Employees

Our most important resource

Our employees make Addtech what it is. They are our absolute foremost resource. Responsibility and freedom are two of Addtech's core values and are summarised as "Freedom with responsibility", but never freedom without responsibility or responsibility without freedom. Addtech organises its business on the basis of decentralised responsibility for profitability and earnings. This involves a high degree of responsibility for the subsidiaries, but with great freedom to, for example, choose the types of suppliers to be appointed and the types of customers to focus on. Motivated, creative and decisive employees who can prioritise work tasks yet who can lift their gaze and look ahead at Addtech are fundamental to this working. In order to succeed in this, Addtech works to maintain an open and positive approach to people, capitalising on the full potential of employees, whatever their position and level of responsibility. Addtech emphasises the importance of taking account of the distinctive character of each individual employee. It is the very differences that create the dynamics that have made Addtech successful.

Addtech's Code of Conduct

Addtech's Code of Conduct is a foundation stone for our CSR work and has long been an integral part of the operations. In 2010/2011 it was updated to better reflect the Group's objective. The Group's Code of Conduct acts as a compass for our employees and includes all important issues in the environment, human rights, working terms and conditions and corruption. (Its complete scope is listed below). The Code is based on the UN's Global Compact, ILO's Core Conventions, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and it is aimed at our operations and those of our suppliers. The Group's Code of Conduct as adopted by the Board applies to all companies in the Group and is available on the Addtech website www.addtech.com/csr and is readily available to all our employees on the Addtech intranet. 

The Group complies with prevailing laws and regulations in the countries where it operates. While subsidiaries and employees are also expected to comply with Addtech's Code of Conduct, Addtech also strives for our suppliers to adhere to it too, even in cases where it is more far-reaching than national laws and statutes.

Employee survey

During the year, Addtech conducted an employee survey that covered all employees in the Group. Addtech's employee survey was the second of its kind in the Group and kept the structure and questions of the previous survey, so interesting comparisons can now be made with the previous year. The aim of the survey is to identify areas in which the subsidiaries and Group currently perform well as an employer, and identify areas of improvement at the same time. From a Group perspective, the survey enables Addtech to offer support to the subsidiaries where there are common needs, while disseminating knowledge and ideas from successful companies throughout the Group.

 

The 2012/2013 results are in line with the previous year and show that the Group's employees remain happy in their workplaces, irrespective of the business area or country where they work.

Addtech's Group management encourages each managing director at each subsidiary to prepare a plan of action based on the individual results of the company. The results of this year's employee survey will also form the basis of long-term, strategic staff development work in the Group. Addtech's ambition is to continue to conduct annual employee surveys in order to identify changes. It ought to be added that no account was taken of the size of the subsidiaries, or if they were newly acquired into the Group. Addtech is constantly growing and, based on the decentralisation model, a lot of responsibility is shouldered by the managing directors of the subsidiaries. Some subsidiaries have several hundred employees with a smoothly running HR department, while others are small consisting of a handful of people. It stands to repeat that the challenge or Addtech's CSR work is in the variations between the Company's highly autonomous subsidiaries.

Rate of employee turnover

During the year, employee turnover was 10 percent (13). The table above provides a more detailed picture of the Group's employee turnover, by gender and age. Addtech is at heart a Nordic enterprise; around 90 percent of the Group's employees work in one of the Nordic countries. 

Gender distribution and wage differences

The technology trading industry has historically been male dominated and this is also apparent in the proportion of female applicants to institutes of technology in Sweden in relation to male applicants. Addtech's ambition is, by being an attractive employer, to continually increase the proportion of women in the Group. The proportion of women and men in the Group shall at least reflect the general gender distribution in the industry, and the proportion of graduates from institutes of technology. Addtech is in line with the distribution in Sweden's technical courses, where the proportion of female applicants and accepted candidates is 30 percent. Key figures for the gender breakdown between men and women in different functions at Addtech are shown in the table below.

Wage differences for men and women in the Group vary between different areas of position. Addtech has identified an uneven distribution in the salaries of men and women. However, it ought to be mentioned that no account was taken of age, scope of period of work, previous experience, training or productivity. For instance, it can be mentioned that 23 percent of Addtech's female employees are 30 years old or younger, while the corresponding figure for men in 15 percent. Furthermore, 28 percent of men are 50 years old or older, while the corresponding figure for women is 19 percent. Addtech obviously strives to ensure that all employees in the Group, irrespective of gender, are given equal opportunities for remuneration for equivalent work, and is working actively to break down the old pattern.

The seemingly uneven relationship in the table above between the wages of men and women in production is due to the fact that the majority of the women in production are in the Nordic region. Of the total amount of men working in production, the distribution is even, that is 50 percent in the Nordic region and 50 percent outside of the Nordic region.

Permanent employees

Permanent employees make up the majority of the Group's workforce. Contracted employees are primarily appointed to replace ordinary employees in the event of illness or other leave. The table above shows a breakdown of permanent and contracted employees.

Performance appraisal

Dialogue with the Group's employees takes place at each company in the Group, for example in connection with the annual performance appraisal. Addtech's development and competitiveness are strongly linked to the skills development and wellbeing of its employees. The Group companies strive to be attractive employers that offer our employees solid personal development opportunities.

One ambition in the Group is that all employees should have a personal performance appraisal meeting with their immediate manager each year. An important part of the performance appraisal is to identify ways of improving the expertise and wellbeing of the employee. Another is to increase contentment and job satisfaction in the workplace.

In 2012/2013, formal performance appraisals were held with 57 percent (60) of Addtech's employees. The addition of new companies is the reason for the lower figure than the previous year. The number of Addtech employees increased by 300 people through the year's acquisitions. If the new companies are excluded from the results, there is an improvement; 63 percent compared to the previous year, which is, however, still some way off Addtech's long-term ambition. For the subsidiaries that were new in the year, the corresponding figure is 23 percent.

Over the coming year, Addtech will continue to review the procedures and tools that are available to Group companies, in order to increase the proportion of performance appraisals conducted. Special efforts are made for newly acquired companies

Hours of training

To develop the skills of our employees is to develop Addtech's operations. To this end, we run our own Business School, for instance. For over a decade, the Addtech Business School has trained about a hundred Addtech employees each year in areas such as Group corporate culture, business acumen and presentation and negotiation techniques. The table above shows the number of training days per employee and per employee category during the year. The term "training" is defined as:

• All types of professional courses and training
• Paid leave granted to employees by the Company for training
• External training paid for wholly or partly by the company
• Training on special topics such as health and safety
• Training at suppliers

Direct instructions by a manager in the workplace are not included.

Health and safety

Health and safety forms a priority area for Addtech. The Group has a zero vision for work-related accidents, illnesses and incidents, and an ambition to focus constantly on promoting better health and wellbeing among our employees. In Addtech's various production-based units, there are potential risks of work-related illnesses and accidents. However, there are also risks of accidents in the sales process, for example during travel to and from customers and when visiting to customers' factories or other facilities. The Health and Safety table provides an overview of Addtech's results in this area. In view of the Group's size and number of employees, these figures are relatively low. The increase from the previous year of around 0.4 percent in relation to the number of employees mainly derives from one of the Group's newly acquired companies, which alone accounts for half of the increase, with six reported injuries. No work-related fatalities occurred during the year.

As a technology trading group, Addtech cannot ignore the possibility of our employees being subjected to bribery, particularly in connection with purchases in countries where corruption is generally more extensive. The trend in corruption in various countries where Addtech operates is monitored constantly, for example via the Transparency International website (www.transparency.org). Business ethics has always been high on the Group's agenda and are an issue that is constantly addressed in, for instance, the Group's own Business School. The Group has zero tolerance towards corruption, and the fact that no cases of corruption occurred during the year (0) is thus in line with our expectations.