®ilina, June 2004

The EDF company culture is based on correct relationships between employers and employees.

Even though each restructuralization brings about the reduction of workplaces, the restructuralization and optimization of the SSE staff structure, which takes place with the assistance of EDF experts, is a good example that changes can be made without conflicts and effectively.

"We knew, and this was no secret, that after our entry into SSE, the infamous step to reduce some workplaces and lower overall employment rate, which was extremely high, ineffective and potentially dangerous for the company stability, had to be taken. In the EDF company culture, there are, however, a couple of principles which we never break in terms of employment policies and human resources. We tend to be courteous and benevolent in the dialog with social partners. We follow the thesis that a dialog is always better than a conflict.
At the same time, we are a socially responsible company which views its staff not as production units but as partners who have their own needs and problems. Last but not least, we hold that forward development is better than revolution, which typically brings useless victims", said Mr. Patrik Luccioni.

The SSE restructuralization, which also takes the reduction of workplaces, is distributed over the years 2003-2005. SSE has lowered the number of workplaces by approximately 300, performing a wide restructuralization of the whole company.

The SSE restructuralization key is focused on the subject matter of the company, which is distribution and sales of electric energy and singling out those activities that do not go with the subject matter of the company into daughter companies and to companies with no SSE share.

Singling out the activities, e.g. cleaning, canteens, transport and security, was also connected with canceling workplaces, but a great majority of our former employees, who were employed in the branches we singled out, successfully found their jobs with other employers who took over the activities and offer them externally.

The actual reduction of workplaces was divided into a number of stages - in the first stage, we dismissed those employees who lost their jobs, but were able to find them immediately elsewhere. The second stage was typical for dismissals due to retirement or early retirement. The last stage was meant for those employees whose workplaces were cancelled due to restructuralization. In all of the cases in the last stage, however, the employees were given golden parachutes above the legal framework.

During the whole process, social peace was not disrupted and SSE met all the requirements following from the union contract.

"If we talked only about canceling workplaces, the whole restructuralization process would be misinterpreted from the viewpoint of employment. Apart from canceling, we created new sections, such as: central section for purchasing and logistics, including public procurement, a standalone marketing section, live voltage section and the extended call center", says Patrik Luccioni.

In all the newly created sections, former SSE employees were reemployed even at the expense of their partial or complete requalification.

Thanks to these sensitive approaches, the first stage of the overall restructuralization, including the reduction of workplaces, was smooth and peaceful and it definitely provided more strength to the company.