Annual Report 2009 UK - Bonfiglioli

Human resources
Management Report
The crisis situation occurring in the first few months of 2009 made it necessary for the business to
take various organisational measures that have been summed up and approved as part of a prelimi-
nary three-year industrial plan (2009-2011). The actions defined have concerned the entire Group
and have been worked out in detail based upon the following strategic lines:
• simplification and better organisational focus through definition of 2 Business Units (Industrial-
Photovoltaic and Mobile-Wind) headed by general managers with far-reaching powers, who have
been put in charge of management of the Group’s entire business, with the exception of some
central functions such as Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, strategic Marketing
and corporate Quality Control;
• adoption of processes and an organisation that utilises the principles of lean production at all
levels and which - together with creation of the 2 BU’s - is producing a great cultural and organi-
sational change in all companies in the Group;
• definition of actions even in the short term that should allow for large reductions of fixed costs
that has led to managerial level agreements (managers of the Group), as well as agreements with
trade union representatives on different fronts as described in the following points.
At the level of Bonfiglioli Riduttori S.p.A. alone, the Parent company, the various actions taken during
the year have led to a reduction in the overall number of employees by nearly 110, from 1,486 to
1,376 employees (excluding executives) from January to December 2009. At first, Interim employ-
ment contracts were eliminated and agreements were reached regarding fixed term contracts, some
of which were completed while others were converted into contracts with no fixed term. Agreements
have been reached at both the Parent company and other companies in the Group on how to mana-
ge the crisis by having recourse to ordinary Layoff Benefits Fund and through Solidarity agreements.
During the second half of the year the transfer of electric motor assembly lines from the Calderara
di Reno (B5) factory to the one at Lippo (B1) was completed with transfer of the entire workforce of
B5. The operation took place in agreement with the trade unions and with a shared commitment re-
garding the implementation and management of 5S production and quality improvement programs.
Subsequently, at the end of November an agreement was reached permitting the Parent company
to have recourse to Extraordinary Layoff Benefits Fund for 12 months and to simultaneously start 80
employees on a mobility procedure. Procedures to encourage personnel to leave the company began
in early 2010 and are still underway.
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Annual Report 2009