plan-
ning for the leadership teams.
The Leadership Pipeline framework is developed within the
Volvo Group to support our present leaders as well as our poten-
tial leaders prepare for future roles. This is well supported by our
leadership programs and other learning offers, for example men-
torship.
During 2015, 67 mentees and 63 mentors participated in the
Volvo Group Female Mentoring Program aimed at developing
leaders by sharing knowledge and experience.
SKILLED WORKFORCE
SKILLS TO PERFORM
A skilled workforce is necessary to reach long-term
success. In order to outperform our competitors, we
need people with the right competences across all of
our businesses.
A GLOBAL GROUP BUSINESS MODEL SHARED VALUE
68