Scania annual report 2004

The people
behind the products
If Scania is to surpass customer expectations, the whole organisation must be staffed by
highly competent and motivated employees.
Scania’s human resources policy
Scania shall be a highly regarded
employer with competent and dedicated
employees who work in a
creative and healthy environment
where diversity and an ethical approach
are cherished.
Human resource development is a cornerstone
of Scania’s activities. The company
works systematically and continuously
to safeguard and retain a high level of
skills throughout the organisation.
Sales and service growing
At year-end, the number of employees in
Scania’s global organisation was 29,993,
an increase of 3 percent compared to one
year earlier. The increase was mainly attributable
to production units in Europe and
South America, and partly due to expansion
of the service network, including
acquisitions.
Today the sales and service organisation
accounts for about 35 percent of all
employees compared to 10 percent in
1990. About 15 percent of the workforce
consists of women.
Focus on leadership
Scania had an exciting year in 2004, with
the launch of its new truck range. Developing
the trucks from concept to finished
product required a dedicated organisation,
whose strength is competent employees
combined with good leadership.
Dedication and dialogue
Being an attractive employer requires leadership
of the same high quality as the company’s
products and services. The foundation
is a structured dialogue between
manager and employees. Its purpose is to
create a consensus about behaviour and
working methods that supports Scania’s
core values. The strength of these structured
dialogues is that all employees participate.
When everyone is pulling in the same direction,
through a common way of thinking
and working, the results are very positive.
This leadership philosophy is now being
established throughout the Scania organisation.
The good workplace
Scania’s ambition is to be a highly regarded
workplace for its current and future
employees. All employees must feel that
they are contributing to the success of the
company and that they are participating
and undergoing professional growth at
Scania. To obtain a picture of how Scania
employees perceive their working situation
and enable them to influence it and make
improvements, the company conducts
annual employee surveys and individual
human resource development discussions.
The people behind the products are,
and will remain, the key to Scania’s future
success. Human resource development
programmes for our employees have always
been vital for Scania, especially in
their day-to-day work. The Scania Production
System is based on continuous learning.
This approach is now also being
applied to Scania’s administrative departments
as well as its service business.
Freedom of contract and
co-determination
A majority of our employees belong to
unions. Everywhere that Scania does business,
employees have access to company
information and the right to co-determination,
as provided by national legislation.
Good relations between the company
and employees are highly important to
Scania’s success. Such relation-building
occurs through consultation and dialogue
between representatives of the company
and the employees. One example of such a
consultative forum is the Scania European
Committee, which represents Scania
employees in 19 European countries. The
Scania European Committee was formed
in 1998 on the basis of EU legislation on
works councils within international corporate
groups.
Workplace health and safety
All employees at Scania are entitled to a
creative and healthy working environment.
At the same time, each employee is
expected to take responsibility for his or
her own situation and health.
This is why for many years, Scania has
invested in raising employees’ awareness
of a well-balanced existence. When health
awareness increases, the company together
with its employees can work in a positive,
preventive way by promoting health and
countering risks of ill health and poor
working environment.
During 2004, absences due to illness
(sick leaves) in the Scania Group totalled
3.5 percent. A detailed account of such
absences, in accordance with Swedish
legislation, can be found in the Annual
Report of Scania CV AB, which is the
employer of everyone working for Scania
in Sweden.
EMPLOYEES • SCANIA ANNUAL REPORT 2004 14