ManpowerGroup 2001 Annual Report Download - page 15

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And, above all, it translates into performance – a company
with the willingness, ability, and capacity to deal with
change, without losing sight of long-range goals, and
create lasting value.
It is our leadership in service, coupled with our values,
which will, again, steady us in 2002, through whatever
economic challenges may occur in the unpredictable days
and months that lie ahead.
Make no mistake: we are confident in our prospects. If the
world economy recovers in 2002, as many believe it will,
we are better positioned to benefit from the surge in
staffing demand that historically follows downturns, and
to move aggressively down a growth track in 2003. But,
even if the environment remains as sluggish as it is at this
writing, we are positioned to perform, thanks to our focus
on productivity, profit margins, and strong cash flows.
In closing, I want to thank our customers and shareholders
for the support and encouragement they provided
throughout the year, and to express our appreciation to our
Board of Directors for their contributions. In particular,
I want to thank Dudley Godfrey and Marvin Goodman,
who will retire from our board this year, for their years of
dedicated service and counsel. I want to thank Terry
Hueneke, who retired as Executive Vice President and head
of the Americas and Asia Pacific operations, after 28 years
of service. Fortunately, Terry will continue as a Director,
and our Board will continue to benefit from his experience
and insight. In addition, after a short tenure on our Board,
I want to wish Nancy Brinker well in her new assignment
as Ambassador to Hungary, which she began in August.
Above all, I want to thank the 22,400 people of Manpower
worldwide for their efforts throughout 2001. While we
accomplished much, we know that looking back is never as
important as looking ahead. The difficult year challenged
our character and commitment, and without hesitation
I can say that we are now a stronger company than we were,
even a year ago. All of us clearly understand that what we
do every day is much more than work.
Jeffrey A. Joerres
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President
March 1, 2002
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Elan and The Empower Group in the past – demonstrates
our overall approach to growth. In making acquisitions,
we’re not interested in simply piling on assets or revenues.
Instead, we focus on opportunities that will both energize
and enrich our core business over the long term and provide
an immediate business “fit” – companies that can respond
to our customers’ business requirements immediately,
without major integration efforts, expenses, or disruptions
required by our existing organization.
A similar service focus drives our approach to technology,
which we deploy with a straightforward goal: making
Manpower the best staffing company to do business with
worldwide.
As a result, we continued our investments in 2001 – making
substantial progress on our integrated back office in the
United States, developing a new front-office system for
Europe, and providing access to our capabilities over the
Internet. And our customers are responding. Our second
generation global e-commerce offering is winning business
at a rapid pace as it offers ease-of-use and a dynamic array of
features, built on the best industry knowledge available in
the world – right here at Manpower.
As important as our strategies and accomplishments are,
however, one prevailing fact remains. It takes talented,
determined people to accomplish our goals. That’s why
one of our major focuses has been on forging a high-
performance organization – one that deeply understands
its markets, lives up to its promises, and uses its uniquely
entrepreneurial culture to capitalize on the opportunities
that our changing industry continually presents.
At the core of this effort is alignment – of our strategies to the
demands of our customers and our marketplace, and of
the daily decisions made by Manpower employees, working
in different countries and different cultures – to a shared
and global set of values focused on people, knowledge, and
innovation. These principles guide and support us every day
in achieving the best solutions for our employees and
our customers.
In fact, the alignment of our strategies and values translates
directly into market leadership with sustainable competitive
advantages. It translates into operating leadership –
the creation of value by combining productivity, scale,
and the sharing of best practices across all of our locations
throughout the 61 countries in which we operate.