2005 Sustainability Report - Lafarge

Supporting the development of our employees
Rallying our employees
to meet collective performance
targets
INVOLVING ALL OUR
EMPLOYEES THROUGH
THE LEADER FOR
TOMORROW PROGRAM
Following a period of strong expansion,
we launched the Leader For Tomorrow
project in 2003. Involving all of our
employees at various stages of the
rollout, this program reaffirms our
Principles of Action, our shared
vision, commitments and management
philosophy.
During various meetings between
employees and their managers, we
engaged in a genuine dialogue between
the different tiers of the Group. During
these meetings, the Group's global and
local priorities were discussed, as well
as the specific concerns of each team.
A survey carried out at the beginning
of 2006 will enable all Group employees,
including the workforce in China, to
give their opinion on the changes made
and their expectations for the future. It
will also provide an opportunity to
enhance the quality of this dialogue.
PAGE 32 | 2005 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT | LAFARGE
LAFARGE IN ACTION 2005,
A NEW EMPLOYEE SHARE
OWNERSHIP PLAN
Through its various employee share
ownership plans, Lafarge wants all its
employees to share in the benefits of the
Group's economic performance. LEA 1
2005, the Group's fourth international
share ownership plan, aimed to attract
as many employees as possible. It
covered 49 countries. Almost 50% of
eligible employees 2 purchased shares,
representing a highly satisfactory result
given the inauspicious stock market
climate.
An average of 26-27 shares were
subscribed by employees, with significant
fluctuations from one region to another.
With a take-up rate of close to 57%, the ten
African units posted a very substantial
increase. Conversely, employees at
European units were less enthusiastic,
recording a take-up rate of 38%.
As in the past, Lafarge plans to repeat this
type of issue every two or three years to
increase even further the number of
employee shareholders.
At year-end 2005, 1.8% 3 of Lafarge's share
capital was owned by its employees.
Group game during a Leader
for Tomorrow day organized in India.
Through these employee share ownership
plans, the Group is not seeking to achieve
employee ownership, but a sense of
belonging.
1 | LEA : Lafarge En Action (Lafarge in action).
2 | Percentage based on the employees in the Group workforce on
December 31, 2004 who were eligible for the plan.
3 | Share capital was identified as owned by employees through specific
stock purchase programs.
A TAKE-UP RATE REFLECTING
CONFIDENCE IN THE GROUP
AND A DESIRE TO BELONG
Béatrice Gaillard,
Vice President, Employee share ownership
Lafarge has opted to pursue direct employee
share ownership, rather than ownership
through an investment vehicle, to emphasize
the relation between the Group and each
employee shareholder. Our philosophy is to
maximize the number of employee
shareholders, rather than subscription
volumes. Over a three-week subscription
period, 49.7% of eligible employees
subscribed to the offering, compared with
our ambitious initial target of 50%. We also
owe this success to the hard work by the 50
human resources managers in the countries
concerned and 350 correspondents at the
Business Units, who got the message across
and coordinated the program locally.