Employees

Our most important resource

Addtech's employees are vital for our success. A good corporate culture makes for comfort, low absenteeism and good relationships and low staff turnover. Addtech is, and should be, a company where work and private life can coexist. 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.

Addtechs Code of Conduct

Addtech's Code of Conduct is a foundation stone for our sustainability work and has long been an integral part of the operations. 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.

employees

Addtech aims to regularly conduct employee questionnaires and has to the date conducted three. The questionnaire follows up Addtech’s long-term and strategic HR development work, and the survey identifies the Group’s and subsidiaries’ strengths and weaknesses as an employer as well as mapping areas for improvement. Addtech has consistently achieved good results and in general has very satisfied employees. This year’s survey demonstrated additional improvement in the work environment – largely thanks to the introduction of more structured performance appraisals with employees.

The aim of the employee 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.

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, as the subsidiaries' size and preconditions vary. Some subsidiaries have several hundred employees with a smoothly running HR department, while others are small consisting of a handful of people. The results of the survey form the basis of long-term, strategic staff development work in the Group. Addtech's ambition is to conduct annual employee surveys in order to identify changes. 

Rate of employee turnover

During the year, employee turnover was 18 percent (13 percent). The table above provides a more detailed picture of the Group's employee turnover, by gender and age. The increase in employee turnover primarily among men aged 30-50 is attributable to production in Poland, which closed during the year. Addtech is at heart a Nordic enterprise; around 85 percent of the Group's employees work in one of the Nordic countries.

Gender distribution

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. Between the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 financial years we see small improvements and the Group continues the long-term work with recruiting more women. Key figures for the gender breakdown between men and women in different functions at Addtech are shown in the table above. 

Wage differences

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. 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 apparently skewed relationship shown in the table above between women’s and men’s salaries in production is due to the fact that the majority of the women working in production are in the Nordic countries, while a large proportion of the men are employed in countries as Poland and China with lower salary levels.

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. Providing secure employment is not only a work environment issue but also important in order to have a business continuity and to build long-term relationships. 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. 
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

• 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

BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION

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.