Forward skills planning

Since 2002 Renault has taken a forward-looking, cross-functional approach to skills management, implemented by the business-line managers with the support of the Human Resources function. Aim: identify and build the skills that the Group needs to carry out Renault Commitment 2009 and meet its future commitment. Each business line will be evaluated to identify the strategic and business-critical skills to be managed, as well as any new skills that need to be developed in order to support the company's international growth. Then skills development plans are prepared using a number of tools.

• These include: employment management. Aim: renew skills and support international growth, while pursuing productivity gains in a highly competitive environment. Recruitment in France is now targeted on the priority needs of the business lines, primarily for Renault Commitment 2009:  purchasing, logistics, engineering as part of the team support plan, etc. The main objective is to continue to integrate, develop and maintain new skills. To support the growth of international facilities (Romania, India, Morocco, Russia, etc.), Renault set a target in 2000 of recruiting 20% of managerial staff with international backgrounds by virtue of their education or nationality.

• Further upstream, partnerships with the education system. This is cooperation with educational institutions to achieve a better match between training and the company’s skills needs. This can involve designing specific training courses. Presentations are organized on a regular basis in primary and secondary schools to interest young people in automotive careers. Every year, Renault welcomes many young people as apprentices, interns and international volunteers at all levels and across all the business lines.

• Another tool : career paths. Against a constantly changing backdrop, career paths provide the basis to build and develop personnel skills over time, through the gradual accumulation of experience. Renault thus fosters opportunities for internal mobility. Forward career planning is organized by the HR function, supported by dedicated committees in every division and on the basis of each employee’s performance and career development review. Employees have access to a wide range of tools on the intranet to help them build their career paths: a job opportunities section and an intranet site describing the variety of career paths specific to each business line or cross-cutting.

• Training. Training enables the company to support the implementation of its strategy and employees to remain at the top of their professions and acquire new skills that will help them advance in their career paths. Common indicators are used to keep track of the implementation of the training policy in all countries.

Balanced reorganization of working hours

Renault’s policy on reorganizing working hours is focused on meeting customer needs more effectively and making the Group more competitive. This reorganization has two main aims: improve use of resources and expand flexible working hours. Renault is adapting its expertise in the organization of working hours in industry to a number of international projects, in order to help production sites in other countries cope with fluctuating levels of activity.

A single information system

Standardization and the pooling of experience rank among the key factors contributing to performance. Renault's Human Resources are managed by a Group-wide personnel database called the BPU. The database is intended for the specialist personnel of the HR function, as well as for managers to facilitate HR management of their teams (career management, training, working hours). Employees can access personal data (career path, record of training completed, remaining leave balance). The database is still being rolled out. At end-2007, BPU was active in 22 countries, which represents almost 100,000 employees managed by the database.

The alliance with Nissan

The Alliance HR FTT (Functional Task Team) is made up of HR representatives from Renault and Nissan. Its role is to support the Alliance’s drive for improved efficiency by conducting a series of benchmarks to identify the best practices in both groups and pursue the actions launched in the areas of targeted recruitment, staff exchanges, intercultural training and satisfaction surveys.