Carefully targeted training and qualification-building initiatives for staff and management remained front and centre in the 2009|10 financial year under review.
AGRANA continued the talent development process which provides special training-and-development support to highly mobile and flexible key people throughout the Group and qualifies them for new responsibilities. The emphasis was on creating and executing a group-instruction-based development programme for a group of high-potential individuals. Fifty employees from about 20 countries took part in the twelve-day training programme. Alongside behaviour-centred training on the subjects of strategic direction, market orientation and customer orientation, innovation, change management and team leadership, the programme emphasised work on strategic projects relevant to the AGRANA Group. Frequent discussions with AGRANA’s senior management rounded out the experience. The talent development process continues in the 2010|11 financial year.
In the Sugar segment, important goals are to consolidate the productivity gains achieved and ensure AGRANA’s sustained competitive strength. Organisational optimisation with the aim of simplifying and automating processes has become a permanent part of managers’ work. In this context of efficiency improvement, as part of a Group-wide project, 2009|10 brought further implementation steps in the areas of administration and management. The training curriculum included, for instance, improvement in managers’ communication behaviour, English courses (reflecting the Group’s corporate language), leadership seminars and IT training in Austria and Eastern Europe, and facility hygiene and quality assurance training in Romania.
In the fruit preparations activities, staff development efforts in the 2009|10 financial year had a management development programme as their special focus. Its purpose is the division-wide sharing and diffusion of management knowledge. A further initiative in this business area is a project known as “Kick off the AGRANA way”, revolving around communicating and discussing the vision and strategy of AGRANA Fruit and the values of the AGRANA Group. The goal of supporting internal recruiting was achieved in 2009, when 60% of management positions were filled from inside AGRANA’s ranks. In 2009|10, AGRANA Fruit also for the first time conducted a staff survey at all its locations in the respective local language. The participation rate was a gratifying 65%. After it is analysed by location and region, as well as for the division as a whole, the staff ’s valuable input will form an important basis for improvements and innovations in the 2010|11 financial year at all levels of the organisation. The local training programme within AGRANA Fruit comprised trainings in communication, presentation skills and innovation management. A further priority was the development and implementation of a trainee programme in Eastern Europe focusing on quality, innovation and production, with the aim of training young employees in key fields to help prepare them for management positions anywhere in the Group.
An important undertaking in the fruit juice concentrates area was the harmonisation of administrative processes at AGRANA Juice. With the successful introduction of performance appraisal interviews at all concentrate sites, this constructive practice has now been extended to all staff of AGRANA Juice. In addition to providing leadership skills training to future managers, AGRANA Juice supported individually tailored development activities.
The expenditure for external training and development was recorded on a Group-wide basis for the first time in the 2009|10 financial year. At approximately € 2.3 million, it represented about 1.4% of total wages and salaries.