Harmony

[perfect harmony is not a matter of chance]

We have travelled the demanding path
of changing the organisational structure
and corporate culture. We defined the values
that govern our work. We are a strong team where quality, extensive expertise
and qualification, as well as mutual respect,
team spirit and a human touch are always present.

Restructuring of Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s.

The overall restructuring of the company has greatly contributed to achieving a streamlined organisational structure, and thus also to more efficient cost handling. As a result, the majority of our employees are concentrated in two principal business lines - marketing and sales, and network infrastructure. The average Full Time Equivalent (FTE) for 2002 was 9,804. Employee age and education structures greatly improved in 2002. The ratio of university graduates employed with our company came to 23%, with almost 70% of our employees being under 45 years of age. Our working teams are balanced also from the perspective of female-to-male representation, with women accounting for 37% of the total headcount.

Headcount by units of Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s.

We are building up a strong team of professionals

We did a lot as part of the Culture Change Project in order to contribute to the successful operations of our company. We identified so-called "key players", i.e. those among us who are top experts in their respective professional fields. While getting ready for the fully liberalised telecommunications market we defined Standards for Customer Orientation and Customer Oriented Behaviour. As many as 300 employees helped prepare these Standards. By training and development of managers we contributed to improving both the management and the performance of our company.

Open and transparent communication is extremely important in times of change. We explain the inevitability of change and all the steps taken as part of the transformation of the company and increase of its competitiveness at meetings of the management with employees organised as regular workshops, presentations and discussions.

We introduced a new remuneration and performance management system

In July 2002, we introduced a new unified remuneration system. Evaluation criteria for defining salary variable were unified so that the system could be directly linked to the performance management system.

This new method introduced clear-cut remuneration criteria based on fulfilment of both company and individual goals, as well as on behaviour in line with corporate values. Our teams are aware of what goals lie ahead of them and they know the criteria by which they will be rewarded when the goals are met. In addition to that, we provide a wide array of perquisites and benefits to our employees. These were also the changes that were carried out in our company as part of the Culture Change Project.

Training benefits our company

The year 2002 was a year of dynamic development for all Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s.' employees. Educational and training courses focused on developing all areas that could represent a competitive advantage in the external liberalised environment. We organised 2,778 training courses in 2002, which translates as 6.5 training days per employee. Investment in education exceeded the financial volume spent on education in 2001 by almost 30%.

Selecting the best

Ongoing changes in our company put great demands on recruitment and selection of specialists throughout the year, not only in the Bratislava region, but also in Banská Bystrica and Košice. Our aim was to satisfy the needs of the company to the best quality, and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. This effort was supported by our own web application for internal applicants called Job Fair Online, while for external candidates there were links to www.telekom.sk or www.profesia.sk available. In-house applicants have been preferred in staffing open positions. More than 400 newly established positions were staffed by internal candidates.

Employment development (FTE’s)

Providing new opportunities for students

Universities as well as secondary education facilities represent a source of quality graduates - potential employees for our company. Many employees are members of state examination committees and collaborate with universities on various projects. Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s. actively co-operates with AIESEC and IAESTE student organisations. The survey "Most Desired Company 2002" organised among students by AIESEC placed Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s. in sixth position among the most preferred employers.

Attention to every employee

Our attention was focused not only on new hires or on those who remained with the company, but also on people whose position was no longer in the new corporate organisational structure due to restructuring. The Employment Project includes a procedure for working with employees on soon-to-be-cancelled positions that was developed and implemented in close co-operation with managers and HR Unit employees. Our collaboration with personnel agencies in helping departing employees search for new jobs has been very active, and we have also paid for their re-qualification courses and provided higher than average severance payments. During the course of the changes Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s. has made every effort to maintain fair relations with social partners - trade unions (Communications Trade Union and Slovak Trade Union of Postal and Telecommunication Workers), by means of open mutual communication.

Preparation for the liberalised market

Compared to neighbouring countries, we succeeded in preparing ourselves for a fully liberalised telecommunications market in an extraordinary short period of time also in terms of human resources. We have actively collaborated with our parent company Deutsche Telekom AG and together organised numerous employee exchange stays that helped us harmonise co-operation between the two companies. Exchanging experience as part of the large international project entitled HR Synergy also proved very beneficial.

We desire success also in 2003

With the aim of carrying on the success of Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s. in the liberalised market, in 2003 the HR Unit will focus mainly on expanding performance management to four managerial levels, introducing a flexible benefits' system, and on launching an Intranet application that should support the processing of salary variable. Future targets include the implementation of the corporate HR strategy and process redesign aimed at making services provided to internal customers more efficient, thorough implementation of the Culture Change Project, as well as further training and development of our employees. We desire success also in 2003 and want employees who are motivated and play active part in strenuous, yet necessary process of changes in Slovenské telekomunikácie, a.s. and achievement of demanding corporate objectives.