Supporting employees

All the development tools, annual appraisal interview, training plans or internal mobility demonstrate a constant concern for the support and development of employee skills.

Employees appraisal

Each year, PPR and its branches roll out the annual performance appraisal process so that managers and employees can discuss the past year’s results and the objectives for the coming year.

On a yearly basis and in each branch, the key issues arising from executive appraisal interviews (e.g. potential mobility) are consolidated and analysed by Human Resources and managers during Career Committee Meetings, also known as People reviews. The information consolidated by branch is summarised at Group level.
These feedback and monitoring processes are used to initiate training plans adapted to the needs of the company and employees and to facilitate internal mobility.

In addition to each branch’s RH tools, Group executives benefit from a supplementary appraisal and development tool. Hence, every two years, PPR managers have the opportunity to benefit from “360° feedback”, which consists in an evaluation of their behavioural skills by their immediate management, their peers/colleagues, their employees and by the managers themselves.

Development of skills and talents

PPR and its branches deploy annually a rich and varied training and development package, which reinforces the key processes initiated in prior years. The Group brands and companies offered a total of 837,676 training hours (excluding safety training) in 2007. A total of 42,311 employees benefited from at least one training session. Women represented 52.8% of the trained workforce in 2007.

The Group’s Human Resources Department has also rolled out specific company executive programmes known as Leadership programmes, in order to develop executives based on four major issues:

- develop a global vision;
- anticipate and manage change;
- mobilise the collective and individual commitment; and
- deliver performance.

The HR division also benefi ts from a programme dedicated to the development of expertise in each of the brands and companies, in order to accompany managers and employees in defining their professional career path and preparing personalised development plans.

Help with relocation

Since 1999, PPR has been committed to promoting the internal relocation of employees and boosting job solidarity within the Group. Companies relocate some of their employees as a result of restructuring, site relocations, closures or non-suitability, a process involving the entire PPR Group structure in France. To limit the individual consequences of these situations, PPR has adopted a relocation policy in France and set up a Steering Committee: Job Coordination.

Job Coordination is an internal network of brand and company representatives that circulates job vacancies, initiates personalised follow-up, organises discovery trips and, if required, exercises a temporary, geographical freeze on outside hires. Puma France has been integrated within this network since January 2008.

Of the 1,238 employees affected by economic transfers in 2007, 68.34% found jobs within or outside the Group with company assistance. In addition, PPR’s employment policy for the disabled takes job extension into consideration. On February 28, 2007 (date of the last AGEFIPH report), 63.5% of employees declared incompatible were relocated within the Group. This percentage is up 6.5 points compared to 2006.