Porsche 2004 Annual Report Download - page 84

Porsche has undertaken on the basis of its commercial and social
responsibility to create and maintain safe, healthy working conditions for
its employees.
Employees80
Porsche is a sought-after employer among young scientific graduates.
This is confirmed by the leading survey conducted among graduates
working in Germany, held by the “Trendence” Institute for Human
Resources Marketing. When engineers and business management
graduates are asked to state their preferred employees, Porsche
continues to score high rankings.
Follow-up Training for Managerial Staff
Continuously extended in recent years, the aim of the Strategic
Management Process is to ensure that the high standards of compe-
tence exhibited by Porsche managers are upheld. The programs for
the systematic advancement of young performers and potential
talents therefore continued. They comprise the two-year “Porsche
Junior Staff Advancement” (PNF) program for employees of Porsche
AG and its German subsidiaries, and the group-wide “Globalution”
program to prepare staff for international duties. During the review
year, three groups completed their programs successfully, and as
before, participants have now begun to perform numerous manage-
rial functions.
For experienced managerial staff, “Porsche Management Training”
(PMT) continued in cooperation with the European Business School in
Oestrich-Winkel. As well as providing instruction in topical, practically
oriented general management areas, the program promotes the
formation of networks, the build-up of a common understanding of
management principles and an overall strengthening of entrepreneur-
ial and Group-related thought and action.
New Management Guidelines Introduced
In order to do justice to changed demands on the competitive scene,
the Porsche management guidelines that were revised a year pre-
viously were introduced in three steps during the review year. After
the guidelines have been presented at a number of information events,
workshops are held to give managerial staff has an opportunity to
tackle these topics more actively. In addition, a start has been made
on integrating the new management guidelines into the target-group
programs that are part of the strategic management process, for
instance Porsche Junior Staff Advancement (PNF) or Porsche
Management Development (PFE).
The main contents of the new management guidelines consist of a
commitment to product and process quality, the ‘lean production’
and employee advancement. In addition, one aspect is given special
emphasis: Porsche, although a relatively small manufacturer, is none
the less independent and wishes to remain so in the future. This in-
dependent approach is firmly anchored in its corporate heritage.
Promoting Health and Industrial Safety
Employees’ health is of the greatest possible importance in terms of
the performance of which they are capable and the company’s overall
success. In this connection, great importance is attached to the pre-
vention of illness. The eleventh Porsche Health Meeting, held in
May 2005, dealt with the function of the immune system and vaccina-
tions. Together with the Department of Rheumatology and Clinical
Immunology at Freiburg University, an anonymous personal web-based
questionnaire campaign concerning the functional efficiency of the
immune system was conducted for the first time throughout Germany.
Some 400 Porsche employees had the strengths and weaknesses
of their immune system checked. Voluntary advice on inoculations
was also available during the event, the aim being to make employees
aware of the status and validity of their own vaccinations.
The following central aspects of industrial safety were discussed:
Drawing up plant concepts in accordance with safety requirements,
including defect-free assembly, objective assessment of the risks
inherent in work processes and active promotion of the employees’
awareness of safety. In additional to cross-department measures,
programs aimed at satisfying the specific needs of the various com-
pany locations are regularly developed and implemented.
Awareness of Environmental Topics
In a manufacturing company such as Porsche, environmental protec-
tion is a joint task shared between the permanent environmental
management system and every individual employee. For this reason
the workforce is kept regularly informed about environmental protec-
tion topics. During the review year the leaflet “Active for the Environ-
ment” was updated and distributed to all employees. Among the
topics that it discusses are the company’s environmental guidelines
and the build-up of Porsche’s environmental management system.
Ideas Management Remains Successful
The number of improvement suggestions received in the review year
rose by about 50 percent. This is evidence of the support Porsche
receives from its workforce on the continuous improvement of all
work procedures and the products themselves. Ideas management is
an indispensable tool for accessing innovative potential.
A high degree of willingness to work flexibly and with above-average
dedication to the task in hand is evidence of the workforce’s determi-
nation to make Porsche even more competitive. Expertise and per-
sonal initiative at a high level were also decisive factors in the review
year that enabled the extremely ambitious business targets to be
reached and even outperformed. The Executive Board wishes to
express its sincerest thanks to all employees.
Thanks are also due in particular to the employees’ elected repre-
sentatives, who strove for their colleagues best interests while being
prepared to accept essential business decisions and thus play an
active part in rendering the company fit for the future. Clearly oriented
cooperation between company management and the Works Council
is the key element in the very special corporate culture for which
Porsche is noted, and without which its continued success could
never be achieved.