The Fiat Group in 1999 - Report on Operations - Fiat SpA

16
FIAT AND ITS PEOPLE
HUMAN RESOURCES AND ORGANIZATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
<strong>The</strong> net effect of several large staff additions and reductions
was an <strong>in</strong>crease of about 800 units <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Group</strong>’s workforce,
which totaled 221,319 employees at December 31, <strong>1999</strong>,
compared with 220,549 at the end of 1998.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Group</strong> hired more than 14,000 new employees <strong>in</strong>
<strong>1999</strong>, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g 5,500 <strong>in</strong> Italy and 8,500 <strong>in</strong> other countries.
Over the same period, about 22,000 people left the
Company (9,000 <strong>in</strong> Italy and 13,000 <strong>in</strong> other countries).
Bus<strong>in</strong>ess acquisitions and divestitures completed dur<strong>in</strong>g
the year resulted <strong>in</strong> a net <strong>in</strong>crease of 13,500 employees.
Count<strong>in</strong>g Case, which will be consolidated <strong>in</strong> 2000, the
<strong>Group</strong>’s workforce would number 236,500 employees at
the end of <strong>1999</strong>.
Number of <strong>Fiat</strong> <strong>Group</strong> employees at 12/31/98 220,549
Additions 14,054
Reductions (21,784)
Outsourc<strong>in</strong>g (5,000)
Changes <strong>in</strong> the scope of consolidation 13,500
Number of employees at 12/31/99 221,319
<strong>The</strong> guidel<strong>in</strong>es that shaped the evolution of the <strong>Group</strong>’s
organization <strong>in</strong> <strong>1999</strong> are reviewed below:
“... streaml<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the organizational structure ...”
In pursuit of this goal, certa<strong>in</strong> operations, especially those
<strong>in</strong> the service area, were concentrated at specially created
<strong>in</strong>sourc<strong>in</strong>g units, to which the respective <strong>Group</strong> assets and
personnel were transferred. Other activities were moved to
external suppliers (outsourc<strong>in</strong>g). <strong>The</strong>se transactions affected
about 12,500 people.
<strong>The</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g two programs were especially significant:
❚ <strong>The</strong> expansion of Comau Service, which now employs
about 7,000 people who provide plant ma<strong>in</strong>tenance services
to <strong>Group</strong> companies and external customers <strong>in</strong> Europe, and
<strong>in</strong> North and South America.
❚ <strong>The</strong> establishment of Ingest-Segim, a company specializ<strong>in</strong>g
<strong>in</strong> the provision of ma<strong>in</strong>tenance services for <strong>in</strong>dustrial
build<strong>in</strong>gs.
At the same time, the implementation of the Nova Project
produced a significant reduction (11.8%) <strong>in</strong> the cost of
support activities. In addition, the core processes of all <strong>Group</strong>
Sectors and companies underwent an <strong>in</strong>-depth reeng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g
process designed to further streaml<strong>in</strong>e the Company’s
operations.
“... focus<strong>in</strong>g on service activities ...”
Centers of professional excellence that can offer high
quality services at lower costs were created <strong>in</strong> recent years.
Taken together, these activities have grown <strong>in</strong>to a significant
organization with<strong>in</strong> the <strong>Group</strong> that <strong>in</strong>cludes 12 specialized
providers of:
❚ Information technology and telecommunications services;
❚ Adm<strong>in</strong>istrative and f<strong>in</strong>ancial services;
❚ Real estate services;
❚ Personnel adm<strong>in</strong>istration and tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g services.
<strong>The</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ed value of the services provided by these units,
which have a total of 9,300 employees, amounts to about 1.5
billion euros (88% <strong>in</strong>tragroup and 12% to external customers).
<strong>The</strong>se activities are expected to achieve substantial growth
by leverag<strong>in</strong>g the knowhow they have accumulated and the
expansion opportunities offered by customers outside the <strong>Group</strong>.
“... promot<strong>in</strong>g the acceptance of the <strong>Group</strong>’s values and
policies ...”
In <strong>1999</strong>, the <strong>Group</strong> <strong>in</strong>tensified its efforts to develop programs
and <strong>in</strong>itiatives that encourage a widespread and systematic
implementation of its values and policies. Particularly
noteworthy programs <strong>in</strong>clude:
❚ <strong>The</strong> test<strong>in</strong>g of a “People Satisfaction Survey,” which polled
2,800 professionals (executives and middle managers) <strong>in</strong> <strong>1999</strong>
and will be expanded <strong>in</strong> 2000. <strong>The</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs it produced helped
management develop programs specifically designed to
improve people satisfaction.
❚ <strong>The</strong> systematic utilization of the Management Review process,
a tool for the assessment of management resources that
was used to evaluate 3,250 executives and more than
800 young employees with high development potential.
<strong>The</strong> results obta<strong>in</strong>ed provided a framework that was used
to design professional career paths and implement a policy
of cross-Sector job mobility.
❚ A significant <strong>in</strong>novation <strong>in</strong> the formulation of the basic
objectives that management is expected to achieve: Value
Creation, Customer Satisfaction and People Satisfaction
were chosen as the yardsticks used to evaluate and reward
top executives.
“... enhanc<strong>in</strong>g competencies...”
In <strong>1999</strong>, the Company cont<strong>in</strong>ued to carry out Project
Professional, a competency enhancement <strong>in</strong>itiative that seeks
to <strong>in</strong>crease the <strong>Group</strong>’s competitiveness by expand<strong>in</strong>g its
store of <strong>in</strong>dividual and shared competencies.