Employees
(All information below regarding number of employees, countries and percentage distribution are reflecting the situation 31 December 2010).
Proact’s most important asset is its employees. As per 31 December 2010 the company had about 350 employees, of whom around 53 per cent work as engineers or consultants. Although Proact is a Swedish company listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, about 57 per cent of its employees are located and work at local units outside Sweden. There is huge diversity within the Group, with employees working at subsidiaries in eight countries, with a vast range of nationalities and speaking lots of different languages.
Proact has a strong presence near to its clients in Northern Europe. This allows us to provide our clients with a good service, with short callout times for both support and consultancy services, but it also gives us a good knowledge of the business challenges our clients face. This knowledge is a must if we are to be able to design efficient solutions for our clients.
Expertise
Everything we do is based on expertise. The expertise of our own staff, the expertise of our suppliers and the expertise of our clients are all vital criteria for our success. The expertise of our staff is placed at the disposal of our clients in the form of various types of service. Consultancy, support and managed services are all areas in which our clients benefit directly from our expertise. But during the sales process, too, our clients are given access to various forms of expert knowledge and experience when we discuss various single solutions to their problems.
As much of our turnover is derived from services, staff expertise is taking on ever more importance for the company. For a number of years now, we have worked on various programs to ensure that the personal development plans of all our staff focus on the shared skills objectives outlined for Proact. Charting, steering, providing and developing expertise are all vital concepts in this process.
Professional training
Professional training and development constitute one of the most critical factors for ensuring Proact's continued profitability, growth and position as a market leader. Staff skills are enhanced in external and internal courses, skills groups and customer projects. Alongside clear-cut skills development, seminars are held throughout the Group which emphasizes the corporate culture, new technology, methods, project management, and health and fitness programs. Professional training and development enhances and revitalizes Proact's knowledge base. Direct results of such training and development include more employees certified in high-priority areas, improved capacity utilization, and higher hourly rates.
Proact runs several programs that offer a structured approach to skills development for managers and employees. Proact defines measurable competence requirements; fulfillment of these requirements forms the foundation for salary setting and benefits. All training and skills development programs are organized into the Proact Academy.
PMI - Proact Employee Motivation Index
For a number of years now, Proact has been carrying out surveys into the motivation and commitment of our staff and their attitudes towards the company. These surveys are split into two sections:
- Client focus - indicates how focused all staff are in their client relations
- Business focus - reflects internal processes and procedures
The results of these surveys allow Proact to see trends within the company as regards attitudes and values. They give both managers and other staff valuable information on what areas are good and areas in which more improvements need to be made. Goals for this improvement work are followed up together with the employees.
Incentive and remuneration programmes
The express aim of the entire organization is for all staff to see the fruits of the company’s success by having part of their salaries linked to it; what we call a flexible salary element. This is achieved in the form of various incentive programs, depending on what type of job each staff member does. Other benefits vary from country to country.