International: Thales signs Europe-wide professional development agreement
Thales, a France-based technology group, signed an innovative agreement with the European Metalworkers' Federation in June 2009, giving its 55,000 employees across Europe access to enhanced professional development and training opportunities.
On this page:
Principles
Anticipating future job trends
Information for employees
Professional development discussions
Training and career paths
Mobility and professional development
Gender equality in professional development
Promoting diversity
Attracting, welcoming and training new recruits
Implementation
Reactions
Exporting the French
approach.
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Key points
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Thales, headquartered in France, is a technology multinational operating in the aerospace, space, defence, security and transportation sectors. It has a total of 68,000 employees in around 50 countries worldwide. Of these, some 55,000 work in Europe, where Thales has significant operations in 11 countries, notably France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Thales UK, for example - which consists of companies such as Racal, Shorts Missiles, Pilkington Optronics, Redifon MEL, Thomson Marconi Sonar, Thorn Missile Electronics, Avimo and Helio - is the UK's second-largest defence electronics supplier, and has a total workforce of 8,500 people at more than 40 locations.
On 11 June 2009, Thales management signed a Europe-wide agreement on "Improving Professional Development through Effective Anticipation (IDEA)" with the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF), representing unions recognised throughout the group's European operations. The agreement aims to give all employees access to improved professional development, based on anticipation of future developments, to improve their employability and meet the company's changing human resources needs. To this end, it sets out a range of actions, based largely on examples of existing good practice, to be implemented in all Thales companies in Europe.
Principles
The agreement aims to support employees and give them a "diversified and enriched professional life" in an environment that is changing rapidly due to factors such as technological developments, international competition, the economic situation and changing customer requirements. Thales wants to prepare all its employees for the future by enabling "better professional career paths".
Further, Thales wants to be better able to respond to future business and skill needs in the face of a growing shortage of engineers and skilled technicians.
The signatories agree that professional development is "key for the success of each individual and the development of Thales". Professional development aims to provide each employee with a "learning environment" that enables them to be "efficient" in present and future jobs and to develop their full potential. It includes orientation, learning on the job, networking, mobility, coaching, mentoring and training, and involves a "continuous effort and a shared responsibility between the company and each employee".
According to the agreement, each employee has the right: to know what the company anticipates for their "job family" (Thales defines 62 such "families", which are clusters of jobs with common characteristics), job and place of work; to define a career direction with their manager; and, in this context, to benefit from a learning environment providing access to the training necessary to support their professional development.
The basic approach of the agreement is "anticipation", which is based on a collective capability to:
- identify, well in advance, key changes or breakthroughs and build collective action plans to address them;
- provide training and development opportunities and support to each employee, so as to diversify experiences, allow for more opportunities and build better career paths; and
- encourage staff to take up training opportunities.
The agreement does not address "short-term strategic or industrial issues involving a quantitative employment effect" (ie job losses), which, where they occur, must be dealt with within the usual legal framework and through social dialogue in each country. The agreement seeks, through "appropriate anticipation", to avoid such situations as far as possible. It defines common principles at European level and sets out the "most effective tools and processes", which will be implemented throughout the group, with respect for national and local traditions and cultures.
The accord promotes social dialogue on the issues it deals with, stating: "An ongoing social dialogue with the active participation of employees' representatives and trade unions at European and national level will be key to achieving the objectives of this European agreement."
Anticipating future job trends
The agreement provides for "collective discussions and inputs" to feed into individual discussions between managers and employees on professional development and career direction.
At group level, there will be an annual analysis of mid-term trends affecting the various job families at Thales, such as technological change and evolving skills needs. The analysis will be conducted by managers, the HR department and experts on each job family, and will be shared with trade unions at national and European levels. The unions will have the opportunity to debate the trends identified and present their own views. The Thales European Works Council (EWC) will also be informed about the analysis each year.
These discussions should allow management, unions and EWC members to "share a common vision" on the development of the various job families. This "collective framework" will provide an "important context" for individuals to build their own career path. At the level of individual businesses, the analysis, customised if necessary, will be translated into potential career orientations, and training paths will be built. At local and national level, businesses will also conduct an analysis of the consequences of change for job families, on which employee representative bodies will be informed and consulted. The information will be made available to all relevant employees in the weeks before the launch of a "professional development discussions" campaign in their business.
Information for employees
The agreement states that each employee must have access to information to "better build his/her professional future". Employees therefore have a right to information about the future of job families and potential career orientations. To this end, all Thales sites will establish "career corners" over the next three years.
Career corners (which already exist at French sites) are information points freely accessible to employees on a regular basis or several times a month (depending on the size of the plant) and managed by a nominated person. They provide access to relevant career information (eg using the internet, the company intranet and brochures) and also contact with HR professionals and experts from various job families if they wish to change career direction and take advantage of the relevant training programmes.
The agreement promotes communication on vacancies within Thales and easy access to the relevant information. All group companies will regularly advertise vacancies using all available means, such as in-house publications and noticeboards. Further, a computer system called e-Staffing, already operational in some countries, will be introduced throughout Europe during 2009. This gives employees a full overview of vacancies within the group, including in other countries, and allows them to apply for vacancies confidentially, and to post their CVs when they are interested in moving jobs.
A report on current methods of advertising internal vacancies and the results achieved will be drawn up and made available to national trade unions or employee representative bodies, and any necessary corrective actions will be identified.
Professional development discussions
All employees will have the opportunity to have a "professional development discussion" with their line manager every year, separate from their annual review. Managers will receive specific training in conducting such discussions, which aim to reach an agreement on the employee's career direction - taking into account his or her wishes and the company's needs - and on a customised learning path to make this possible. In the discussion, both parties have "rights and duties to listen and to find solutions". After the discussion, both parties must make a commitment to translating decisions taken into actions. The scheme will be implemented as a priority in all Thales business units over the next three years.
Managers will prepare for the meetings through discussions with other managers during the "people review" conducted by Thales each spring. Employees should prepare by thinking about their future and obtaining information, for example from career corners.
If the employee and manager cannot agree an action plan, either party can call on the HR department to help find a solution. If employees wish, they can be accompanied by a colleague or employee representative in this discussion.
If an employee with at least five years' service feels that he or she is "at a crossroads", he or she will have automatic access to a two-day career orientation session at the Thales University, the group's staff development and training centre. The aim is to help employees conduct an in-depth reflection on their career the direction they want to take it, and to consider possible options within Thales.
Training and career paths
All Thales companies will take into account the analyses of future job trends, individual employees' needs and business needs when drawing up annual collective training plans each autumn. The plan and its budget will be presented to each company's employee representative body and/or trade unions.
Over the next three years, Thales will expand across its European operations an existing network of "learning advisers". These are experts in training and learning with an in-depth knowledge of the existing training on offer from the Thales University and other providers. All employees will have access to a personal adviser, on a confidential basis, to help them "build their own learning paths".
Thales will guarantee access to training for all employees. Each employee will be able to undergo a "meaningful" training programme, in accordance with his or her individual plan and the company's needs, at least every three years. "Meaningful" training is defined as training that is consistent with the employee's career path and has a significant duration. Training will be provided "preferably" within normal working time. If an employee has received no training for three years, an internal computer system will notify line managers and the HR department, and an assessment will be conducted as soon as possible in order to decide on appropriate action.
The agreement provides for a number of mechanisms to recognise employees' professional experience and training. For example, all training attendance and participation will be recorded within Thales' e-People1st staff information system, while external certification will be promoted.
Thales will create a "continuous learning environment", which encourages the transfer of skills and knowledge between employees, on and off the job. Specific knowledge-transfer measures have been identified as necessary in job families such as hardware development (where many employees are due to retire in the next few years), as well as in areas where a limited number of people have skills and knowledge that are critical to the business. The expertise of Thales University's consulting arm in this area will be strengthened and used more systematically. This involves identifying key experts, formalising the knowledge they possess and organising its transfer to other relevant employees.
Mobility and professional development
The agreement promotes occupational and geographical mobility in order to contribute to the enrichment of employees' knowledge and to strengthen their professional development. Internal mobility within Thales will be encouraged and developed through identifying possible new job paths or moves to other countries and communicating them to employees. The accord sets out a number of principles to accompany mobility between two Thales units, including:
- employees have a right to information on vacancies, on a confidential basis;
- an employee's suitability and motivation for taking up a new position should be determined and, if the move is agreed by all parties, the employee should be given appropriate support to enable him or her to succeed in the new position;
- support will include, but is not limited to, a training/development plan that includes a period of familiarisation with the new unit and site, the provision of a mentor, regular meetings with the line manager to identify any issues during the "settling in" period, and the provision of appropriate solutions where such issues arise;
- employees will not have to serve a trial period in the new job, but during the first three months they will be entitled to return to their old job;
- if, following a move, the change is not considered positive, a discussion will be organised between the former employing unit and the new one in order to reach agreement on a "common solution positioning the employee in the same conditions" as previously;
- employees' seniority and qualifications will be maintained;
- employees' remuneration will continue to be reviewed and at least maintained at the previous level; and
- the process will be transparent for the individual concerned and appropriate feedback will be given at each step.
The agreement also contains provisions aimed at supporting geographical mobility within Thales. Negotiations or discussion will be held with trade union or employee representatives in each country on the possibility of harmonising measures to accompany geographical mobility, such as moving expenses, travel costs and support for spouses to find a new job at the new location. Further, international mobility should be considered as a "skills opportunity" and should become a" logical step" for all senior executives.
Gender equality in professional development
The agreement contains a range of initiatives aimed at promoting equality between women and men in professional development. It notes that, in all countries where Thales operates, there are difficulties in hiring women in scientific and technical positions, and that not enough women choose to study in engineering schools.
In each country, an annual report will be drawn up on gender equality in careers and recruitment. Key indicators and equality initiatives will be monitored each year and discussed with the appropriate employee representative body in order to define continuous action plans to improve equality. The indicators could include:
- the workforce distribution between women and men at all levels of responsibility and by job families, age group and type of employment (for example, open-ended/fixed term and full time/part time);
- the number of recruitments and departures by gender;
- the average time to move from one level of responsibility to the next, by gender;
- the number of men and women trained; and
- the composition of management committees by gender.
All Thales group companies will participate in schemes to promote the "gender equalisation" of jobs in manufacturing industry. The agreement's signatories will contribute, by means adapted to the situation in each country, to promoting jobs in the sector to women, and to encouraging female students to specialise in technical and scientific courses.
With regard to recruitment, the company will promote equal access to employment. Notably, job advertisements must be drafted so that anyone whose skills and experiences meet the requirements of the vacant position may apply, whatever their gender. The agreement sets an objective of significantly increasing the proportion of women in overall recruitment.
In terms of career development, particular attention will be paid to the situation of women, both within Thales companies' annual people reviews and in employees' applications for new positions within Thales. Further, women who have just been promoted will be provided with mentoring.
The agreement aims to promote a better work-life balance and help employees returning to work after maternity or parental leave. Thales will:
- raise management awareness about those issues, in particular in terms of working hours;
- ensure that, in pay reviews, employees on maternity or adoption leave receive at least the average individual increase for employees in their category;
- give employees on maternity or adoption leave the right to an interview with the HR department and line manager one month before returning to work, by telephone if necessary, to assess any training and development needed;
- provide flexible working time during the first two weeks after maternity or adoption leave;
- make mentoring available after any parenthood-related leave;
- give employees information about any organisational or professional changes and, if requested, hold annual reviews and professional development discussions during maternity or adoption leave;
- wherever possible, and in line with national guidelines and statutory requirements, offer employees returning to work after maternity or adoption leave the same or an equivalent job;
- contribute to childcare expenses to ensure equal access to vocational training for men and women;
- support local initiatives to provide employees with nursery places for young children; and
- harmonise national provisions giving employees time off to care for sick children.
Promoting diversity
To avoid any risk of discrimination linked to employees' age, Thales will remove all references to age in its e-People1st staff information system. Further, Thales will invite all employees, after 25 years' service, to a group training session to define the "third part" of their career, provided by Thales University. The aim is to allow employees to analyse their past experiences, their strengths and their motivations, and to "structure their reflection" on how to build the final stage of their career. After the session, employees will have the opportunity to talk in more depth with a "coach" about their situation and possible professional development.
International diversity in work teams will be promoted through "European career paths". Notably, Thales aims to provide 100 jobs outside their home country to young professionals each year. The terms and conditions (for example, maintaining home-country pensions and social security coverage), and professional development aspects, are covered by an existing programme known as Career1st.
According to the agreement, within Thales, many teams are made up of people from different educational backgrounds, and "this diversity works well and has demonstrated added value". Recruitment plans will be drawn up to ensure this diversity.
Attracting, welcoming and training new recruits
The parties to the agreement concur on the necessity to continue to develop apprenticeships and commit themselves to examining, while respecting national constraints, all measures that could lead to an increase in the number of apprentices and improve the quality of apprenticeship systems. They will pay specific attention to the mentoring of apprentices, including specific training for mentors (notably on educational and pedagogical aspects) and recognition of acting as a mentor during the employee's evaluation.
To contribute to a successful induction process, a "buddy programme" already operated in some Thales companies will be extended across Europe. Under the scheme, employees can volunteer to become a "buddy" and participate in the integration of a new colleague. Buddies should, during the three first months of employment, welcome new recruits and help them with practical issues such as canteens and transport. As far as possible, buddies should be selected from a different job family and have something in common with the new recruit (such as age or interests). Buddies will be sponsored and supported in their activity by the company.
A programme to aid transition into working life, known as "From student to professional", will be put in place for recruits joining Thales directly after completing education. This one-year programme organised by the Thales University will support the recruits beyond induction in order to ensure their "professional integration". This integration will include an introduction to social dialogue in Thales, involving employee representatives and/or trade unions.
Implementation
The annual "anticipation process" set out by the agreement - involving analyses of job trends, discussions with workers' representatives, individual professional development discussions, training plans and reports - will be discussed each year at the Thales EWC. A "European anticipation commission" will be set up, comprising management and union representatives, to oversee implementation and monitor progress in achieving the agreement's targets and aims. National anticipation commissions with a similar role will be set up in countries where they do not currently exist. Managers and employees across Europe will receive detailed information about the agreement. Further, a "European convention" will be organised in spring 2010, to gather new examples of good practice and assess implementation of the agreement.
To support the implementation process and monitor progress, Thales will collect annual data enabling it to draw up a set of "social indicators" at European and national level, covering matters such as:
- the percentage of employees attending an annual professional development discussion;
- the average hours of training per employee;
- the total number of employees trained;
- the number of employees who have not benefited from meaningful training for three years;
- the number of career corners created;
- the number of learning advisers;
- the number of apprentices;
- the extent of internal mobility (occupational and geographical, national and international);
- the number of employees welcomed by a buddy; and
- aspects of gender equality - see Gender equality in professional development.
Reactions
Yves Barou, the Thales HR director, described the IDEA agreement as a "tailor-made response to accompany the development of a hi-tech company like Thales, whose success depends on the expertise of its workforce". Barou added that the accord "constitutes a first - and very successful - experience with regard to innovatory and responsible negotiations to find European convergence in the social/labour field". He also noted that, during the negotiations, the European trade union delegation led by EMF "showed a high degree of open-mindedness and responsibility regarding the implementation of a negotiated European social policy".
The EMF deputy general secretary, Bart Samyn, commented: "The agreement constitutes a milestone in the construction of social Europe because of its rich and detailed content. This European agreement clearly illustrates the fact that employee representatives have an important role to play in the future management of employment trends."
Exporting the French approach
Thales has joined a growing list of multinational companies that have signed Europe-wide agreement on aspects of HR policy with their EWC or European-level trade union organisations. Recent examples include General Motors (US, automotive), Solvay (Belgium, chemicals), PPR (France, retail), Gaz de France (France, energy), Suez (France, energy), Schneider Electric (France, engineering), RWE (Germany, utilities), Areva (France, nuclear power) and Total (France, petrochemicals).
Most of these agreements focus mainly on laying down principles and policies to guide action at lower levels. The Thales agreement is distinctive because it provides, in considerable detail, for concrete action in numerous areas and should have a direct effect on HR practices in all Thales operations across Europe. As well as setting out detailed procedures for staff and skills planning, it gives employees new entitlements. For example, all staff will benefit from annual professional development discussions, undergo meaningful training and have access to career corners and learning advisers.
In terms of its subject matter, the Thales agreement (while drawing on examples of good practice from across Europe) clearly reflects French practice and essentially exports this to operations in other countries.
Legislation adopted in France in 2005 obliges companies with 300 or more employees, and the industry-level social partners in all sectors, to negotiate every three years (although not necessarily to reach an agreement) on the "forward-looking management of employment and competences" (gestion prévisionnelle des emplois et des competences, GPEC). This is an HR approach that seeks to forecast a company's future jobs and skills needs and adapt employees to them - through measures such as skills assessments, training and redeployment - so as to prepare for change, maintain employment levels and give employees more secure career paths. A national cross-industry agreement signed in 2008 by France's main trade union confederations and employers' organisations seeks to further promote the GPEC approach.
Many large French companies now have a GPEC agreement, and Thales signed such an accord in November 2006. The new Europe-wide agreement extends the GPEC approach across Europe. Two other France-based multinationals - Schneider Electric and Suez - have already signed similar agreements on exporting GPEC, although in a somewhat less detailed fashion.
This article was written by Mark Carley, editor of European Employment Review.
European Employment Review 427 (EER 427) contents
