Pharmaceuticals Sector - Solvay

46
Solvay Global Annual Report 2005
In Brazil, the 150 managers participating
in this program gave it a very
positive assessment.
Even though the message has
been delivered in different cultures,
the “Living Values” seminar was
particularly well received in all these
countries, with comments like
“the interactive exercises help us
really grasp the meaning of these
values” and “the presentation of
behaviour examples rooted this
session fi rmly in the real world.”
In 2006 all Group employees
who have not yet done so will be
invited to take part in this half-day
workshop at their plant or site,
during which they will explore the
Group Values in action in practical,
everyday working situations.
These 1 000 or so sessions
indicate the importance the Group
attaches to the implementation of
its Values.
Chinese recruitment drive
To make a success of its industrial
strategy, with its very clear
objectives, in particular in Asia, to
successfully complete ongoing
projects and to initiate new ones,
the Group needs new skills and
talents from Asia. For this reason
the Group is developing recruitment
campaigns in China.
Large numbers of students have
already had an opportunity to get
to know Solvay at conferences
presented by Group managers at
top Chinese universities.
Our fi rst graduate recruits will soon
be starting a two-year training
program in our production units.
The creation of a base of skills
and talents in China is therefore
under way.
Annual assessment
interviews: at least one
Innovation objective for
every manager
Individual performance assessments
pursue a double goal of
raising our business effectiveness
and contributing to personal
development. This continuous
process includes the annual
assessment interview.
In order to strengthen the commitment
of all management staff to
the Innovation drive supporting the
Group’s growth strategy, all managers
defi ned at least one Innovation
objective to be achieved in 2006
during their assessment interviews
at the end of 2005.
This will help the Group meet the
three Innovation challenges issued
in 2003:
– 20% of sales from products, markets
or applications developed in
the last fi ve years;
– 50% of Innovation projects
carried out with external partners
(customers, authorities, universities,
suppliers, etc.); and
– 100% of Group entities engaged
in at least one offi cially recognized
Innovation project.
European Works
Council a partner in
Sustainable Development
The Solvay European Works
Council, which was set up on a
voluntary basis in 1995, celebrated
its 10th anniversary by examining,
together with representatives of
senior management, the topic
of “being players in a more
sustainable development and
society” during an international
seminar held in Belgium in
October 2005.
At the end of this seminar, all
partners agreed that for our Group,
Sustainable Development is a
priority that needs to be viewed as
a state of mind to be developed,
shared and put into practice, and
to be better understood in all its
dimensions through more active
training and communication.
The European Works Council was
recognized as a strategic partner
in the success of this effort, with
Human Resources
a vital role relaying the program to
local representative bodies.
With regard more specifi cally to
the social aspect and human
resources, emphasis was placed
on three items: the climate of trust
to be constantly cultivated within
the enterprise, the need for unrelenting
training, and the importance
of maintaining and enriching the
Group’s skills capital.
The seminar also clearely showed
that the success of this undertaking
necessarily involves the
proactive opening of the company
towards all its outside stakeholders,
and fi rst among them local
communities.
Corporate
Communication
In 2005, the Group’s Solvay Live
magazine received a commendation
from the UJJEF, a French
association for Business
Communication.
Every year the UJJEF organizes
grands prix, in various categories,
based on several hundred dossiers
submitted by agencies that assist
business enterprises with their
media publications.
Solvay and the Créacom agency,
with whom we produce our Solvay
Live magazine, were one of the
three nominees for the International
Magazine Prize.
Participation in this competition
is a strong incentive for progress,
and this commendation places
Solvay Live among the best
international internal company
publications.