annual report - Royal Haskoning

our team
report of the board of management
diversity in human resources
Royal Haskoning offers more than just a workplace. It focuses attention on people. Individual talent must be free to blossom
in order to perform in a team. That calls for a corporate culture based on integrity and transparency, and also appreciation
for the value added by diversity. We firmly believe that the use of differences in competences, gender, ethnicity, age and
education has a positive effect in our team. It is therefore satisfying to see that more women were taken on in 2006 than in
previous years. Thirty percent of the new employees in the Netherlands are female. In 2006 the effort on diversity was still
mainly aimed at the process of awareness, among other things by means of participation in the Ambassadors Network in
the Netherlands. A women’s panel has been set up as a sounding board and to encourage initiatives that in the coming years
will lead to a more balanced proportion of men to women and better progression of women into more senior positions.
performance management
We are making increasing use of output (performance) rather than input (attendance) in our management tools. This also
enables us to offer our staff ever more flexibility in working hours and location, partly thanks to significantly improved
ICT systems. Output-driven management also forms the basis for the introduction of a variable remuneration package,
for which 2006 was a pilot year. In accordance with our objectives, the terms of employment are putting an increasing
emphasis on flexibility and team working. Better matching of the work to someone’s personal situation is also part of
this policy. In the new system, collective and individual performance for each advisory group is measured on the basis of
improvements in four aspects: client, finances, internal processes and learning & growth. Managers have been trained in
applying performance management effectively.
labour market
The shortage in the labour market has been felt in the United Kingdom for some time and is increasing noticeably in the
Netherlands. Action is being taken on various fronts to prevent this from developing into an Achilles heel. In line with our
plan, we started international personnel recruitment in 2006. This has proved primarily successful for filling our vacancies
in England.
The growing number of highly educated women offers an opportunity to increase diversity as well as to avoid a shortage of
capacity. Incidentally, we can also see a ray of hope – a positive swing in the interest shown in technical subjects in schools.
We are actively contributing to the promotion of science subjects among school children by participating in, among other
things, JetNet (Youth and Technology Network).
Besides the external labour market, the internal market also requires attention. We can keep employees with us for longer
by offering new internal challenges. A plan for actively encouraging job rotation was therefore developed in 2006, so that
staff will be better informed about the opportunities for development and experience in other parts of Royal Haskoning.
>> more attention for the value of diversity
>> more output-driven management
>> new initiatives in the internal and external labour markets
annual report 2006 >> 17