Developing human resources


Gemalto is built on the ingenuity of its people. So we place strong emphasis on developing our human resources to meet future needs and ensure our long-term survival and success. Our HR policies are therefore critical for the sustainability of the company.

 

Investing through training
The digital world is evolving rapidly. One of our most important HR objectives is therefore to invest in our people to support their skills development in this ever-changing environment. Our employees need to be able to respond to the needs of our customers and markets, and to adapt to new technologies and challenges.

So each year we invest 2% of our salary costs in training, offering a wide range of employee courses and schemes. In 2010, we delivered a total of 227,550 hours of training worldwide. 6,740 people received training across our regions with an average of 31 training hours each. With 57 hours of training per person, Asia represented 58% of total training hours in 2010. Much of our training in Asia concerns manufacturing, so modules are longer in general. There is also higher turnover, so we train more new employees. Our training satisfaction rate of 77% is one point below 2009 and up from 72% in 2007. This shows that globally, people are making effective use of our comprehensive training curriculum to reinforce their professional skills.

Promoting from within

Internal training and promotion form the backbone of Gemalto’s HR philosophy. At the end of 2010, of the top 350 people in the company, 93% had been promoted from within. This reflects the quality of our training programs and efforts to support the career advancement of our people over the mid to long term.

Training programs
The key aim of our training is to develop competencies, skills and knowledge so that our employees can better fulfill their role and achieve the company’s strategic objectives. In 2010, we harmonized our training processes and policies to better match Gemalto’s overall business objectives.

Through our global leadership development program, “Gemalto University”, we have created a worldwide community that shares common values and experiences, and helps us remain well-organized and competitive. One important element of Gemalto University is the “Emerging Leadership Program”, through which we focus on global leadership development and prepare future leaders across our businesses. In 2010, 35 talented employees from 15 countries spent a week in Johannesburg, South Africa, exploring how product and service innovations could improve the lives of people at the base of the economic pyramid.

In addition, through the “Gemalto Technical Ladder”, we enable our technical experts to develop their international career paths across different business units. More than 1,450 people worldwide from R&D and technical support are now part of this program – including newly acquired experts from Netsize and Trusted Logic.

In France, we continued our voluntary commitments under the “GPEC” program – “La Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et Compétences”. GPEC is a three-year best-practice project with the trade unions designed to prepare people for skill-related changes in their jobs. It helps us to respond to emerging technology trends and market developments, and to make sure our employees are equipped to maintain our high levels of competitiveness. At the end of 2010, more than 75% of all managers in France had started to put GPEC into practice.

In 2010 Gemalto acquired five new companies. One of our major HR programs now relates to the integration of new employees who joined us. It includes:

  • Embedding these new employees within the organization;

  • Bringing them up to speed with our values, systems and processes;

  • Ensuring they engage with our sustainability programs and adhere to our Code of Ethics;

  • Providing them with training and support;

  • Capturing their knowledge and skills for Gemalto’s benefit.

Gemalto Performance Review
Each year, all Gemalto employees meet with their managers to assess progress against objectives. The Gemalto Performance Review is an opportunity for open dialogue about performance and career advancement. It’s also a chance for employees to ask questions, receive feedback and get a sense of where they’re going in the company. By the end of February 2011, 95% of Gemalto’s “exempt employees” had completed their 2010 performance reviews.

We feed all performance review information into a database. This enables us to monitor training needs and provide staff with information about available courses in good time.

 

Encouraging mobility
The option for staff to move with Gemalto internationally is another key pillar of our HR policy. We encourage mobility across all our businesses and the regions in which we operate.

Our “Young Transfer Program”, for example, targets young, high-performing employees from developing countries. It offers them the chance to come to France to extend their knowledge and gain valuable management skills. Once they have completed the program, they can take this learning back to their home countries. This approach supports our strategic goals of:

  • Increasing management diversity;

  • Promoting people internally;

  • Promoting international cultural diversity in the workplace.

The program also encourages employee loyalty, benefits people development in emerging countries, and enhances cross-cultural learning and the sharing of experiences.

Those who take part in the Young Transfer Program are our company’s future. By broadening their skills and careers, we’re aiming to safeguard Gemalto’s future success and ensure we have the expertise needed for the years ahead. Since 2008, 64 employees have traveled to France under this program, mainly from Asia and Latin America.

 

Balancing career opportunities
In August 2010, a review showed that Gemalto employed 2,840 people in France, of whom 63% were men and 37% women. Although this did not identify significant gender gaps in pay for similar jobs, there were areas for improvement. And it was felt that the number of women in middle and top positions could also be increased.

“People” is one of Gemalto’s three core values. So the company launched a continuing program to make training for both sexes more equal and close any gaps in pay – however small.

Specifically the program focuses on ways that training can develop skills to encourage women’s career development. It’s also examining ways to promote more women so that the number of female managers reflects the percentage of “exempt” women in the company.

Other priorities include making sure diversity is reflected in every job role company-wide – also allowing for a healthy work-life balance. In 2010, we acted to reduce any pay gap between men and women with similar responsibilities.

 

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