BEFESA

The internal social action is related to the human and professional development of all of our employees.

The average workforce of Befesa in 2010 was 2,835, although at December 31 the number of laborers was 2,935, 3.6% more than in 2009; due to the growth of all company activities, above all internationally.

Of all employees, 18.60% of the workforce are women, and Befesa hopes to increase is percentage in upcoming years. Furthermore, as the number of women in the company grows, Befesa wants them to be distributed evenly and professionally among the various professional categories of the company.

In Befesa we apply a policy of equal opportunities, so we promote a business culture without discrimination of sex, age or any other kind, as we consider that plurality and diversity give an added value to be able to face future challenges.

• • Training

    Befesa considers that training its employees is an essential tool for increasing the knowledge and skills of people, to enrich their professional life and permit the proper development of their aptitudes which, in short, is the best route toward the formation of independent and autonomous people. It is also aware that in an environment characterized by innovation and change, the action and talent of its professionals is the differentiating competitive element. Therefore to attract, develop and retain talent has become the key to success and training has become one of its main fundamentals. For this purpose, every year the Company offers a complete training program, which makes it possible to maintain a team of highly-qualified professionals with a corporate culture.

    In 2008, Befesa followed a training program structured into five different blocks, based upon the nature of the actions pursued:

    • Corporate Training: to convey the company culture, its internal standards, its strategy, its financial models, its corporate identity and the values that the company represents.
    • General Training: to seek the professional improvement of the employee through the knowledge of new working tools, new techniques, the updating of professional content and management methods, among others.
    • Training in Occupational Risk Prevention: this involves not only training in the conditions of safety and hygiene in which the work must be performed and on the use of individual and collective protection elements, but also training on prevention techniques at basic, intermediary and higher levels, which involves express training in applicable legislation and its rules of interpretation, as well as official qualification for exercising given responsibilities on the subject. Training is also given in first aid, and evacuation drills are carried out, depending upon the various activities of the business groups.
    • Languages: key training in a model of international growth such as that of Befesa, which requires professionals to be prepared to take on and develop projects in any part of the world.
    • Professional Practices: understood as any acquisition of knowledge, as a result of a program based on the startup of competences in a given job.

    In order to more efficiently satisfy the new and growing needs in this field, Befesa combines new learning-applied technologies, such as e learning, with traditional methodologies, including attendance-based methods. Befesa also added multimedia resources and virtual classrooms to its training in 2010, in addition to expanding the online catalogue of content available to employees.

    Campus Abengoa, an online training and management platform, has been consolidated to become the key tool for applying the company’s training model. The Befesa model for professional development is structured on a series of professional itineraries, based in turn on training itineraries, which seek to achieve professionals who are highly-qualified in the key disciplines of the business, aligned with the corporate culture and with the best market practices. Among the Befesa professional programs, the following are worthy of mention:

    • Project Directors Program: with classes not just in Spain, but in the rest of the areas where Befesa performs its activity as well, such as USA (DPA Georgetown)
    • Project manager program: was set-up this year with semi-attendance-based and multilingual (Spanish, English and Portuguese) training, allowing for a greater number of participants.
    • Construction Managers Program: three classes have been started up.
    • Executive Development Program: separate from the specific professional programs, Befesa requires a program of key people that will enable it to achieve a highly-qualified team capable of assuming strategic challenges at any given time; to do so it has the executive development plan and a Masters Program through Loyola- Esade, in which different candidates are participating.
    • Abengoa Management Skills Program (PHDA), participation in the different levels of the program which will start-up in 2011.

    Befesa’s 2010 training plan was executed successfully, achieving the objectives defined in each area, and in terms of number of participants and hours of instruction.

  • Quality of life

    In recent years, Befesa has begun a series of initiatives that endeavor to make the surroundings more human and pleasant, by increasing the quality of life in the workplace and enabling the reconciliation of family and professional life. The following stand out among these initiatives:

    • Implementation of a Flexible Compensation (FC) plan for Befesa company employees in Spain. This plan includes day-care cheques, medical insurance, training and IT equipment.
    • Promotion of physical exercise and sport activities. In order to improve the employees’ quality of life, Befesa has set up in its work centers, gyms provided with all the necessary equipment for physical exercise, and has fitted out areas for the practicing several activities, such as dancing, step, aerobics, pilates, etc.
    • Childcare services subsidized and available in the major work centers.
    • Flexible hours. Befesa has established in its calendars several hour alternatives both for the start and for the end of the work schedule, as well as for the lunch break, which enables the employee to adjust the working hours to their personal and family life.
    • Employee welfare benefits. Befesa has a social welfare department which is committed to creating human relationships, a place where employees can go to ask for advice, support and counseling; to bring up doubts and to request follow-up for specific family, medical, social or economic problems. Furthermore, the Focus- Abengoa Foundation, through GIRH, has a social fund aimed at financially helping its employees in times of hardship.
    • Medical services. In the field of strengthening coverage for employees is the policy to provide work centers with over 300 medical service personnel. The Palmas Altas work center in Seville (Spain) has these characteristics and therefore has its own medical service covered by specialized personnel, with a sufficient endowment of medical material.
    • Free transport service to the headquarters of the Campus Palmas Altas from different parts of Seville city.
  • Prevention of labor risks / Safety and health

    Befesa’s Occupational Risk Prevention Policy abides by the different occupational health and safety regulations in force in the countries in which the company operates, while seeking the integration of occupational risk prevention into company strategy through information and training. In 2010 Befesa consolidated its prevention system, and proof of which is the implementation and certification of the occupational risk prevention management system since 2007, according to standard OSHAS 18001.

    Fulfillment of the objectives set throughout the year within the companies, the integration and participation of workers in the execution of prevention activities, follow-up and control of the system by management, and the advice received by the company in prevention issues, all ensure implementation at Befesa of an occupational risk prevention culture that has a significant impact on reducing workrelated accidents and illnesses and on the continuous improvement of safety within the workplace. In accordance with Befesa’s prevention policy and the Common Management Systems, prevention committees have been set up throughout all group companies to monitor and control the system.

    These committees comprise company management, departmental heads and the prevention service technicians. The committees meet regularly to establish objectives; monitor and analyze the occupational accident rate together with the corresponding statistical indicators; conduct studies on the Annual Prevention Activity Plan (PAP), in accordance with the results of the risk assessment; prepare Troubleshooting Reports (TSR) and Improvement Actions (IA); and address internal audit reports and new legislation. Finally, Management reviews and analyzes the results to recommence the cycle for continuous improvement.

    As established in the statement on preventive policy, training in prevention is a basic underpinning of the Prevention Management System. Training action contents are geared towards ensuring that people are able to identify the occupational risks associated with their position, and to disseminate the preventive, protective and emergency measures implemented to eliminate and control them. Thus, particular priority and attention is given to personnel exposed to risks of a more serious nature and to new employees.