Company | Employment as at Dec 31 2007 |
Employment as at Dec 31 2008 |
The parent company | ||
Grupa LOTOS | 1,098 | 1,246 |
Direct subsidiaries | ||
Petrobaltic | 486 | 446 |
LOTOS Norge | 2 | 12 |
LOTOS Czechowice with subsidiaries | 252 | 268 |
LOTOS Jasło with subsidiaries | 179 | 152 |
LOTOS Serwis | 722 | 734 |
LOTOS Lab | 185 | 168 |
LOTOS Straż | 75 | 72 |
LOTOS Ochrona | 156 | 176 |
LOTOS Park Technologiczny | 118 | 31 |
LOTOS Paliwa | 272 | 244 |
LOTOS Oil | 322 | 327 |
LOTOS Asfalt | 176 | 214 |
LOTOS Gaz | 97 | 82 |
LOTOS Parafiny | 265 | 279 |
LOTOS Kolej | 345 | 407 |
LOTOS Tank | 5 | 12 |
UAB LOTOS Baltija | 9 | 8 |
Total | 4,764 | 4,878 |
Men | Women | Total as at Dec 31 2008 |
As at June 30 2008 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
blue-collar jobs | 450 | 5 | 455 | 400 |
white-collar jobs | 399 | 392 | 791 | 759 |
Total | 849 | 397 | 1,246 | 1,159 |
The average employment in 2008 amounted to 1,162 full-time jobs (1,021 full-time jobs in 2007) including 408 blue-collar jobs and 754 white-collar jobs.
HR strategy and policy
The HR Management Office is responsible for creating and implementing the HRM policy established by the Management Board of Grupa LOTOS in the LOTOS Group with regard to recruitment, professional excellence and development, administration, incentive systems and social issues.
The main premise of the HRM strategy is to consider the employees as the most valuable assets of the Company.
The basic areas of the Office’s activity are recruitment and selection processes, induction of new employees, improving competences and performance assessment as well as handling personnel issues and the social fund.
Incentive system – remuneration rules and additional benefits
The remuneration system is modern, transparent and based on a basic salary, the level of which is set based on data from Polish payroll reports prepared by professional HR consulting companies. In 2008, the basic remuneration of companies in most firms of the LOTOS Group increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Employees are entitled to an annual bonus and special rewards, receive anniversary pay, retirement and pension payments and may use the Company Welfare Benefits Fund.
The rules of remunerating employees of Grupa LOTOS are determined in the Company Collective Agreement and have applied since 20 April 2005.
According to the Collective Agreement, the remuneration system of employees in Grupa LOTOS comprises the following elements:
- monthly basic remuneration,
- extra pay pursuant to the rules of labour law (a night bonus, holiday pay and overtime pay), and
- an annual bonus amounting to 10% of the annual remuneration paid in the first half of the following year, provided the Company achieves the set economic results (incomes and financial result).
The system of remuneration also includes the special bonus fund used to pay individual bonuses to outstanding employees, for working in project teams and additional tasks performed.
Apart from remuneration, employees are entitled to the following benefits:
- anniversary pay due every 5 years after 15 years of seniority,
- a one-off retirement or pension payment due on the day of terminating the job agreement because of the retirement or pension of the employee.
Grupa LOTOS tries to make remuneration in the Company competitive on the labour market and attractive to employees. For every job there is a market median determined, which is a target value for all employees whose incomes are below its level. The medians have been determined based on data received from external HR consulting companies.
Due to the special nature of work at Grupa LOTOS, the medians for production positions, such as a foreman, an operator, a system operator and a production operator, have been determined above the level set by the market. In order to provide higher transparency of the new payroll system, new positions have been introduced, such as a controller, a senior specialist, a junior specialist, a senior accountant, a secretary, an assistant, etc.
In 2008, similar amendments to the payroll system were introduced in the following companies: LOTOS Asfalt, LOTOS Kolej, LOTOS Lab, LOTOS Oil, LOTOS Serwis and LOTOS Straż.
The new positions in the Collective Agreement were agreed with trade unions.
Welfare benefits
Employees may also use the Company Welfare Benefits Fund along the rules determined in its Regulations.
Grupa LOTOS and its subsidiaries covered by the agreement on joint welfare activity have increased the basic write-off for the Company Welfare Benefits Fund pursuant to the Act of 4 March 1994 up to 100% of the average monthly remuneration in the national economy per every employee and 6.25% per every retired person or pensioner. As a result, almost 100% of the draft budget for 2008 approved by the Management Board and trade unions was fulfilled.
Grupa LOTOS provides welfare benefits to all its employees and their children, retired persons and pensioners and spouses of the deceased retired. The Regulations of the Company Welfare Benefits Fund in Grupa LOTOS allows the granting of various forms of social aid to entitled employees, such as co-financing summer holidays, rehabilitation of disabled children, granting loans for housing purposes and providing non-returnable subsistence allowances to persons in difficult situations.
Type of benefit | Number | Value of co-financing in PLN |
---|---|---|
Summer holidays of employees | 4,000 | 5,591,000.00 |
Summer holidays of children | 1,800 | 2,260,000.00 |
Non-refundable subsistence allowances | 200 | 200,000.00 |
Loans for housing purposes | 16 | 405,000.00 |
Recreation of employees and their families, Christmas gifts for children | 1,000 | 350,000.00 |
The outlays for social purposes are growing due to the dynamic development of the Company and the increasing number of employees, who are additionally attracted to work in the Company by good salaries and the rich social offer.
Rules of recruitment, internship and placements
In the recruitment process for a specific job, the HR Management Office always takes account of the high qualifications and skills of the employees of the LOTOS Group and the necessity to provide them with the development opportunities. Applications from the employees of the LOTOS Group are given priority. This procedure provides the effective transfer of knowledge among companies. Furthermore, Grupa LOTOS is involved in external recruitment by publishing press and Internet announcements, information in the media, participating in job fair trades, etc. Thus, it can attract new employees whose qualifications are necessary for performing the tasks of the Company and the LOTOS Group.
The recruitment process consists of several stages. Their number and advancement level depend on the competences required by Grupa LOTOS from candidates for specific jobs. When searching for suitable persons, their knowledge, skills and development potential are analysed.
Stages of the recruitment process at Grupa LOTOS
- Document analysis (CV or an application)
- Job interviews
- Case study, psychological tests and specialist language tests
The third stage of recruitment is designed and carried out in the event of recruiting an employee for a specialist or managerial position. At this stage, the tools used for examining the skills of a candidate are specially designed and adapted to the main tasks fulfilled in the particular job.
Competences and predispositions
Each job is related to specialist competences resulting from the knowledge and skills required to perform set tasks. There are, however, certain skills that should be demonstrated by every employee of the LOTOS Group and are required from every candidate:
- business awareness,
- creativity and resourcefulness,
- flexibility,
- communication skills, and
- a team-work spirit.
An employee of the LOTOS Group should not only be involved in a performed job, but should be dedicated to the Company. He or she is loyal and proud of achieving the successes of Grupa LOTOS, is creative and innovative and can adapt to changes and novelties. An employee of the LOTOS Group is also aware of how important teamwork is.
Placements/scholarships/internships
The LOTOS Group actively supports the academic and professional development of university and secondary school students. More than one hundred of them undergo training every year at Grupa LOTOS and its subsidiaries: LOTOS Serwis, LOTOS Lab, LOTOS Oil, LOTOS Kolej, LOTOS Asfalt and Petrobaltic.
The largest group of trainees are students of Gdańsk University of Technology from the Faculties of Management and Economics, Electronics, Telecommunication and IT, Mechanics, Chemistry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Automation and Robotics, Technical Physics and Applied Mathematics. Other trainees come from the following universities: the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk School of Banking, the Academy of International Economic and Political Relations, Gdynia Maritime University, the State Higher School of Vocational Education in Elbląg, Gdańsk Higher School of Humanities, as well as Krakow University of Technology, the AGH University of Science and Technology and Warsaw University of Technology. Moreover, students of TriCity secondary schools take part in training at the LOTOS Group companies.
In January 2008, Grupa LOTOS signed a trilateral agreement with Gdańsk University of Technology and the AGH University of Science and Technology aimed at supporting talented, committed and creative students. The cooperation has resulted in granting student scholarships. Grupa LOTOS facilitates the transfer of students and graduates of TriCity universities and colleges from the academic into the professional environment and helps them find their first job. The Company has taken part in the ‘Holiday Internship’ programme organised by the City Office in Gdańsk for seven years. In order to strengthen contacts between students and business, Grupa LOTOS sponsors 15-20 student and graduate internships every year. They are used primarily by students of the Faculty of Management, the Faculty of Economics and the IT Science Faculty of the University of Gdańsk, as well the Faculties of Electronics and Automation, Mechanics and Management and Economics of Gdańsk University of Technology.
LOTOS Academy – ‘On the way to excellence’
Training programmes, induction and employee development tools
The LOTOS Academy opened in 2004. Its tasks include the introduction of the work culture and management principles in the LOTOS Group based on an employee model who participates consciously in creating the added value required by customers and shareholders.
The directions of the LOTOS Academy result from the application of various tools of HR management:
The analysis of applying specific methods and tools brings effects in the form of specialist and targeted development programmes and training.
Any planned and implemented training initiatives have to fulfil the key premises of the LOTOS Academy:
- cohesion – the training system takes account of the mission and strategy of Grupa LOTOS, its long-term development plans and its relations with other areas of HR management,
- responsibility – all participants are responsible for the effects of training and development of the process, i.e. the management, line managers, the HR Management Office and employees,
- availability – training is designated for all groups of employees,
- continuity – the development planning is a continuous process related to the results of performance assessment, career paths, succession plans and development plans for individual employee groups, and
- flexibility – the plans and performance of training is related to the monitoring of the changing environment of the Company and the changes in the required qualifications of employees.
Induction for new employees
Aims of the programme:
- to make employees aware of the values and the organizational culture of Grupa LOTOS,
- to present the tasks and obligations of a position,
- to create the required forms of behaviour,
- to increase the commitment of employees and satisfaction with a new employer,
- to shorten the time necessary for achieving the effective level of task fulfilment,
- to reduce the stress related to changes, and
- to integrate with a team.
The induction programme takes from 6 to 12 weeks, depending on the position. During the adaptation process, employees learn their new duties and tasks, applicable procedures and integrate with a team or the company. The induction process includes a one-day internal training session – employees participate in classes that include general issues concerning the work at Grupa LOTOS, organizational culture and preferred attitudes and values. They hear lectures on raw materials, basic systems and end products of oil processing.
The knowledge gained during the theoretic classes is strengthened with site visits at the refinery. Every employee also receives a so-called Employee Handbook including the strategy of the Company, data on the LOTOS Group, the Code of Grupa LOTOS employees, the Code of Managers and the Corporate Decalogue, the Organizational Regulations, the Collective Agreement, the organizational scheme and a leaflet providing the rules of the Company Welfare Benefits Fund, the group insurance programme encompassing the investment fund and information on the Physical Culture Association.
LOTOS Academy training for the employees of the LOTOS Group
The subjects of training include issues resulting from analysing the map of skills, performance assessment, as well as the development plans of employees in individual organizational units and takes account of the development needs of the Company. In 2008, the following training was organized:
- communication (interpersonal, written and in an organization),
- time management,
- chairing meetings and public speaking,
- presentations as business communication skills,
- effective project management,
- situational leadership,
- creative thinking,
- personal efficiency enhancement – stress management techniques,
- decision taking,
- skills and attitudes improvement training – conflict resolution, and
- MS Office package training.
Seminars for the management
The aim of the seminars is to develop the competences of the management at Grupa LOTOS. The curriculum of the seminars includes the main aspects of the Company’s operation in the changing environment, for example modern management methods and tools. In 2008, the following seminars were held:
- ‘Organization of the Future’ designed to present the main social, economic and organizational phenomena in the modern business environment.
- ‘SL II Situational Leadership®’ the aim of which was to strengthen the leadership rules developed by K. Blanchard and co.
SL II® Situational Leadership Model®
The most important factor that affects the efficiency of employees in the LOTOS Group is their relation with the line manager (leader). The leader should act according to the changing circumstances, flexibly adapting his/her leadership style to a specific situation. One of the objectives of the SL II® model is to create a business environment where employees develop their competences and commitment until they achieve the highest stage of development – becoming an independent expert.
‘Future Leaders 2007- 2009’ Programme
This Programme provides for the versatile development of the Grupa LOTOS employees with the greatest potential. It involves the intense professional development of a selected group of employees, providing them with opportunities so that they can be ready to play key roles in the LOTOS Group. Broad interdisciplinary knowledge was provided by e.g. the 2008 Management Programme organised by the Canadian International Management Institute in cooperation with Harvard Business School Publishing.
Manager Academy
The aim of the ‘Manager Academy’ project is to extend knowledge and skills related to effective HR management by educating versatile managers who can manage teams efficiently. The participants of the programme are managers with a high development potential, who had participated in the ‘SL II® Situational Leadership’ training, and they are tutored in project management, negotiations, time and stress management, strategic thinking, problem resolution and decision taking.
Corporate edition of the Master of Business Administration Course (MBA)
The MBA course was prepared in cooperation with Gdańsk Foundation for Management Development, according to the programme validated by the RSM Erasmus University. On 16 October 2008, 25 students, employees of the LOTOS Group, started the course. The curriculum, apart from gaining managerial qualifications on the global level, facilitates the exchange of experiences and the integration of managers of the whole LOTOS Group. The course takes 4 terms.
Auditors School
The main aim of the programme is to prepare well-trained and experienced auditors to carry out audits in all the LOTOS Group companies in compliance with uniform corporate standards. The Management Board of Grupa LOTOS will then obtain continuous access to information on the strengths and weaknesses of business processes, the efficiency of management systems and the benchmarking of companies based on uniform criteria. The subsidiaries will gain benefits from the controls carried out by professional auditors in the whole LOTOS Group. The project is carried out in cooperation with Det Norske Veritas – one of the global leaders in management system certification.
Performance Assessment System (PAS)
The aim of the Performance Assessment System project was to create and implement a systematic methodology of assessing employees of the LOTOS Group. The employees have received the following benefits from the system’s implementation:
- obtaining feed-back on their performance (the level and method of fulfilling tasks), the expectations of their superiors and their strengths and weaknesses,
- receiving information on the possibilities and methods of improving work results,
- the possibility of exchanging opinions and views concerning their jobs,
- agreeing their work-related needs (e.g. training, working conditions), and
- the improvement of relations with a superior.
According to the PAS Regulations included in the Integrated Management System Procedure, a line manager carries out the assessment. Three assessment sheets are used for different groups of jobs:
- an employee assessment on managerial and supervising positions,
- an employee assessment on specialist positions, and
- an employee assessment on technical and auxiliary positions.
The introduction of the performance assessment system was preceded with a training cycle on the rules and methods of assessment. All employees of Grupa LOTOS participated. Separate training programmes were prepared for the assessors and the assessed.
Training programmes for employees involved
in the 10+ Programme
2009 Personnel – 10+ Programme
Operating Division
The execution of the 10+ Programme requires the provision of personnel necessary for accomplishing the tasks specified in the Programme and to operate new systems. The aim of the 2009 Personnel Programme was to recruit employees (120 operators) in a professional manner and to prepare them with intense two-week training.
The objective of the training is to provide basic general knowledge necessary for the correct performance of the tasks of an operator. Because of this, the training process is no longer limited to mastering a system operation, but includes basic technical and production knowledge. The two-week cycle of training starts one month after the commencement of employment, so that employees may use the skills they gain in their working environment. Classes are given by a specially trained group of internal trainers including specialists from specific areas.
10+ PERSONNEL Programme
Trading Division
The aim of the project is to prepare high-quality specialists of the Trading Division to be involved in the sale of products offered after the execution of the 10+ Programme. Due to the special nature of the sector, persons with limited experience were employed and after short and intense training they were provided with the knowledge and skills of qualified specialists. The prepared training programme may be used to supplement the knowledge of present employees and prepare workers to new challenges related to increasing production and extending the offer.
Trade unions
There are six trade unions operating in Grupa LOTOS:
Branżowy Związek Zawodowy (Industrial Trade Union), Komisja Międzyzakładowa NSZZ „Solidarność” (‘Solidarity’ Independent Trade Union, Interplant Commission), Wolny Związek Zawodowy Pracowników Grupy LOTOS (Free Trade Union of Grupa LOTOS Workers), Międzyzakładowy Związek Zawodowy Pracowników Ruchu Ciągłego (Interplant Trade Union of Operation Workers) and Międzyzakładowy Związek Zawodowy Inżynierów i Techników Grupy LOTOS (Interplant Trade Union of Engineers and Technicians).
Trade unions are actively involved in the process of building relations between the employer and the personnel. Apart from annual negotiations of salary increases in 2008, the trade unions participated in talks concerning salary regulations, quarterly incentive bonuses and amendments to the regulations on anniversary awards. On 31 December 2008, 38% of employees belonged to trade unions.
Health and safety, working conditions and accidents
The safety of employees is among the priorities of Grupa LOTOS. The motto followed by the managers and employees of Grupa LOTOS is ‘no work is so important and urgent that it cannot be done safely’.
Special importance is attached to actions aimed at maintaining a high level of safety, minimising hazards, reducing accident frequency and raising the awareness of employees and the culture of safe work.
As a result, Grupa LOTOS enjoys the reputation of an employer that offers safe, suitably equipped and well-organised working stations. The Company’s employees, as well as the workers of subcontracted service providers, appreciate the safety and importance of their work and its impact on their own safety and that of other employees.
Safe working conditions
In order to provide suitable working conditions for the employees of Grupa LOTOS, efforts are made to maintain high indices of safety and to improve the present H&S conditions systematically. These aims are achieved by:
- providing the suitable organization of the working environment,
- the regular performance of environmental tests,
- the application of best available protections in processes and production as well as individual protective equipment,
- improving the method of identifying hazards and risk assessment in the system of man-machine-environment,
- carrying out systematic consulting-supervising-auditing activities,
- organising practical training and dedicated workshops to raise the professional qualifications of employees, and
- raising the awareness and commitment of employees to strengthen the culture of safe work.
Importance of a safe working culture
Raising the awareness and commitment, both among the management and employees, developing their culture and the sense of safety, forming proper attitudes and behaviour in normal working conditions and in emergencies, are key factors that maximise the effects of the safety system in Grupa LOTOS.
The awareness of employees is fostered with:
- training and raising qualifications,
- popularising H&S issues, and
- encouraging active cooperation in creating and implementing the corporate safety policy.
Promoting safety and pro-active attitudes among employees
Only an employee who is fully aware of the hazards may follow the recommended safety requirements, considering them to be a complex and valid system of protections. Being conscious of the procedural requirements and regulations in this regard, an employee will adapt them creatively to his/her own working stations.
Grupa LOTOS takes a number of above-standard initiatives to promote H&S issues in an accessible manner and to attract the attention of employees. Such projects include:
- articles that concern H&S issues published in every issue of the corporate monthly, Lotosfera,
- ‘BEZPIECZNIK’ H&S quarterly providing information on accidents, life of the Company and news from the world,
- dedicated ‘Safety at Work’ display cabinets that promote accident-free work and present near misses reported by employees and answers to the questions asked in H&S boxes or e-mail,
- specialised medical rescue teams comprising selected production employees trained in rescue procedures,
- H&S contests organised in an encouraging and friendly manner – rebuses, cross-word puzzles and questions,
- ‘ACCIDENT FREQUENCY’ Tables at the refinery providing information on the longest accident-free periods and the number of days since the last accident,
- distinctions for the most active employees, mostly for propagating safe behaviour and reporting near misses,
- H&S audits that involve managers of organizational units in the process of safety improvement in their areas,
- an ‘H&S PANEL’ in the intranet Lotostrada service that provides employees with access to H&S materials, training presentations, training films, world novelties and knowledge competitions.
10+ Programme investment safety
The execution of the 10+ Programme is related to the high pace of construction-assembly work and a large number of subcontracted employees working at the refinery. It requires special care of H&S services and the continuous development of the knowledge of safety issues at work and the compliance with internal H&S and fire requirements.
In order to achieve these targets, the management and subcontracted employees:
- receive the Procedure Handbook at Grupa LOTOS with current internal H&S requirements of Grupa LOTOS enclosed,
- receive a leaflet entitled General Safety Rules at Grupa LOTOS, before entering the refinery,
- undergo training in internal H&S rules and the correct performance of work before starting to work,
- are subject to systematic assessments in terms of compliance with the internal H&S requirements,
- in the event of non-compliance with H&S rules and regulations and internal procedures, they are punished with e.g. financial penalties or the temporary/permanent withdrawal of passes that enable entry to the premises of the Company, and
- participate in meetings organised with employees of Grupa LOTOS designed to implement internal safety standards and discuss the most frequent irregularities.
The H&S services of Grupa LOTOS and the representatives of external companies supervise all investment work. Representatives of Grupa LOTOS are present at investment sites in order to provide consulting to managers on behalf of the Company and contractors.
Safety statistics in 2008
Number of days lost | 171 |
Lost time injury frequency | 2.9 |
Number of accidents at work | 7 |
In 2008, there were no severe, collective or fatal accidents at Grupa LOTOS.