The successful implementation of the Horizon 2020 strategy is, to a high degree, determined by the commitment and performance of employees. In 2016, important steps were made in the further development of strong teams and talent.

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The Human Resources department has converted the Horizon 2020 strategy into a HR strategy consisting of three strategic pillars. The first pillar concerns building a future-proof HR platform. This entails that ForFarmers secures solid operational support for its staff management by means of an appropriate IT system. The second pillar concerns creating strong teams that can execute the strategy. This involves attracting talent, developing and retaining staff and stimulating career progression. The third pillar concerns the creation of a ‘One ForFarmers’ culture. Central to this are ForFarmers’ core values of ambition, sustainability and partnership. These function as a compass for its staff and help determine the corporate culture. For each core value, supporting values and expectations as regards desired conduct are provided. During annual staff evaluations these are used as guidelines and to set goals. To monitor how this change takes shape within the Company, work has started in 2016 on systematically acknowledging and monitoring employee commitment.

Future proof platform

In 2016, in-depth research was carried out on which Human Resources Business System is most suitable for the company, and which also offers the best support for all initiatives in the area of talent management, career and strategic staff planning. In the meantime, a system has been chosen which will be implemented in 2017.

Strong teams and the development of talent

The Total Feed Support project has started in the Netherlands. As part of this project, the customer service and supporting departments of ForFarmers Nederland and ForFarmers DML, and the commercial teams of DML have been combined. The objective of this is to provide customers one point of contact, which then gives them access to the different departments of ForFarmers. Combining the teams requires a lot of time and attention to optimally support the employees. This change offers more development and career opportunities for employees, because broader roles have come about which are more proactive and involve more client contact.

An extensive transformation process has been begun in the United Kingdom. This process entails working simultaneously on four major themes. Firstly, the route to market is simplified and improved. Secondly, the commercial teams are optimised, in line with customer segmentation. The third theme entails optimising the supply chain. Combining various supporting departments in one location is part of the streamlining of the organisation and forms the fourth major theme. Sadly, some employees will lose their jobs as a result hereof. On the other hand, the new organisation in the United Kingdom offers its employees opportunities for further development.

ForFarmers devotes particular attention to internal training for all staff. In the table below, the various management and professional training sessions are presented which have taken place in 2016. The third group of senior managers started the Masterclass Senior Management in 2016. Once this group has finished this programme, pretty much all senior managers of ForFarmers will have completed the programme. The last training will take place in 2017.

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This does not imply that training stops for ForFarmers’ Senior Managers. A number of modules from the Management Programmes will be covered again as a refresher. For example, a session was held on giving and receiving feedback during the Management Conference in December 2016.

ForFarmers has a wide range of knowledge, experience and expertise at its disposal as a result of doing business internationally. The Company wants to share this know-how and ultimately put this to use for its customers. This is what the Academies are about. The Academies are modular training programmes for ruminant, swine and poultry specialists aimed at enhancing professional knowledge, sharing innovations from the NIC and strategic partnerships, and sharpening commercial skills. The objective of these training programmes is to continuously develop the commercial advisors in the field of know-how and skills to support and advise customers. Through these internal management and professional training programmes, ForFarmers gives substance to professional employment practices and talent development. By means of the management programmes, the Academies, the many forms of career path support, and the opportunities to follow other – external - training courses for further development, as well as by discussing the career opportunities as a set topic during the annual assessments, ForFarmers stimulates both vertical and horizontal career progression for staff. Accordingly, in 2016, a considerable number of employees were promoted internally. ForFarmers was in a position in 2016 to attract new talent from outside the company to all layers of the organisation.

The number of new employees joining ForFarmers in 2016 amounted to 263. Last year, 371 employees also left ForFarmers for a range of reasons, such as for example reorganisation, or due to poor performance.

One ForFarmers culture

Staff meetings

ForFarmers regularly organises meetings where groups of employees are informed on strategic progress. This is an effective way of increasing engagement, helping to realise the One ForFarmers approach, rolling out the Horizon 2020 strategy and sharing the mission of ForFarmers. In May and December, two-day management conferences were held for the senior management team. Regular staff meetings, which are highly interactive, are held in the countries. Staff is invited to give their opinion, ideas and suggestions. In 2016, there were 12 staff meetings in the Netherlands, 10 in Germany, 5 in Belgium and 15 in the United Kingdom, attended by between 30 and 100 employees and where discussions were conducted with all layers of the hierarchy on the realisation of the strategy and the mission of ForFarmers or other current themes. Other examples of meetings where information is exchanged are the New Year meetings and the ruminant days. In 2016 preparations began for the Management Conference XL in 2017, during which around 230 participants will be present to discuss the current status of Horizon 2020 and the next steps to be taken.

Employee engagement

In 2016, ForFarmers conducted its first employee engagement survey. The questions pertained, inter alia, to strategy, leadership, career, remuneration and safety. 88% of ForFarmers staff filled in the survey. These results show that 77% of ForFarmers'employees feel engaged or very engaged. Employees are especially positive about the teamwork within ‘One ForFarmers’. They also feel safe in their workplace. Around 70% of staff would recommend ForFarmers to friends or family as an employer. The survey furthermore makes it clear that there is still room for improvement in the area of giving and receiving feedback. Some employees also find their workload high and further efforts could be made as regards understanding the individual contribution that people can make to the Horizon 2020 strategy.

Based on the results of the survey, a plan for improvement has been drawn up for each country. Line managers and staff alike are involved in this. For matters relevant to all countries, a Company-wide approach has been adopted. As a result, an extended module has been included in the management training programmes on giving and receiving feedback, and more attention has been devoted to the translation of the Horizon 2020 strategy into detailed plans per role and per country.

Employee participation plan

In 2015 ForFarmers introduced an employee participation plan for employees with a permanent contract. This plan continued in 2016. Employees could purchase ForFarmers depositary receipts (at a discount of 13.5%) up to a maximum amount of €5,000 per person. These depositary receipts are in lock-up for a period of three years. In the Netherlands, the employees receive a discount directly on the depositary receipts and in the other countries, the discount is applied in the form of free depositary receipts. In 2016, over 15% of employees participated in the plan, a little less than the 20% who had done so in 2015. The participants in the 2016 plan spent an average of €600 more per employee on shares than in 2015. In total, 22% of employees now have shares in ForFarmers. The aim of the participation plan is to foster commitment to the Company as well as motivation and dedication. The aim is to offer this scheme on an annual basis. Every year, the General Meeting is asked for permission to purchase shares for this purpose after the Supervisory Board has approved the proposals linked hereto.

Health and safety

ForFarmers wishes to offer employees a safe work environment. That is why significant attention is paid to safety, monitoring and proactive identification of hazardous or potentially hazardous situations at ForFarmers’ premises, under way and on customer locations. ForFarmers’ approach with regard to health and safety is outlined in the chapter on Sustainability and Innovation.

Personnel representation

In the various countries, ForFarmers has good employee representation. These are involved in organisational development and have a critical, constructive role to review situations from the perspective of the employee.

Since October 2015, ForFarmers has had a Europe-wide employee representative. This ForFarmers European Employees Council (FFEEC) consists of employee representatives from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. The FFEEC discusses subject matters that relate to multiple countries. In 2016, it had two meetings with the Executive Committee. During these meetings, important subjects were discussed in which the FFEEC can offer a substantial contribution to the Company’s improvement. In 2016, discussions were held on the employee engagement survey and how to optimise employee engagement.

Priorities for the coming years

The priorities in the area of HR for the coming years are, inter alia, further roll-out of the various Academies (Sales, Ruminant, Swine, Poultry, Logistics and Operations) and the implementation of the Management Foundation Programme in all countries. In addition, talent management - attracting and retaining talent - in particular and staff recruitment in general are an important priority. In order to attract the best people, contacts with Universities, Colleges and Student Associations will be broadened and strengthened in 2017, and a trainee programme will be introduced. ForFarmers recognises that the organisation has a proportional ageing staff. Therefore, young, new employees are actively sought to participate in the new trainee programmes. In 2017, further analysis will be done on how to counteract the proportional ageing of staff without losing know-how and expertise, and plans will be made accordingly. 2017 will be the year of the implementation of the HR business system and the monitoring and follow-up of the aforementioned points from the employee engagement survey.

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