verallia: a responsible employer
A SHARED COMMITMENT
The key principles of Verallia’s human resources policy are as follows:
An ongoing commitment to ensure employee health and safety
Recruitment and relations with schools and universities to further contribute
to diversity and excellence
A focus on personal growth and development in career management
Verallia places great importance on issues that
affect its personnel, such as workplace health
and safety, employee motivation, diversity,
good employee relations, labor relations,
and involvement in local communities.
Access to skills and management training programs Employee engagement with the company’s business and social objectives
37
safety
a responsible employer
a zero-risk culture
Verallia’s health and safety policy hinges on
the development of standards to ensure that
our sites are compliant with requirements.
We also deploy programs aimed at changing
behavior and safety management practices
among our employees, as well as temporary
staff and contractors working at our plants.
Two key performance indicators (KPIs) are
tracked at company level on a monthly basis:
the lost-time accident frequency rate (TF1)
and the non-lost-time accident frequency rate
(TF2) for Verallia personnel and contractors/
temporary staff combined.
Verallia applies specific health and safety
standards based on an analysis of the root
causes of the most frequent accidents and
their seriousness.
This process has resulted in the
development of standards for working
at heights; lock-out/tag-out of electrical
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equipment; contractor management;
work permits for potentially hazardous
activities such as welding, grinding
and excavation; operation of forklifts;
and machine safety.
1. Focusing on the basics
Verallia has defined 4 Cardinal Rules, which
were rolled out across the company in 2009
to make employees more aware of the basic
principles of health and safety: do not bypass,
neutralize or damage any safety devices;
always wear suitable personal protective
equipment (PPE); always follow lock-out
procedures systematically; and use proper
equipment and tools at all times.
The implementation of these “4 Cardinal Rules
for saving lives” is regularly tracked in all
of the countries in which we operate.
Management tools
Participatory tools
SMAT, monthly meetings,
5S, daily safety minutes
Cultural tools
TF5
BBS,...
Comprehensive and coherent program
Cardinal
rules
Safety
standards
Internal
plant-level
standards
Clear policy and
responsibilities
Risk assessment for each job and task
2. Collaborative tools
Verallia also has a number of programs
in place aimed at delivering progressive
improvement in safety behavior across
the organization. The primary aim
of the Safety Management Audit Tool (SMAT)
program, for example, now in place at all
our sites around the world, is to enable
managers and operators to discuss safety
in a real work situation, in order to identify
positive behavior as well as areas for
improvement in relation to specific tasks.
(Number of lost-time accidents + fatal accidents) x 1,000,000
TF1
all about
LOCK-OUT /
TAG-OUT
Number of reported accidents x 1,000,000
TF2
Lock-out/Tag-out
is used to ensure that
electrical, mechanical
or hydraulic equipment
is de-energized before work
is carried out on it, to prevent
the equipment from being
inadvertently re-started
or re-energized by
another person.
Safety issues reported back by managers
or operators from the different Verallia entities
as a result of activities under the SMAT and
TF5 (day-to-day risk management) programs
are followed up with associated action plans
at sites, where necessary.
Several sites have also embarked on a
behavior-based safety (BBS) initiative which
aims to foster a safety culture among all
employees, particularly operators. Some
plants (for example Wirges in Germany,
as well as Dego and Carcare in Italy) have
provided employee training to further raise
Number of hours worked
Number of hours worked
Number of recorded unsafe situations x 1,000,000
TF5
Number of hours worked
all about
awareness of safety issues. The Porto Ferreira
site in Brazil has launched the GOS program
(Portuguese for Safety Observation Template),
a series of safety discussions led by members
of the plant’s safety committee (operators
and employee representatives) to ensure the
correct implementation of safety standards
and rules.
TF1
TF2
TF1 - Lost-time accident frequency rate
TF1 measures the number of accidents resulting in more
than 24 hours of time off work. Accidents that occur
when traveling to and from work, or to and from the
location where employees normally eat their meals
during the work day are not included.
TF2 - Non-lost-time accident frequency rate
TF2 measures all accidents requiring medical services
(fatal accidents + lost-time accidents + non-lost-time
accidents).
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health
a responsible employer
two objectives for optimal
working conditions
We have identified two key areas of focus related to health
aspects of our industrial processes.
1. Workstation ergonomics
(movements and postures)
Health risks can relate to lifting
and handling, movements and postures,
or repetitive strain on the upper limbs.
Specialists in ergonomy support the risk
assessment process and help develop
solutions such as warm-up exercises,
awareness training and the installation
of new lifting/handling equipment.
The Lagnieu plant in France, for example,
has introduced warm-up sessions for staff
responsible for adjusting the forming
equipment at the start of a new production
40
run as part of its workplace ergonomics
initiative. The ten-minute warm-up sessions,
led by two in-house instructors, take place
before the job change process to reduce the
risk of injury and back strain when handling
moulds.
Verallia has also produced a best
practice guide for handling moulds, and the
target for 2012 is to ensure that one site in
each country conducts a mould handling
analysis and implements the good practices
outlined in the guide. The Bad Wurzach
plant in Germany has already completed
the analysis, and a number of workstation
modifications have been made to implement
the recommended practices.
example, a soundproofed cabin has been
installed in a central location in the forming
area. The new cabin allows the operator to
conduct quality checks on three separate
IS machines in cooler and quieter conditions.
A number of initiatives has also been
introduced to reduce our employees’
exposure to heat. In Lonigo, Italy, for
example, an air cooling system has been
installed to boost the air renewal rate
and reduce the temperature for personnel
working in the packing area.
2. Exposure to heat and noise
Verallia has adopted the Noise Standard
(NOS) developed by Saint-Gobain in 2004
to assess personnel exposure to noise
generated on site. A noise mapping exercise
has been conducted at each plant, and
a number of techniques have been deployed
to reduce employees’ exposure to noise
pollution. At the Pescia plant in Italy, for
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verallia employeur responsable
a responsible employer
people: our key resource
Human resources are key to Verallia’s corporate
strategy. Our HR policy, built on experience,
wide-ranging expertise, and a commitment to the
Principles of Conduct and Action, combines the
virtues of strength and proximity by:
• Devolving management to country and
subsidiary level
• Leveraging synergies at corporate level, with
a particular focus on career management,
diversity, mobility, and the implementation of
our Principles of Conduct and Action
42
1. Recruitment and university relations
The recruitment of new employees is vital
to the ongoing development of the company.
We select candidates carefully to ensure
that they offer the right combination of
skills, teamworking ability and development
potential. New recruits’ attitude and
behavior must be in line with the Principles
of Conduct and Action, and openness to
functional or geographical mobility may
also be taken into account during the
recruitment process.
As an employer, we are committed to
diversity and equal opportunity, and our
recruitment process is designed to treat all
applicants fairly, regardless of gender, age,
ethnicity and disability.
We are also committed to increasing
the number of women we employ,
particularly in technical jobs, to achieve
a better balance between male and female
employees.
Our recruitment figures for 2011 show
that we are making progress: 32% of the
200 managers who joined Verallia last
year were women (the proportion in France
was 47%).
Verallia has an policy of active
engagement with schools and universities.
Our HR teams take part in recruitment
r ecru itme nt
events hosted by educational institutions
to interview and select students
for internships and entry-level positions.
Examples include: the Forum Trium
recruitment fair, held by a group of
prestigious French engineering schools; Foro
de empleo in Burgos, Spain and a number
of career fairs in the United States.
To boost Verallia’s profile as an attractive
employer among universities specializing
in our key disciplines (engineering,
packaging, sales and marketing), we also
send out speakers to talk about their career
experiences to students in specific courses.
The range of subjects and speakers is
impressive and includes a presentation on
marketing and design office activities at
the French packaging engineering school
ESIEC; an “industry jobs” seminar at the
Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées
(ENPC) engineering school near Paris, France,
attended by a Verallia plant manager; and
the design of teaching modules for Master’s
degrees at the Polytechnic University of Turin
in Italy. Plants in various countries regularly
host visits to demonstrate our industrial
expertise to students, and to encourage
them to join Verallia upon completion
of their studies. Students from
the University of Reggio Emilia in Italy
recently visited our sites in Gazzo
Veronese and Villa Poma,
for example, while a group
from ENPC toured the Oiry
plant in France.
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a responsible employer
2. Career management and training
Our employees always have been, and always
will be, our greatest asset for growth. Their
specialized expertise, their adaptability and
capacity for innovation, and their motivation
and engagement will enable Verallia to
continue to grow and to meet new challenges
and seize opportunities.
Verallia works hard to foster a culture
of real internal mobility and development,
supported by a range of initiatives designed to
help our employees fulfill their potential.
At Verallia, we consider knowledge sharing
to be very important. Therefore, considerable
effort is devoted to training. Recent years have
seen a continuous increase in the percentage
of our workforce that has received training
(approximately 83% in 2011) and the number
of hours of training (more than 49 hours per
employee in 2011).
In 2011, the amount invested in training
by Verallia was equivalent to 3.4% of the total
payroll.
Our training programs are structured
around two principal areas:
• Skills training to develop the knowledge
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and expertise of employees. Technical
training, for example, represented 54%
of the total volume of training in 2011
(compared with 42% in 2010). The majority
of training is provided at our in-house
training centers (such as the international
training center in Chalon-sur-Saône, France,
and the Technical Training Center in Marion,
Indiana, United States).
• Management training to develop team
leadership and project management skills
of current and future managers
In addition to conventional classroom-based
training, we also use tutoring programs to
transfer knowledge and expertise in work
situations. Tutors come from the same entities
as tutees, receive special training in tutoring
techniques, and conduct their tutoring
activities according to a structured step-bystep program that ends with an assessment
of the skills acquired by the individual.
Tutoring programs are mainly used with
technical staff at our plants, for example
to develop skills in both forming and packing
activities (in France), or to allow operators to
be seconded for a three-week training period
car eer de velopme nt
to acquire new skills (in Spain).
We also offer training programs at our
plants for recently graduated engineers
(such as the Pépinière program in France and
the Management Leadership Development
Program in the US), whereby trainees spend
time in a variety of roles, interspersed with
specialist training sessions, over a period
of 15-30 months. Engineers are assigned
supervisory positions in operational teams
upon completion of the training program.
Mentoring programs are part of the
management development process in
Germany and the United States. Participating
managers meet with their assigned mentor—
with whom they do not have a direct
reporting relationship—on several occasions
during a period of 12-18 months. The meetings
give mentees the opportunity to discuss
issues they are facing at work, and to receive
advice and support from the mentor, often in
the form of customized action plans.
Verallia employees also have access to
a range of e-learning tools. In 2011, a series
of six technical e-learning modules about
the glassmaking process were developed by
Verallia’s training department. The modules
have been translated into several languages
and are available to all personnel.
Finally, in each of its countries of operation,
Verallia offers single-year or multi-year
study-and-work apprenticeships for young
people (who represent approximately
3% of our total workforce) in the fields of
production, maintenance, finance, marketing
and human resources. The apprenticeships
combine high-quality practical experience
with the theoretical training provided at
school, helping to make the participants more
employable. Some of the apprentices are
hired as full-time Verallia employees upon
completion of their course.
Our human resources teams and managers
have a range of tools and processes at their
disposal to support employees’ professional
development. Annual appraisal interviews,
for example, provide employees with an
opportunity to talk to their direct supervisor
about areas for improvement and training
needs. Verallia employees also have access
to an intranet site that provides information
about internal job vacancies, allowing them to
be proactive in managing their careers.
Annual “People Reviews” are held at the
team level in all of our countries of operation,
helping to identify employees with the desire
and potential to benefit from international
experience. International assignments,
which last an average of three years, deliver
significant benefits for both the employee
and the company: They provide
a demanding yet undeniably
enriching experience for the
employee, both personally
and professionally, while
promoting the development
of a shared culture,
creating synergies,
and fostering
exchanges of best
practices, all of which
strengthen Verallia
as a company.
In 2011, 45 managers
benefited from assignments
abroad.
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a responsible employer
3. Employee engagement
employee relations
We recognize that labor union cultures
and labor relations environments vary
from country to country, and we adapt our
approach accordingly, with the same strong
commitment to ensuring constructive
and balanced dialog with employees
in all of our countries of operation.
In the United States, for example, for
the past four years Verallia North America’s
Labor Relations Director and the head
of the GMP labor union have hosted a joint
event for students at Purdue University
to promote good labor relations based
on mutual trust, communication and respect
for employees.
In France, where there is a long tradition
of social dialogue, an innovative agreement
regarding union recognition was reached
in 2011 to enable employee representatives
to reconcile their union commitments with
their professional development. Key provisions
of the agreement include support for union
officials at the beginning and end of their
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term, training in the rights and responsibilities
of employee representatives and access
to high-level training in communication
and economics at a leading French graduate
school for labor union stakeholders.
Several other agreements have also been
signed in France in recent years, reflecting
a shared commitment to progress in areas
such as gender equality, jobs and skills
management, planning and profit sharing.
Finally, labor relations at the international
level are becoming more structured as
European labor organizations work together
more closely.
share options and profit-sharing
Verallia employees can access Saint-Gobain’s
savings plan (where local legislation permits).
Launched in France in 1988, the share option
plan has been gradually extended to include
nine countries, including some in South
America. It enables employees to build savings
over a number of years, based mainly upon
Saint-Gobain share options granted at an
attractive price.
In some countries, including France,
employee r el atio n s an d e n gageme nt
employee salaries can also be enhanced
by incentive and profit-sharing plans.
increasing employee engagement through
satisfaction surveys and family events
Employee satisfaction surveys were conducted
in Spain, Portugal, South America and Russia
in 2011 to measure employee attitudes
and expectations. Survey questionnaires
are completed anonymously by employees
and cover areas such as work atmosphere,
management, communications, pay, career
management and training. The survey results
have been reported back to all personnel,
and action plans have been implemented
to drive improvements in certain areas.
Verallia is also committed to involving
employees’ families in special events
so our personnel can share and take pride
in their everyday work environment.
Open houses held when a furnace is rebuilt,
or to mark the completion of site upgrade
projects (such as that which took place
recently at the Azuqueca plant in Spain),
provide families with an ideal opportunity
for a site visit.
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a responsible employer
audits: as transparent as glass
Demonstrating its commitment to social
and environmental responsibility and reinforcing
its competitive advantage in these areas,
Verallia was the first glass packaging company
to introduce a program of audits carried out
by an independent body.
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In 2011, audits were conducted at all
of our sites by Intertek, a firm that
specializes in the assessment of companies'
performance in the fields of compliance,
quality, safety, environment and social
responsibility. With a network of more
than 1,000 laboratories in 100 countries,
and more than 30,000 employees, Intertek
is a leading provider of social and
environmental performance assessment
and certification services.
The audit results illustrate our
employees’ commitment to sustainable
development: one-third of the 47 sites
audited scored 98% or more, and two-thirds
scored more than 92%.
The audits highlighted our excellent
performance in employee communications,
and our efforts to stop discrimination
and to reduce our environmental impact
through our programs to reduce energy
consumption, CO2 and other emissions,
and our structured approach to monitoring
safety performance.
social au dits
The audits carried out at Verallia’s sites by Intertek featured more than 400 questions relating to five main themes:
Working conditions
Wages and
working hours
Health and safety
Management
systems
Environment
Child labor
Working hours
Work area
Documentation
Regulatory compliance
Forced labor
Pay and benefits
Emergency preparedness
Employee engagement
Effectiveness of sites’ environmental
Work-related accidents
and profit sharing
management systems
Equipment safety
Audits and monitoring
Freedom of association
and collective bargaining
Freedom from
discrimination
–
–
Disciplinary practices
–
Work contracts
–
of corrective actions
Risks
Chemicals and hazardous
substances
Cafeterias and break areas
–
Integrity
–
–
–
–
–
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