5 8 hr policy. Our success as an organisation is largely
determined by the dedication, creativity, involvement and entrepreneurial spirit of our employees. After all, they are the key to the success of our organisation. The Corporate Hr policy as developed over the past few years was realigned in 2008 to ensure that USG People can continue to develop at the pace and in the direction we want. We believe that our employees provide the growth energy for our organisation, which is why management develop- ment, succession planning and positioning in the labour market are the keystones of our Corporate Hr policy. Assessment and remuneration were also high on the Hr agenda during 2008, with the introduction of a Stock Appreciation rights (SAr) plan for the entire management, as well as a new system of remuneration and assessment for senior management.
lifelong learning. We consider it our duty as an organisation to give our employees the best of ourselves and so stimulate them to get the best out of themselves. That is why the central aim of our Hr policy is to develop employees’ talents, both in their current jobs and in their further careers. We firmly believe that this is the way to create the right conditions for people to make a long- term commitment to the organisation.
We offer talented employees opportunities to grow within the organisation by:
• Getting the most out of our people; • Embedding knowledge and culture within the organisation;
• Developing in-house talent to fill key positions.
In the work environment of our operating companies individual employees have a significant contribution to make, mainly because of their close relationship with the clients. New employees start by following an exten- sive basic training course, which not only gives them a general idea of who we are, but also provides a platform for getting to know one another throughout the organisa- tion and so make it easier to exchange best practices later on. The course also ensures that new colleagues are
properly prepared when they start their jobs. The basic training course is based on the blended learning method. This is a combination of classroom instruction, on-the- job learning and e-learning and includes USG People’s electronic learning environment e-campus. Following its proven success in the Netherlands in 2007 and 2008, we are now examining how to implement e-campus in other countries.
talent and management development. One of the pillars of our Hr policy is the development of in- house management talent to fill key strategic positions. The development model we have chosen for this is based on r. Quinn’s Competing Values Framework, which contrasts four apparently conflicting models of effective organisation. Each quadrant reflects ‘the right way to organise’ and represents a value the organisation wishes to achieve. These four values are continuously competing for attention within the organisation.
USG People’s ‘Talent management system’ is also based on this model and offers broad development opportuni- ties for talented staff. In 2008, thirty-two talented Dutch managers took part in these programmes. The manage- ment development programme for senior managers also includes the well-known Strategic Course based on the Quinn model. The Strategic Course is aimed at helping senior managers achieve their strategic objectives through the presentation of practical and topical issues by professionals in the areas of education, politics, science and business. In 2008 around 140 managers from all over Europe followed one or more Strategic Course modules.
high-potential Staff. Today’s employee is tomorrow’s manager, which is why we make sure that we always have a clear and accurate picture of people with high potential within the organisation. These are employees who stand out because of their quick development, creativity and pro-activity, and who have leadership potential as well as the ambition to take responsibility for a team or part of the business in the future. We back high-potential staff with personal and professional support and appropriate
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rewards. Many USG People managers grew into their current position in this way. Three-quarters of key positions at USG People are held by people from our own ranks.
employee participation. The USG People Central Works Council met 15 times in 2008, of which eight times with the Executive Board and once with a delegation from the Supervisory Board. The agenda included the new lease plan, the health and safety policy, a request for approval of the SAr plan, a request for approval of the harmonisation of pension plans and a request for approval of the privacy statement for flex workers.
it. USG People operates a multibrand strategy whereby relatively autonomous operating companies are positioned as close as possible to the client in order to provide the best possible service. To support this strategy, USG People uses decentralised and specific applications so that clients can be targeted as effectively and efficiently as possible. These local applications are specially developed to take into account the differences between countries and brands. Differences in legislation and social systems, for example, mean that it is not feasible to use the same standardised applications for all countries. This applies primarily to back-office opera- tions, as front-office applications lend themselves better to standardisation. With this in mind we have launched application landscape studies at USG People level in the various countries. The aim is to update, integrate and standardise back-office functionalities and support them with standard ErP packages.
Parts of the front-office applications will also be updated, which is possible thanks to their flexible and modular structure. This enables us to adapt swiftly to changes in the market and capitalise rapidly on opportunities. There are strict quality requirements for the functioning of these applications. To maximise efficiency, modular development is used wherever possible and the company encourages the use of application components elsewhere within in the organisation.
Our IT strategy is aimed at:
• Providing maximum support to our business activities. • Rapid processing of any changes to services and
products (and, for example, legislation) thanks to modular and standardised applications architecture.
• Applying new technologies and developments,
particularly e-applications.
• Adapting IT applications as swiftly as possible to suit
the requirements of the organisation and, increasingly, our clients.
• Providing high availability to ensure maximum speed
and continuity of processes.
• Guaranteeing the safety of data and information. • Making business applications more widely available. • Ensuring maximum web-enablement of new
applications.
A decentralised approach is very demanding in terms of IT management and is being adopted with care. IT policy, preconditions and technical infrastructure are matters which are determined - and often also controlled - at corporate level. On-site availability and performance of the applications is largely determined by the quality and performance of the infrastructure. In order to achieve economies of scale and at the same time preserve coun- try-specific characteristics, USG People has organised each country’s IT activities into a shared service center.
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The economic landscape deteriorated rapidly in the European market in 2008, particularly in the final months of the year when we witnessed a sharp decline in indus- trial demand as banks, insurers and many major manu- facturing companies announced layoffs. As a result, staffing market volumes fell sharply and this downward trend has spilled over into the early months of 2009. In 2008 USG People benefitted from its strong position in the Netherlands and Belgium, where the market declined more gradually. Our group outperformed the market in both countries, helped by the diversity of our specialist activities and our strong position in the SME segment. Most of these activities - often late-cyclical by nature - will likely also be affected by the market downturn in 2009. In anticipation of this we are implementing cost-cutting measures across the board. restructuring initiatives aimed at swiftly streamlining both the organi- sation and the network have been implemented in those countries most severely affected by economic downturn. These initiatives are aimed at lowering cost levels and increasing future earnings potential.
We are now adjusting our focus, which in recent years was aimed at profitable growth, to maintaining our growth potential and a healthy level of profitability. The operating cash flow generated from this shift is being used primarily to reduce our debt position. We are focused on managing the economic cycle appropriately, which in a downward cycle means adjusting cost levels to lower volumes with- out jeopardising the growth potential of markets which will offer attractive long-term growth opportunities once economic recovery sets in.
We expect these difficult market conditions to continue in 2009. Market recovery will be partly dependent on a revival of confidence and intergovernmental measures. It will also hinge on the introduction of a new European directive on temporary staffing which provides for the removal of all restrictive legislation and regulations with respect to temporary staffing in the European Union in the next three years.
In these uncertain market circumstances it is not possible to give quantified guidance for 2009. Almere, 3 March 2009
Executive Board ron Icke, CEO rob Zandbergen, CFO
Outlook
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SuperviSory Board
chriStian dumolin (1945) was an independent member of the Supervisory Board of Solvus N.V. from 1998 up until the acquisition of Solvus by USG People N.V. in 2005. Dumolin is chairman and CEO of Koramic Investment Group. He also holds a number of supervisory and advisory positions, including deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Wienerberger AG, member of the supervisory board of the Belgian Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission (CBFA), member of the General Council of Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, member of the management committee of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (VBO), member of the Board of the Flemish young enterprise organisation VLAJO and member of the Board of Trustees of the Corporate Governance Institute. He also holds directorships with various companies including Clear2Play, De Steeg Investments, E&L real Estate, Vitalo Industries and Spector, and is honorary governor of the National Bank of Belgium. His term of office was extended on 29 April 2008 and will now end in 2012. Dumolin holds Belgian nationality.
SuperviSory Board
cor Brakel (1937) has been chairman of the USG People N.V. Supervisory Board since 1998. He was chairman of the Executive Board of Wolters Kluwer N.V. until the end of 1999, prior to which he held positions with companies including Shell and Elsevier. An economist by profession, Brakel sits on the supervisory boards of various companies including Aalberts Industries N.V., Berlage Winkelfonds Duitsland N.V. and Talergroup Gibraltar. His term of office ends in 2010. Cor Brakel holds Dutch nationality. Audit Committee Executive Board Supervisory Board General Meeting of Shareholders remuneration and Appointments Committee
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