Personnel management

Our philosophy

FESCO values and respects the individuality of all employees.

Our leadership in talent attraction and retention relies on the successful development of each employee and facilitating their self-fulfilment, honesty and openness, mutual respect, care for others, and a high level of managers’ personal accountability to employees.

People are the backbone of our success

FESCO continuously enhances its personnel management practices in the following ways:

• optimises and improves HR management processes, offers employment based on professionalism, initiative, responsibility and adherence to its corporate culture, and retains the best talent;
• creates a flexible and comfortable environment for its employees, provides favourable work and rest conditions and the best self-fulfilment and growth opportunities;
• strives to remain an attractive and competitive employer by building a professional and engaged team.

Personnel structure

At the end of 2020, FESCO’s average headcount stood at 4,867 FTE, with blue-collar and white-collar staff accounting for 60% and 40%, respectively.

As regards age breakdown, 55% of the Group's staff are aged 30–50, 27% are over 50 and 19% are under 30.

In 2020, FESCO managed to reduce staff turnover by 2.6 pp to 11.5%. Our retention and development strategy builds on consistent efforts to identify and analyse reasons why employees quit their jobs.

Employee journey

When mapping out employee journey, FESCO abides by the following principles:

• simplicity, clarity and individual approach;
• special focus on people and professions creating maximum value for the Group;
• focus on HR process automation and employee-friendly services.

Introduction and interest

The first step of employee journey is getting to know about FESCO and expressing interest in working with us. At this stage, the Company creates an attractive environment for future talent.

Candidates, in turn, can gain an insight into career and development prospects and learn about our corporate culture.

Our main channels for communicating with potential employees are:

• Career in FESCO section of the corporate website;
• online platforms provided by recruiting agencies and operators;
• professional communities and social media groups.

We use a variety of formats to provide information about the Group:

• internship programmes for young candidates;
• paid internships organised together with Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University in Vladivostok;
• online and offline events, such as career days, exhibitions, forums, conferences, case competitions, etc.

Collaboration with universities

Collaboration with higher educational institutions is key for building a strong HR brand, which attracts young professionals.

The Group recruits graduates of the following partner universities:

• Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service;
• Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University;
• Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).

In 2020, FESCO achieved the following results:

• organised internships for 80 students, 15% of whom were subsequently employed by the Company;
• held nine large-scale events for students;
• developed cooperation with eight partner industry-specific departments.

To foster ties with universities, FESCO identified the following key areas of future collaboration:

• engagement of additional human resources to address current operating objectives;
• offering students hands-on training and internship opportunities;
• participation of FESCO employees in the academic life;
• retraining and upskilling of ship personnel;
• creating young talent pool for further employment;
• FEFU's ASAP initiative for talented students to perform project assignments for companies and receive payment from the university.

Recruitment and onboarding

FESCO continued to improve its recruitment procedures, making them more convenient for job seekers and faster and more efficient for the Company.

Managers have access to the training materials on hiring and selection, and can submit automatic recruitment and support requests.

The Company leverages all recruiting tools available, including online placement of vacancies, engaging intermediaries, employee referral, and attracting students and interns.

In 2020, FESCO adapted the existing processes and materials to fit digital channels and remote work requirements. The use of online tools made the process better attuned to the needs of all employee and manager categories.

Vacancy filling time is the measure of recruitment effectiveness. In 2020, the indicator stood at 25 days.

The Group developed a comprehensive digital system aimed at facilitating new hires’ adaptation to the new job at FESCO. It includes:

• a three-tier system for gradual onboarding and subsequent development;
• guidance at every step of the way, including automatically prepared roadmap with onboarding tasks;
• collection and analysis of feedback from new hires and management.

The onboarding programme includes:

• a welcome letter for new hires;
• pre-completed onboarding roadmap depending on the position;
• information about the Company;
• goals for the trial period;
• an online welcome course for new hires.

Training and development

An important driver of employee productivity is continuous training. It has a direct impact on career growth and loyalty, so FESCO focuses on creating an adaptive learning system for different groups of employees based on a competency model.

FESCO’s employee training system has the following advantages:

• covers all groups of jobs and employee categories;
• offers in-person and distance learning programmes and online courses;
• builds a corporate knowledge and experience base;
• includes a digital library.

In 2020, distance learning accounted for 70% of all training options, while internal in-person sessions and external courses accounted for 20% and 10%, respectively.

Distance learning

• new hires undergo onboarding through MAYAK online platform
• the number of courses on soft skills increased to 30
• development of customised courses using internal resources (building a corporate electronic knowledge base)
• development of FESCO’s electronic library

Process automation

• planning and organising training is automated via 1C software
• a system for evaluating the effectiveness of development activities is set up.

Transition to online learning

• A shift in training priorities due to working from home: all courses are delivered remotely
• focus areas: development of soft skills for managers of remote teams and hard skills for employees operating information systems remotely

FESCO leader programme

• start of the programme for Level 3 (November 2020)
• completion of the programme for Level 2 (December 2020)

Assessment and remuneration

FESCO strives to create comfortable working conditions for its employees and provides them with competitive salaries and corporate benefits.

Retention and termination

FESCO analysed factors and reasons for employees leaving and implemented a number of measures aimed at retention:

• building and developing a talent pool;
• individual approach to development and training – programmes tailored to the employee's needs;
• participation in the Group's cross-functional projects;
• exchange of experience with peer companies;
• scaling up unique training programmes to make them accessible to all employees;
• horizontal and geographical rotation for managers and employees.

FESCO held a Person of the Year competition. The award went to Ivan Parygin, Senior Operator at Stroyopttorg’s Production Directorate, for his dedication and resilience in times of crisis, which helped prevent multimillion-dollar damage and reputational risks.

To retain and grow key managers, FESCO continued to implement the FESCO Leader programme. In 2020, it delivered the following outcomes:

• 47 key positions filled;
• six employees appointed to new vacant positions;
• 100% of key vacancies filled by internal candidates.

Occupational health and safety

FESCO implements a health and safety policy in the following priority areas:

• preserving the life and health of employees while at work;
• ensuring compliance of health and safety management practices with generally recognised health and safety standards in the countries of operation;
• constant monitoring and assessment of professional risks, development of measures to reduce and eliminate them;
• consistent training and encouragement of employee responsibility in health and safety matters;
• managing health and safety risks associated with FESCO's activities to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses;
• regular improvement of the health and safety management system.

FESCO assesses the efficiency of its health and safety initiatives through a system of indicators based on the number of lost time injuries occurring in a workplace per 1 million hours worked (LTIFR). In 2020, this indicator stood at zero.

To reduce occupational injuries, FESCO rolled out a three-stage programme for monitoring health and safety at workplaces:

• preventive measures;
• analysis and evaluation of injuries and occupational diseases in order to implement the necessary corrective actions;
• mandatory investigation of all incidents occurring in the Company.

Response to COVID-19

Like all companies in Russia and abroad, FESCO faced challenges presented by COVID-19.

Efficient teamwork ensured smooth transition to working from home and uninterrupted operations.

Response to the new challenge involved the following actions:

• employees at all sites and locations were provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), and a system was built to forecast PPE consumption and organise restocking;
• training and onboarding programmes were automated and transferred to online sessions;
• management underwent training on leading remote teams;
• internal communications were strengthened to foster the team spirit;
• 10% of the employees present in the office were tested for COVID-19 twice a week on a regular basis;
• a tool was developed to book desks and trace contacts;
• a document flow procedure was established for remote workers;
• the number of employees going on business trips was cut by 70%;
• a task-tracking tool was introduced;
• salaries and wages were paid in full;
• more than 70% of employees were moved to remote working;
• 100% educational and training programmes were held online.

The potential effect from these measures is estimated at RUB 450 million. FESCO reported zero fines for breaches of regulations.