People
We strive to create conditions for realising the creative potential of our employees and shape a corporate culture based on professionalism, private initiative and responsibility. Skilled personnel focused on corporate and personal success are a key factor to our long-term, sustainable development.
Areas of activity in the social sphere include employee rehabilitation, support for mothers and children, catering and recreation for workers, social support for retirees and veterans, employee development and training, incentives for employee improvement and many other kinds of benefits and insurance.
Training
The company is working on a package of programs for training highly qualified experts for its talent pool. The Young Resources programme includes a range of initiatives focused on developing young people’s interest in engineering and the mineral resource industry. The programme is intended for students in comprehensive schools, training colleges, technical schools and specialised Institutions of Higher Education.
Young Resources is available in most of our mining Division’s operating regions and is building a continuous system of education, professional development and motivation for young professionals by offering:
- Specialised classes in secondary schools
- Payment of student scholarships
- Collaboration with Institutions of Higher Education
- New employee support
Based on the results of the First Rating of Business Partners of Russian Higher Educational Institutions 2010, we were commended in nominations for The Best Practice of Vocational Adjustment of Students of Higher Educational Institutions, The Largest Contribution to the Support of Gifted Students and Young Teachers, and The Largest Youth Employer.
Medical programmes
Employee health is one of our primary social policy objectives. The Severstal Health programme was implemented at Cherepovets in 2002.
The main objectives of the programme are as follows:
- Improve the availability and quality of medical care;
- Strengthen the first line of healthcare;
- Create conditions for efficient medical care at the pre-hospital stage;
- Prevent disease;
- Provide high-tech, state-of-the-art medical care.
Severstal's medical unit has 51 attendance stations operating on site. The medical unit includes polyclinics, an in-patient clinic and a maternity hospital with prenatal clinic. The programme has created an efficient system for preserving and recovering employee health based on regular medical screening.
In 2010, we allocated about $20.0 million to the Severstal’s Health programme. In Cherepovets we have arranged over 34,000 professional medical check-ups under this programme. We have also launched an action plan to improve labour conditions and the treatment-diagnostic process, to reduce the incidence of disease among employees.
One of the priorities of the Severstal’s Health programme is to motivate employees and their families to take up sports, and we allocated over US$800,000 to this. In 2010, over 4,000 metallurgists regularly attended 145 health and fitness groups, which accounts for 18% of the total staff of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Works. We organised more than 300 mass sport events, enjoyed by 15,000 participants.
Housing programmes
The Company strives to help its employees secure adequate accommodation. Severstal's Corporate Housing Program, launched in 2006 at Cherepovets, has provided 24 new apartment blocks and 2,345 new apartments for its employees in 2006-2009. Last year the Cherepovets Steel Mill completed the construction of residential houses within the Corporate Housing Programme. Housing was provided after payment of an instalment of no less than 15% of the price. Employees pays the balance monthly over 10 years as long as they continue to work for us. Costs for the improvement of living conditions, such as hostel maintenance, and provision of favourable credit facilities for buying housing, were US$5.8 million.
Pension plans and retiree support
Pension coverage is a major component of social policy at Severstal. Pension plans are an important factor in encouraging a positive social climate and the realisation of employee potential. Since 2003, a corporate pension programme has been in place at all of our Russian enterprises in partnership with the non-governmental retirement fund StalFond. Other parts of the Company are developing similar practices. The corporate charitable foundation Blago also provides financial assistance, medical, social and special-purpose charitable services and social security programmes for retirees of OAO Severstal.
