Midterm Review Restucturing Chemical Industry

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Midterm review of
Restructuring, Managing Change, Competitiveness
and Employment in the EU Chemical Industry
Mira Kovacheva at European Chemical Industry
Social Partners Conference 8-9 November 2007,
Lisbon, Portugal
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Two events Workshop for EU 15, 10-11
September, Wiesbaden, GE Workshop for the EU
102, 25-26 September, Prague, CZ Identical
agenda Setting the scene (LSE,
EMCC) Presentations of cases of good practice
Discussions subgroups Conclusions
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Presentations Danisco Sugar, Peter Rasmussen
and Kent Wollmér SanofiAventis, Mr
Stoppler Transfersozialplan, Heinz
Büsing Restructuring in the UK Chemical
industry, Mark Roper Rotherham, JP
Edwards Spolchemie, Lubo Knechtl Orgachim,
Zhivko Minkov Unipetrol, Dana Dvoráková
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Outcomes

• 1. Better understanding of the restructuring
• permanent process of change
• lasts long time
• not nice but crucial for competitiveness
• reasons often out of social partners reach
• diverse - unfold in different ways (closures,
  downsizings, mergers/acquisitions, relocations,
  outsourcing, offshoring, etc.)
• three aspects political, economical, social
• no universally applicable solutions
• different approaches of the social partners

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Outcomes

• 2. The special case of the NMS
• extensive economic and social changes
  (privatisation, technological development, new
  organisation of work, new practices of human
  resource management, etc.) at very high social
  price
• restructuring mainly perceived as single time
  brutal exercise
• survival more important than anticipation
• lack of appropriate legal framework to regulate
  and assist in the restructuring process
• lack of information consultation regulations
  and practices
• lack of tradition of social partnership
  limited scope of negotiated issues, primarily
  financial compensations
• important changes taking place without mass
  redundancies not perceived as restructuring
• lack of information on silent restructuring

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Outcomes

• 3. Accompaniment measures (EU 15 10 2)
• early retirement schemes
• financial compensation package
• steps to improve employability
• prequalification programmes and financing
  re-training
• counselling and guidance services
• developing entrepreneurship spirit
• financial support and counselling to business
  start-ups
• development and implementation of transfer
  plans
• adjustment of collective agreements
• distributing company shares among employees
• all depending on the respective legislation and
  culture of social dialogue

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Conclusions

• 1. Anticipate and manage changes by
• create early warning system
• enhance information and consultation processes
• ensure transparency of information
• guarantee transparency of decisions taken
• develop communication strategy
• negotiate solutions favorable for all
• negotiate the way solutions will be implemented
• use multistakeholder approach
• build alliances

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Conclusions

• 2. Anticipate and manage changes by
• invest in building trust (high ROI in the long
  term)
• promote learning for all
• management employees
• those who leave, those who come, those who
  stay
• act in wise, responsible, innovative,
  strategic manner and turn your restructuring
  case to best practice
• share your experience so others can learn from
  it

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thank you