Full Annual Report - Inchcape

Business review
Strategy
Corporate responsibility continued
Our people
At Inchcape we believe that to really achieve success it is our people who will make the difference.
During 2009, as a consequence of our
need to reduce costs in response to the
economic downturn, we reduced the
number of roles across our Group by
around 14%. Despite this, we were able to
maintain employee engagement and
customer satisfaction at high levels.We
believe that this is a direct result of our
conviction that it is our people who make
the difference and the actions arising
from this.
Our people strategy has the ultimate goal
of having ‘Engaged People in Winning
Teams’.We believe this goal will be achieved
through four areas of priority:
• the right people – by becoming a magnet
for talented people who live our values
and enjoy working in winning teams
delivering outstanding results;
• the right learning – by equipping our
people to excel today and provide
exciting development opportunities for the
future,aligned to our business ambition;
• the right reward – by recognising,
celebrating and rewarding the contribution
our people and teams make to delivering
our challenging business ambition;
• the right culture – by creating a great
place to work where people choose to
make a real difference and deliver the
ultimate customer experience.
Our employee base is diverse and reflects
the different cultures and markets within
which we operate.This diversity creates
a range of perspectives that allow us to
constantly challenge and improve the
way we do things as we work towards our
goal of putting the customer at the centre
of our business.
Talent and performance
management
Talent planning and performance
management sit at the heart of our people
strategy as we look to ensure we have the
right people in every role.Whilst our processes
are continuous there is a more detailed
review and planning session conducted
within each of our markets and at the centre,
at least once a year. 2009 was the third year
of this process.The process is designed to
ensure that we constantly upgrade our talent
and look to create the right development
opportunities for all our people.
Arising out of the talent planning process
we have made several key people
decisions, including secondments,
promotions, lateral development moves,
mentoring, and in many cases enhanced
the development plans of the individual on
the job.As a global business we are also
able to provide international opportunities
to our people and this allows us to
create even more stimulating career
paths and personal growth for many
of our talented people. In 2009 we have
made several changes within the Group
Executive Committee and each of these
changes was a consequence of this
talent planning process.
Our analysis continues to validate our belief
that talented people who are aligned with
our Company’s leadership skills and values
yield higher levels of customer satisfaction
and profit.
Going forward we will continue to focus
our efforts on ensuring that each of our
employees has a meaningful development
plan that takes into account their strengths,
development areas and aspirations as well
as the needs of the business.We recognise
that development is personal to each
individual and is core to the growth of the
individual and through that, the growth
of the Group.
Inchcape operates in a constantly
changing, evolving environment where
employees meet new challenges regularly.
We know we can only achieve success if
each of us is growing, learning, developing
and succeeding in our roles.
Our employee survey results have told us
that we need to do more to support
employee personal development.We have
therefore launched ‘Grow with Inchcape’
our guide to helping individuals better
understand what development planning is,
how it applies to everyone and what we
can do to really prepare for our future and
reach our potential.‘Grow with Inchcape’
demonstrates Inchcape’s commitment to
people development.
Employee communications
During 2009, more than ever before, we
have communicated with our employees
regularly to ensure they were always well
informed of the forces acting on us as a
company, the state of the automotive
industry in general, and to be transparent
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Inchcape plc ¦ Annual Report and Accounts 2009