19
HEINEKEN N.V. ANNUAL REPORT 2008
For more information regarding our policies and objectives
in this area, please see our 2008 Sustainability Report that
will be published in April 2009. This report will also be
available on our website (www.heinekeninternational.com).
Personnel and organisation
Our employees are our most important asset and we
dedicate significant amounts of time and resources to
their growth, development and well-being.
In our 2007-2010 HR plan we outline four key goals:
Ensure we have the right people at the right time in
the right job
Create a culture that drives performance
Implement reliable HR services
Build the role of HR in ensuring personnel expense is
correctly budgeted and spent throughout the Company.
In 2008 we continued our journey towards these goals by
building upon the existing management, leadership and
reward systems in place throughout our organisation. We
also launched several new HR initiatives, including the HR
Performance Accelerator, which enables us to identify HR
improvement opportunities and fully align our HR practices
with the business requirements of our various operations.
This initiative was successfully implemented in selected
markets, and in 2009 will be rolled out to other regions. We
also established a Senior HR Leadership programme, which
aims to accelerate the development of selected HR employees.
It is clear the leadership and talent development
programmes are bearing fruit. In 2008 we were able to
identify more emerging professional and leadership talents
than in previous years. In 2008 we also further developed
our organisational Climate Accelerator Climate Reporting
Tool. Both are online tools for managers in operating
companies to help them put the outcome of their bi-annual
Organisational Climate Survey into action in order to actually
improve their working climate.
Geographic distribution of personnel
In numbers
Western Europe 21,362*
Head office 854
Central and Eastern Europe 20,390
Americas 1,956
Africa and the Middle East 10,667
Asia Pacific 979
In the Netherlands 3,971
With the aid of our HR dashboard we established a full
understanding of the development of HR costs and time
spend. In addition, the Heineken University successfully
upgraded our Development Programmes for management
and senior employees.
In 2009 we will continue to focus on developing and
achieving our four goals, with the aim of reaching HR
excellence. We will also continue to create awareness of
the importance of road safety, particularly in Africa and
the Middle East. In addition, special attention will be paid
to the promotion of healthy living.
In 2008, the average number of employees increased from
46,439 to 56,208.