Job Candidates

Edgardo is a human resources manager in China. He explains the challenges associated with recruitment in this country.

"Our objective is to support the development of the Business in China, where we are planning to double cement and clinker output between 2007 and 2010.

 

To do this, we will be recruiting new employees over the next 2 years and training them to Lafarge standards. We are planning to increase the workforce by 25-75% by hiring engineers (plant, site and field engineers) and manufacturing and maintenance technicians, among others.

The challenge is twofold. Not only do we have to respond to growing demands for human resources, we have to compete with local and international companies who wish to recruit the same employees. We have, therefore, implemented an extremely proactive recruitment process which targets key audiences and provides accelerated training.

 

We are looking for candidates with experience in the building materials industry. Since most jobs are in the field, knowledge of Mandarin is important for all candidates, whatever their nationality. The hiring process in China is fairly standard: recruitment is done through colleges, the internet or specialized agencies. Candidates are first interviewed over the phone and then in a face-to-face meeting.

 

Most young recruits are engineers. They follow a specially-designed integration and development program before they are sent into the field or to a plant. Young graduates from outside China are also welcome, particularly if they have training in strategy, marketing, industrial ecology or safety.

 

Among the 8,000 employees working in China in 2007, only 44 are expatriates. Most of them work in our Technical Center but we also have expatriate staff working to share Lafarge best practices, integrate new production sites and develop skills and training, to give just a few examples."

Moreen works in Canada as Director of Land Management for North America

" I am a graduate in mining geology and landscape architecture and I live in Ontario. I'm in charge of managing the Group's land and natural resources in North America to ensure we make the most of our capital assets. We work to acquire and divest land, obtain permits, develop quarrying plans, and so on. As a result, I'm in close contact with stakeholders such as N.G.Os., local associations and government bodies.

 

I believe business has no choice but to find new ways of interacting with stakeholders. By working in closer collaboration with organizations who see the world differently, we can expand our horizons and, together, find innovative solutions. This will allow us to become truly sustainable even as we continue to meet the expectations of our shareholders.

 

In my spare time, I devote 2 days per month to the Niagara Escarpment Commission (N.E.C.). This government agency is working to preserve the many ecosystems of this escarpment, whose cliffs, hills, forests, wetlands and agricultural lands extend more than 700 kilometers and cover parts of Ontario, the most heavily populated province in Canada. In 1990, the Niagara Escarpment was recognized by Unesco as a World Biosphere Reserve, putting it on a par with Florida's Everglades and Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

 

I was appointed to the N.E.C. because I work for Lafarge, which is a leader in its sector. The Group also conducts sustainable management programs which could be of interest to the Commission. Lafarge has always supported my involvement. Although some of my peers on the Commission had doubts at first, they now accept the idea that a company can do business in a sincerely responsible manner. This wasn't necessarily the case a few years ago.

 

The only time I do not take part in the N.E.C.'s deliberations is when there is a potential conflict of interest. Whenever the land that Lafarge owns on the escarpment site is discussed, I withdraw.

 

I have two roles but a single conviction: that we must make the best and most sustainable use of our natural resources! "

Since November 2006, Marc has been working in France at the Technical Center Europe and Africa (TCEA).

I am a process engineer with a degree from the School of Advanced Studies in Agro-Industrial Science in Cameroon. I joined Lafarge's Cement Business in Cameroon in 2005. In March 2006, I was appointed Pozzolan Quarry & Laboratory Process Manager for the Bonaberi plant.

At present, I'm working in France at the TCEA (Technical Center Europe and Africa) in the Process and Quality Department. This department tracks, assesses and optimizes plant performance in the Western Europe and Africa regions.

I joined the team in November 2006 and will spend my assignment on rotation in the combustion, grinding, raw mix, geology and quality departments. We work closely with local teams to make sure equipment is used under the best possible conditions and that products meet Lafarge quality standards.

I benefited from the skills development program which has been launched in the Cement Business in Cameroon. Working abroad is an opportunity to grow professionally and will allow me to take on more challenging roles when I return to my Business Unit.

The most surprising thing about working here is finding out that people's attitude to time is very rigid. Arrangements are tightly scheduled, which means there is little room for improvisation and human relationships. People are also far more independent in their daily work. For me, sorting out administrative tasks such as expense reports or booking trips is a totally new experience!

I am very touched to be working at Le Teil, the Group's original plant. I am also enjoying working with the most qualified experts in the area and meeting managers whose paths are stimulating and motivating.

As regards my private life, I know that the concessions I'm making will be worth the effort. My wife and I know that this is an investment in our future. Expatriation has always been an integral part of my career plan.

Christine is the Director of the Lichtenburg cement plant in South Africa

" I began working for Lafarge in 1992 as an engineer at the Alpena plant in Michigan in the United States. I was a plant manager in Canada from 2001 to 2004 and was appointed to manage the Lichtenburg plant in South Africa in March 2004.

Ever since I joined Lafarge in 1992, I've been working towards an international career. For example, I've taken advantage of individual evaluation meetings to express my desire to live abroad.

 

Before leaving for Lichtenburg, I took a cultural training program which allowed me to become operational very quickly. From the outset, I was confronted by the challenges associated with managing a team of employees who have very different origins, cultural backgrounds and qualifications. I had to adapt my approach to human resources management. Things that I took for granted in my previous location took on a new dimension in South Africa.

For example, educating employees about H.I.V. is critical. The Business Unit has implemented an excellent program on H.I.V./Aids awareness as well as voluntary counseling, testing and treatment. Another example is access to transport. In North America, one assumes that all employees have access to transportation. In South Africa, organizing transportation for all plant employees is much more complex.

 

Industrial problems, on the other hand, are fairly similar to those we encounter in North America. I was able to apply the best practices developed in my original Business Unit to my South African plant. Knowledge transfer makes it possible to obtain improvements more rapidly and at a lower cost. We encourage plant employees to look to the Group when trying to solve problems. The South African teams discovered that the solutions to their problems can often be found in other Group plants and that they don't have to start from scratch every time. "

Yotham is Human Resources manager of the Chilanga cement plant in Zambia, his native country.

" The Chilanga cement plant has not been spared by the H.I.V./Aids pandemic. A study carried out by Lafarge in 2003 revealed that rates of H.I.V. among employees were above the national average, which stands at 20%!

 

Something had to be done. Alongside this terrible human tragedy, the plant was suffering from high levels of absenteeism and a decline in productivity. With help from the Lafarge Group and Afya Mzuri, a N.G.O. formerly known as Z.H.A.B.S., we set up a prevention program with a team of 44 peer educators. That's a ratio of 1 educator to every 10 employees. I am proud to belong to this team. Employees from all categories are represented and we meet every 15 days during working hours.

Our actions, which are partly financed by Lafarge, consist of informing our colleagues and their families about H.I.V./Aids and opportunistic infections and distributing free condoms. We also encourage employees and family members to undertake voluntary counseling and testing and to take advantage of the measures Lafarge has implemented to facilitate access to anti-retroviral treatments.

 

Women play a key role in our intervention program. We quickly understood that successful preventive action could only be achieved if we involved employees' wives and family members. With help from Lafarge, we gave training in H.I.V./Aids prevention to 30 women from the Chilanga community where our employees live. They have since been sharing their knowledge with numerous other women and families in the area.

 

These efforts have paid off. The health of our employees has improved and the number of sexually transmitted diseases (S.T.Ds.) has fallen sharply. Absenteeism has also declined so the plant can now operate normally. We plan to extend these programs to other communities near the plant. Aids is no longer taboo and the fact that people are willing to speak openly about it is helping to change high-risk behavior. The role of a peer educator can be difficult and demanding but if I can convince just one employee to protect himself or herself against H.I.V./Aids then I will feel that I have fulfilled my mission. "

Sébastien is managing Director of the Gypsum Business in his native country, Romania.

" The Group works in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, an N.G.O. which helps needy families build decent homes.

 

Since 2002, Lafarge Romania has been supporting the local branch of Habitat for Humanity by donating building materials. Employees can also volunteer to work on the construction sites and are always highly motivated by this new teambuilding experience.

This is an important project because, with more than 15 industrial sites in Romania, Lafarge has economic and social responsibilities here. Our goal is to introduce Habitat for Humanity projects to as many local communities as possible in the areas where we operate.

It was for this reason that, in 2003, Lafarge Gips donated $3,000-worth of plaster and other gypsum materials and that 10 of us helped to build apartments in Beius. I took part in the project because, for me, sustainable development should be practical.

 

With hindsight, it was very satisfying to devote time to a project without expecting anything in return and to help build decent and affordable homes for needy families. This humanitarian partnership is particularly motivating because all of Lafarge's business units in Romania are equally involved. "

Martin is based in the United States and is the Director of the Ravena cement plant

" Before coming to Ravena, I worked in my home country, the Czech Republic, then in Serbia, Montenegro and at Davenport in the United States.

 

I believe that professional mobility can help boost the performance of a plant or business unit. If you are transferred to another country, you have to immerse yourself in the new situation to ensure you understand every last detail. Being able to take a fresh look at an existing system is often a great way to work out what is and isn't working.

 

Professional mobility offers another incontestable advantage in that it is possible to draw on best practices used elsewhere to solve problems in your new environment. The fact that a given solution has already proven its worth in other contexts reassures the work teams and helps speed its implementation. "