Actions on working conditions (S1-4)
Our key actions to maintain strong employment standards and live up to our Code of Conduct involve having fair labor policies, conducting regular salary reviews, adhering to collective bargaining rights, monitoring labor conditions, enhancing employee engagement channels and continuously improving labor practices. Our strong focus on leadership as well as training and development are enablers for our efforts.
To ensure the effective implementation of these measures, dedicated resources are allocated both at central and local levels within the organization. Resource allocation includes both personnel within human resources and budgets enabling continuous development and follow-up of actions. This includes, among other things, investments in skills development, leadership programs, and systematic processes to monitor employee engagement. There is no significant CapEx or OpEx for these actions.
The effectiveness of actions and initiatives is continuously tracked and assessed through our goals and targets as well as other metrics, see Metrics and targets. Epiroc also holds regular meetings and solicits feedback from the workforce, for example through the annual employee survey. We perform internal audits on all operations, at least every fourth year. In this formal process, compliance with CoC is verified. Human rights, fair pay, training and development, working hours, work-life balance and union rights are all part of the audits.
Courageous leaders
Epiroc’s global leadership programs are part of our strategy to attract and develop leaders. The Challenger Program encourages employees to challenge the organization to accelerate innovation. The Influencer Program enhances leadership capabilities to inspire collaboration and increase performance. The Navigator Program focuses on experienced managers who want to lead by example and develop authenticity in their leadership.
We also prioritize internal mobility to broaden perspectives and support growth, including international assignments. 133 (125) employees (including 18 women) from 40 (36) countries work on long-term international assignments. Our internal Career Week connected employees with career mentors for advice and guidance. We also hosted open events where we showcased how we work with career and professional development in the Group.
Fair pay
Our CoC states that pay and terms shall be fair and reasonable and comply at a minimum with applicable laws or industry standards, whichever is higher. Our view and practices around compensation and benefits align with our inclusion and diversity agenda, ensuring that all employees can reach their full potential without prejudice or discrimination. We strive to be fair, transparent, and equitable in our processes to ensure pay equity. This means offering equivalent total reward packages for the same work or work of equal value, considering market differences and individual performance.
We are running a project that builds on our principles for total rewards, with the objective to enhance Epiroc’s capabilities in managing compensation and benefits by improving data available for analysis across the Group. We aim to employ structured methods to ensure fairness, with procedures based on transparent, objective criteria to address any inequalities in total rewards. Salaries are normally reviewed once a year.
Training and skills development
Training and developing employees’ skills and capabilities is key to our success. This includes providing clear responsibilities, education, and continuous, responsible feedback. We have launched a skills framework, which helps us better align learning with role-specific competencies and track progress more effectively. To further strengthen our approach, we have introduced the measurement of training hours. This data collection is currently conducted internally and provides us with valuable insights into learning engagement within the organization. Epiroc plans to report this data next year.
Examples of training initiatives throughout the year include a continued focus on the transition from diesel to electrification, renewable fuels, and automation as well as expanded training efforts on AI.