All Algar Group’s professionals are called “associates”. The meaning of the word reflects the Network Company concept adopted by the Company: “linked by common interests to one or more people; the same as partner”. This model promotes commitment and autonomy with responsibility, thus enabling the associates to participate in the corporate decision-making process.

Recognizing the importance of each professional for the sustainable growth of the business implies taking on a commitment to people’s education and life quality, as well as their human and professional development. Based on its values and beliefs, all Algar companies adopt a Human Talents policy that includes professional training and a pleasant work climate, as well as attractive compensation and career building policies. These practices help keeping the turnover rates below the market average, since the associates are proud and feel motivated to be part of the Group.

 

Associates' Profile

Algar Group closed the year 2011 with 21,152 associates, of which the largest part (88%) is allocated in the Southeast Region, where the Company started up its initial operations. Year-over-year, there was a 6.1% growth, driven by the expansion in business, particularly in the Services (Algar Segurança and Engeset) and IT (Algar Tecnologia) segments.

Diversity is one of the features enjoyed by the Algar Group’s talents team, made up in a balanced manner by people of both genders (52% men and 48% women), and of different age groups. Taking into account the consolidated data of all companies, the workforce of youths aging between 18 and 25, mainly concentrated in Algar Tecnologia, accounts for 35% of the total, although the other age groups are also significantly representative – 22.8% between 26 and 30 years old; 16.6% between 31 and 35 years old; and 25.6% above 35.

Another peculiarity enjoyed by the Company’s people management model that positively contributes to diversity is the promotion of opportunities. Individuals with special needs and retirees have been steadily gaining ground, and so have the young professionals just beginning their careers: the Algar Group represents the first opportunity for corporate experience in the lives of 15.6% of the associates.

The table below shows the breakdown of associates in the Algar Group’s subsidiaries by type of contract. It is worth pointing out that the fixed-term temporary contracts, third-party permanent contracts and fixed-term or temporary third-party contracts, solely refer to the companies of the Telecom and Agribusiness segments.

In line with its policy of valuing the Human Talents, the Algar Group has been increasing the number of hours and amount of funds allocated to training programs every year. A total of R$15.1 million and 548,000 class/hours were invested in 2011. From the total volume of fund resources, up 19.8% from 2010, 52% was directed to UniAlgar, the Group’s corporate university.

The remainder was invested in external development initiatives, promoted by renowned institutions, which include Auxílio-Educação (Education Aid) that reimburses in a selective way up to 70% of the expenses on graduation, technical and master course.

The Company maintains a nice relationship with the Unions – in 2001, 99% of the associates were covered by collective wage agreements. Only the professional that performs executive functions is not covered by the collective wage agreements, because he/she enjoys specific remuneration policies.

UniAlgar

UniAlgar was created in 1998 and its Mission – "to promote and develop the human potential to capitalize on businesses, operating in the value chain of the Algar companies" – makes viable the proposal of human talents’ valuation that is supported by the Company. By investing capital and time in the corporate university, the Algar Group turns its companies into schools that are capable of developing qualified professionals, who are prepared to face the challenges posed by a globalized and increasingly competitive world.

UniAlgar is located in Uberlândia (State of Minas Gerais) in a green space that covers 32,600 square meters, and enjoys an excellent physical infrastructure. UniAlgar’s three buildings host 17 training rooms and other five rooms intended for meetings, an auditorium with capacity for 600 people, a library with over 4,500 titles, a restaurant, a cybercafé and a bookshop. The whole environment is acclimatized, and on the external area, the parking lot can accommodate 200 vehicles.

The initiatives developed by UniAlgar fulfill the different purposes of the Algar Group’s subsidiaries. Geared towards the new associates of all companies, the corporate integration program addresses the Company’s history, its operations and its culture, the management model principles (Network Company) and the commercial culture adopted, as well as the Human Talents policy and the Code of Ethics. In 2011, 217 newly hired individuals took part in this program, in a total of 2,100 class/hours. Other 15,028 associates joined the Group by means of specific training, developed in accordance with the business area of destination.

The content of the initiatives, programs and projects, is also determined in accordance with the Algar companies’ strategic needs. In 2011, for example, the corporate university delivered courses on sales, products, services and on the Algar culture to associates and partners connected to the Minas Expansion Project, of Algar Telecom. During one month alone, this action involved 847 people grouped into 70 teams, totaling 560 training hours. Next year, one of the challenges will be the preparation of the sales force responsible for the Algar Agro’s plan to expand the penetration of  ABC de Minas soy oil in the retail market in the North and Northeast regions. 

Another UniAlgar’s work front consists in the courses geared to the consistent development of leadership roles at different levels. These include the Essencial (Essential), about the way of being and performing business in the Algar companies, geared to young leaders or executives hired from the market, whereas the AVAN is a management refresher course targeted at senior executives. Also geared to senior executives, the Programa de Desenvolvimento de Potenciais Sucessores (Potential Successors Development Plan), that takes a two-year term and includes actions that extend beyond the classroom limits, prepares its participants to deal with increasingly complex challenges. The Talentos em Desenvolvimento (Talents in Development) Program is aimed at qualifying associates who still do not perform executive functions. For the development of supervisors, there is the Programa de Médias Lideranças (Mid-level Leadership Program) tailored to the characteristics of the Company and to the challenges of the function.

The Jovem Empreendedor (Young Entrepreneur) Program deserves mention amongst the new programs developed in 2011. It is a trainee program designed to attract, develop and retain young talents to work in the Company. Around 3,000 recent-graduates applied for the first 37 vacancies, distributed between Algar Agro and Algar Telecom, which will be occupied in 2012.

All UniAlgar initiatives are supported by different educational tools, which include online training, chats, forums, content hotsites and social networks to promote learning. In 2011, 534 groups and 3,131 participants were trained in 92 on-site courses, and it was noted that the level of knowledge among those attending live training has evolved by 31%. As for the Distance Learning (EaD), which covered 6,815 individuals through 157 different actions, knowledge evolution stood at 25%.

Altogether, the Algar Group’s training initiatives in 2011 amounted to 548,353 hours, of which 95% (520,935 hours) were intended to technical topics. The remainder (5%) was represented by management topics (27,418 hours). Overall, 18,159 associates were trained over 4,304 sessions. The average class/hour by associate in 2011 stood at 30.20. At the executive level, the training load is higher: an average 119.72 class/hour was registered, representing 15 days of managerial learning term per year.

The Human Talents policy encompasses attractive initiatives, such as a fair, merit-based compensation policy and a transparent career plan, which allow associates to fulfill their growth potentials and be aware of the targets that they have to achieve in order to attain their goals.

In April 2011, Algar Group’s yearly profit-sharing payments totaled R$19.7 million, which is equivalent to a 12% share in the Algar companies’ net income. This bonus is part of the variable remuneration, which also includes a merit-base bonus that consider the professional’s individual goals, as well as the targets of his/her area of activity. For 2011, the first year that the bonus payments followed the new policy, there was an enlargement in both goals and in the number of eligible individuals.

In order to assess the associate’s performance, as well as to offer him/her a more objective development plan, each Algar company holds specific career plans, and performance assessment procedures are applied at least once a year to 100% of the Algar Group’s associates.

Another key initiative taken by the Human Talents area aimed at valuing its human capital consists in seeking qualified people among its own associates to take new positions before announcing them to the market.

In 2011, the development programs built up by UniAlgar contributed to the promotion of 2,623 associates.