AAK Annual Report 2018

32 32 Investing in people for future growth We strive to be an attractive employer with a high-performance organization, built on strongly- aligned values with an increasing number of people carrying AAK forward. Our People strategy, part of our company program The AAK Way, is at the heart of AAK’s ambitions towards people development. Since it was started in 2017, it has given rise to a broad variety of initiatives and programs that have been pivotal to its success. Not only has this delivered very positive results internally and helped to promote an AAK “family” culture across our production plants and offices, but it is proving to contribute signifi- cantly towards the value we create for customers. A more unified business The strategy focuses on four key areas: Revitalize our company values, AAK leadership, Engaged and skillful people, and Organization for future growth. These are directed towards creating a unified business committed to delivering excellence and growth for AAK and our customers. By implementing what AAK stands for through the attitude and development of our employees, we can elevate our business by strengthening loyalty, fostering innovation and delivering a more passionate, customer-centric service. Co-developing people Just as co-development plays a vital role in the success of our customer relationships, it is also a driving force behind our People strategy. To this end, the HR depart- ment works closely with team leaders in every AAK segment to ensure the right people are recruited and given the best possible support and opportunities for development. Not only does this help to improve the quality of service we provide through a more skilled and focused workforce, but it helps us to maintain our high employee retention rate. A successful year 2018 has been a busy year, involving many initiatives designed to support our People strategy. These have included the continued implementation of the AAK leadership model as well as a series of workforce planning, talent management and succession planning programs. We have also implemented a remuneration benchmark tool globally to ensure that we provide salary and benefits in line with local market praxis. We have improved our performance management system to be more employee driven with the purpose to increase empowerment and accountability, and we are devel- oping online training and e-learning courses. We have also been focusing on our Global Trainee Program. This is where trainees are recruited into “real” jobs from day one that are aligned with a structured 12-month program designed to accelerate a number of attributes, namely: