|
Develop skills, build commitment, share knowledge and best practices, and reinforce customer orientation: by helping its employees realize their potential, Nexans ensures its future growth and performance.
To drive its growth and prepare for the future, Nexans strives to develop and promote quality employees, with skills corresponding to the Group’s needs and managers open to mobility.
Training: a deeper investment
Continuing education is crucial for progress. The aim: allow each employee to enrich his or her skills and performance, and mobilize personnel around shared values, goals, and methods, so as to contribute to the Group’s success.
One of Nexans priorities in 2005 was to increase sales training and customer orientation. To that end, the Group launched the Sales+ program, which is being progressively rolled out to all of its 650 sales men and women around the world. Sales Managers from several countries were brought together in workshops to learn about sales method improvement modules. Nexans also constantly adapts its training programs to suit the needs and changes of its businesses, as identified on a country-by-country basis.
Recruitment: a preference for mobility
Recruitment is another of Nexans’ growth drivers. In 2005, the Group recruited 200 engineers and managers, favoring young graduates able to work in an international environment. Several young people have joined Nexans around the world, primarily through internship programs where they receive high-quality professional training. In addition, the restructurings completed in Europe and North America were accompanied by job plans that included a variety of internal and external placements.
Career management and performance evaluation: standardized procedures
Nexans launched an initiative to standardize annual performance reviews and establish a Career Committee in each country, with the goal of better managing employees’ career progression and geographic mobility. All the manager positions available within the Group will soon be accessible online through a job database called Nextjob, which will compile all the jobs offered in each country.
An open and constructive labor dialogue
Through Newco, the Nexans European Work Council representing 13 countries, the Group maintains an open, constructive dialogue with labor union representatives. Newco meets twice a year; in 2005 these meetings were held in June and September. Discussions are primarily centered on the Group’s strategic plan and its implications for manufacturing operations and Nexans employees.
Employees with an eye on the bottom line
Nexans uses all the relevant methods to make sure its employees are focused on value creation. Manager compensation is made up of a fixed salary plus a variable bonus tied to goals set at the start of the year; some of these goals are linked to the Group’s financial performance, and the rest are individual. Sales people are also eligible for a profit-sharing scheme and a bonus tied to their entity’s results.
In 2005, Nexans set up a stock option plan for some classes of managers who are not on the Executive Committee, with the aim of focusing employees on the Group’s overall performance. A new international employee share purchase plan will be launched in the first half of 2006.
Some key figures
Total of employees
|
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
|
|
|
17,000 |
17,700* |
19,600 |
|
|
|
Number of new hires
|
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
|
|
|
|
1,150 |
1,350 |
2,300 |
|
|
|
|
