// Skills development

Investing considerable resources in skills development

Knowledge will always give a competitive edge in our industry. The value of a construction company depends to a large extent on the capabilities of its employees, and we therefore invest considerable resources each year in employee development and updating. Our decentralised organisation with a large degree of local freedom, places correspondingly high demands on the technical and managerial skills of our employees. Therefore, one of our main priority areas in 2009 will be management development.

1,970 employees attended courses in 2008

Veidekkeskolen is our in-house programme for learning and development. Through this programme, the employees are offered a wide selection of courses and development programmes, within areas such as HSE, management development, law, building technology, economics and customer relations. In 2008, Veidekkeskolen was extended with 18 new courses, and this represents an increase in the total number of courses of 25 per cent. The employees of Veidekke now have the opportunity to sign up for a total of 69 courses.

The new courses include topics such as universal design, new energy requirements, dangerous waste and sales programme for recycling. The activity in Veidekkeskolen continued to reach record-high levels in 2008. 1,970 employees attended development courses, varying from short technical courses to development programmes lasting more than a year. The number of work days spent on in-house courses and development activities during 2008 was 3,909.

Building skills in climate and environmental issues

Environmental challenges will affect most industries in the years ahead, as is the case for the building and construction industry. We have taken this into account when planning our skills development efforts. We are training our own apprentices in the recycling segment and climate change has been included more specifically in our management programmes. We are also offering several courses to bring our employees up-to-date on the latest developments in making the right choice of materials such as windows, fittings, insulation etc. Around 40 per cent of Norway's total energy consumption is used to heat homes and there are large gains to be had by making the right choices during the building process. Knowledge is a key factor here, particularly when it comes to seeing potential competitive advantages in smart environmental solutions. Our effort in the development of the TellHus low-energy housing concept is a fine example of this.

Good meeting places for the exchange of know-how

Veidekke's decentralised organisation means that we have to pay particular attention to the flow of expertise in the organisation. How do we, for example, distribute knowledge about the construction of a green building in Trondheim to the rest of our Scandinavian organisation? The key here is to create good meeting places for the exchange of know-how, and this is where our training staff comes in. One of their main goals is to create meeting places where personnel with special know-how can meet and exchange experience across regional boundaries. Together with Yara, Rieber & Søn and AFF at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in Bergen, Veidekke is participating in a three-year project entitled GOLD – Global Leadership Development. The purpose of the project is to identify and improve the channels for experience transfer in multinational companies.

Recruiting younger managers

The average age of the employees in our Industry Division Kolo Veidekke is relatively high (51 years), and it has proved challenging to recruit younger managers as key employees have retired. This is why Kolo Veidekke in 2007 started its own talent programme. 16 young engineers, chartered engineers, economists and others completed the programme, which was concluded last year. The object of the programme was to make young candidates more motivated and better prepared for taking on a managerial position. After completing the programme, nearly all the participants have assumed a managerial position in the Industry Division.

Strategic skills development in Hoffmann

In our Danish operations, Hoffmann, strategic skills development continues. The process is based on the needs of the organisation, that is to say the different employees' job and capability profiles. Hoffmann aims to provide development opportunities for all groups of employees. In 2008, we focused on continuing and concluding a number of courses. The last steps of the development concept for building and project managers have been completed, and in addition, we have carried through a talent development programme for section managers and project managers. We have also worked with the implementation of the cultural process entitled "Hoffmann's spine", the dialogue tool called "Mutual evaluation" which is used throughout the building process, and the development of sales and tender personnel and secretaries. In addition to this, we have continued our efforts to ensure that the knowledge acquired by employees through programmes and courses, is put to use in their day-to-day work. This we have done by applying the principles of action reflection learning and by enlisting even more help from the line managers.

Focus on management development in Sweden

In our Swedish operations, the focus on management development continues. Involvement in management is the goal and an essential factor for efficiency improvements in the division. Emphasis is thus also given to developing a "coaching" management style. We have also developed a programme for management development of middle managers and trainees across regional boundaries. This development process started in 2007 and will continue in the time ahead. Alongside this programme, the Swedish division has implemented Veidekke's corporate values throughout the organisation, modelling its work on Veidekke's operations in Norway. This is a broad initiative aiming to build up knowledge throughout the organisation and ensure that all know-how that exists in the company is put to use in day-to-day activities. In addition to this joint, top level initiative in Sweden, various kinds of skills development programmes took place on a regional level in 2008, within fields such as technology, environment, economics and management.