Jefe de Seg u ridad
ELEMENTOS FABRICADOS VALORIZADOS
EUroPEAN
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“yoU hAVE To BE WIllING To lET EAch oThEr TAkE A
look BEhIND ThE ScENES”
- Bart van cauwenberge -this area,” says Bart Van cauwenberge, responsible for logistics clients in his capacity as International Account manager. “companies this big spend hundreds of millions of euros a year on flexible labour. They actu- ally see it as a commodity, just like a fleet of vehicles or company uniforms. To prevent our services from being treated like some sort of bulk product, we decided to sit down and talk with each other. We told them that we were willing to invest in the relationship if they were - and not just willing to negotiate over price. They were.” These talks have resulted in a framework agreement under which the conditions of the partnership have been worked out by both parties. Negotiations are no longer held by separate country units or operating companies, but centrally from Antwerp. The starting point is the
objective to use temporary workers as efficiently as possible. Van cauwenberge: “This is only possible if you are willing to let each other take a look behind the scenes. For instance, we place temporary staff in a large Dhl distribution centre that only works for companies in the fashion industry. This centre has extremely busy seasons that require a lot of staff. By giving our people an insight into their order systems, we are able to plan much more efficiently. That cuts costs, both for us and for Deutsche Post World Net.”
This strategic form of cooperation has been so success- ful that both parties are looking into how to shape their partnership further. “We have to stop negotiating based on conversion factors. The idea is that you have to utilise each other’s strengths as much as possible to meet the challenges our clients present us with. That is how you create added value,” says Ammerlaan.
This is a new way of working. “It is more focused on the business. The classic business model in the temporary
staffing sector is simple: number of hours multiplied by rate. This model is based on the total cost of ownership, which means that we analyse where the costs are made in order to work as efficiently as possible. This is good for the client and good for USG People.”
The International Account & Sales team is focused on the industrial, logistics and services sectors. Sector know- ledge is gathered and made available to all the commer- cial staff at USG People to prevent the need to reinvent the wheel.
It has become evident that not every client wants to work this way. This approach is mainly of interest to bigger companies. “In recent years multinationals in particular have invested a lot in procurement departments.
These people observe and analyse everything that hap- pens in a company - and that includes temporary labour. In addition, large companies possess the information systems needed to gather the data of units in a country unit and to process it on an international level.”
That does not mean that this way of working is restricted to mature staffing markets. Ammerlaan: “This is a mis- conception. In markets like Belgium, the Netherlands and France we are often dealing with the same clients as in Poland or the czech republic. These clients do not want to see a difference in service. So we have to be able to perform at the same level everywhere.”
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diStinctive. USG People’s operating companies are clearly recognisable by their distinctive, high-visibility campaigns. For example, as an official partner of the Dutch premier football league Eredivisie, Start People in the Netherlands gets great exposure on and around football grounds almost every week. And Unique in Spain introduced Alejandra, the virtual consultant. Unique in the Netherlands launched a
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distinctive campaign to put its dot in the public spotlight. content, on the other hand, uses an integrated mentality match campaign to try to match corporate culture with employee mentality, while Unique in the Netherlands has clearly associated itself with music by teaming up with pop artist roel van Velzen. So each operating company puts itself in the picture with its own style of campaign.
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This downturn called for and still calls for an even prompter response than normal to day-to-day develop- ments. Direct measures were taken where necessary and made-to-measure adjustments were made. While we had to take measures which were difficult at times, this situation also presents opportunities for USG People. It is good to be able to fall back on a sound strategy. As prescribed by the Articles of Association, the Super- visory Board submits the annual accounts as drawn up by the Executive Board to the General Meeting of Shareholders for adoption. The annual accounts have been audited and received an unqualified auditor’s report. The report as provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V. is included on page 160.
The Executive Board proposes a dividend of € 0.58 per share, payable in stock. Details of the proposal can be found on page 67. The Supervisory Board backs this proposal.
The Supervisory Board proposes that the annual accounts and the dividend proposal be approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders. The Board also proposes the
discharge of the members of the Executive Board in respect of their management activities, and the discharge of the Supervisory Board in respect of their supervision of these management activities.
Structure. In 2008 the Supervisory Board consisted of five members: Cor Brakel (chairman), Christian Dumolin, Joost van Heyningen Nanninga, Marike van Lier Lels and Alex Mulder. It is the duty of the Supervisory Board is to monitor the policies executed by the Executive Board. More specifically, it advises on strategic matters, company objectives and earnings, both on request and on own initiative. In 2008 the Supervisory Board met nine times, including once by telephone. All members attended each meeting and made a positive contribution to decision making. The external auditor attended one of the meetings. The CEO and CFO attended all meetings of the Supervisory Board except the meeting that discussed the functioning of Executive Board.
Subjects discussed during the meetings held in the 2008 year under review include:
• the strategy; • financing;