Our employees are our success

Since Infratek’s spin-off as a separate Group in 2007 and the acquisition of Fortum’s contracting business in 2009, Infratek has channelled significant resources into cultivating a common corporate culture and establishing a solid platform for expertise development and recruitment. In 2011 work continued to establish sound, shared routines and processes for the development of employees and expertise across national boundaries.

Ongoing dialogue with employees
Infratek prioritises adopting HR policies that facilitate both personal and technical development and enable the Group to maintain, develop and attract the market’s leading lights. Securing access to sufficient technical expertise to compensate for future retirements represents a challenge. The ability to attract new staff and retain existing core expertise will be critical for Infratek’s development over the next five years.

It is important that Infratek employs personnel and managers with commitment and presence at all levels in the Group. Infratek is fully aware that individual employees need to feel appreciated, and this is also confirmed in our annual working environment surveys. During 2011 Infratek revitalised the annual employee survey to include a clearer focus on improvement initiatives. The survey establishes new index figures and now primarily focuses on job satisfaction, motivation, commitment and management and also facilitates measurement and monitoring at a long-term strategic level. Skilled, committed and motivated employees will make a critical contribution to the Group’s future progress. Internal communications shall be characterised by transparency, clarity and dialogue, and be based on personal meetings between managers and employees.

It is important that Infratek continues its effective dialogue and collaboration with employee representatives. The agreement framework established between the parties governing day-to-day work is therefore an important management tool in daily initiatives to develop and adapt Infratek’s business. Staffing adjustments were required over the course of the year in both Sweden and Norway. Some major changes were implemented in the departments in Østfold in Norway and Eksjö in Sweden. These proved demanding and stressful for all those involved. It would not have been possible to successfully implement these measures without the collaboration of the company’s employee representatives. Affected employees have been offered career guidance with the aim of making it as easy as possible for them to find alternative employment.
 

Skills and management development
We believe that skills development in an organisation where people learn from each other’s experiences will provide a solid foundation for continuous improvement of our business processes. Interdisciplinary teamwork is important if we are to reach our potential and deliver good results. New managers are primarily identified and appointed by means of internal recruitment. This provides good opportunities for employees to progress further in the organisation at the same time as retaining knowledge within Infratek. During 2011 Infratek continued its training offering for managers started in autumn 2010, when around 80 managers participated in an overarching programme focusing on supportive and performance-related management. The programme contains both theoretical and practical training adapted to the business.

Positioning for future recruitment
Infratek aims to attract, develop, motivate and retain employees. In many cases we find that those who have worked their way up in the organisation have a unique loyalty which cements a stable working environment. At the same time, we want to bring new blood into the organisation, and we will increasingly seek to develop ourselves through external recruitment. In 2011 Infratek developed a programme for Employee Branding and recruitment with the objective of attracting individuals with critical technical expertise to the company, in particular engineers and project managers.

The programme includes marketing measures and specialist training in combination with specialised recruitment measures to attract applicants within the selected geographic areas where Infratek is established. In order to build relations with external centres of expertise, and ensure the follow-up of the Group’s apprentices, Infratek launched the Infratek School as a pilot project in Norway in 2009. This initiative produced good results and was therefore continued in 2010 and 2011. This unit also handles initiatives for internal competence development. For example, the Group’s own technicians who are qualified for “live work” are used to train other staff. The Group is examining opportunities for establishing similar partnerships and training facilities in Sweden and Finland in 2012.

Health and safety
Our employees’ health, safety and welfare are always paramount. In 2011 we held a theme day in Norway and Sweden focusing on HSE. Managers, HR personnel and safety representatives at Infratek discussed and developed plans and measures to prevent accidents at daily work. In order to give this work further impetus, in 2012 we introduced overarching target figures for all managers in the Group, focusing on preventative measures to avoid accidents.