Through its labor practices, Bridgestone Mexico contributes to the achievement of the SDG 8, Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and people with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
Bridgestone México recognizes that its employees are the central force that drives the company and that serves as a pillar for its sustainability. The company’s business profitability is built on the basis of the capabilities, motivation, security, and integral development of human capital, as well as the satisfaction and trust of all stakeholders.
Employees
In 2017, the Bridgestone Mexico team had 1,491 employees, 7% (101) of which are women and the remaining 93% (1,390) are men. The company hired 151 new employees over the course of the year, adding 15 women and 136 men to the workforce. A 65% of all Bridgestone Mexico staff members are part of a collective bargaining agreement. The employee turnover rate stood at 0.72% per month.
The Bridgestone Mexico workforce information and statistics are obtained from the company’s databases for December 31, 2016 through December 31, 2017. They consider only full-time collaborators.
Training
Bridgestone Mexico seeks to nurture the development of its team members. The improvement of the skills and abilities of the team members is essential to building a work environment that provides challenges to ensure their professional development. Daily operations include efforts to provide complementary training to each employee, and these efforts are reflected in the positive contributions that each one makes by contributing their ideas and work on projects that nurture quality at work and creativity for innovation.
In 2017, a total of 1,359 employees were trained, including senior management, middle managers, assistants, and operators. This implies that 91% of Bridgestone Mexico staff members received some type of training over the course of the year.
The company imparted a total of 103,898 hours of training, for an average of 76 hours per employee. Bridgestone Mexico invested USD 467,723 in training in 2017, representing a 151% increase over 2016.
Performance Assessment
Bridgestone Mexico values the role of continuous feedback as a means that permits employees to discover opportunities to improve their talent.
All employees are subject to regular performance reviews both in the middle and at the end of each year. In 2017, 100% of all employees received a performance review.
In order to ensure an effective performance process, Bridgestone Mexico applies the Performance Management and Appraisal System (PMA) to set simple and clear metrics for each employee. The results indicated the solid performance of 78.5% of the employees, while 4.5% exceeded expectations.
‘On Target’ Performance Evaluation System
Another evaluation program is called On Target. It is a system that seeks to determine each employee’s level of compliance with safety, productivity, quality, and behavior based on the requirements established for each position. In addition to measuring individual goals, the program permits the systematic, objective and comprehensive measurement of professional behavior and results; that is, what people are, do, and achieve.
The system consists of two parts: practice, assessing job knowledge and skills, and behavioral, which focuses on the attitude of the people; that is, in their competences. All the unionized employees, the supervisors, area managers, as well as the labor relations and training areas participate in it.
Union workers complete the general process every two years, which must also be applied to all new hires, when someone is moved into a new job, and for special requirements.
Talent Attraction, Retention, and Development
Bridgestone Mexico is a company that takes responsibility for its stakeholders. The company knows that in order to deliver the best quality of customer service, it must have the best talent, ensuring their well-being in the workplace. The organization engages in a variety of activities to achieve this goal, aimed at attracting, retaining, and developing its talent. Some of these activities are described as follows:
a) Professional Bridgestone Experience
This program seeks to generate a solid link with the university community. Through it, the talent of young university students is evaluated and retained. They want to strengthen their academic knowledge and gain professional experience with an internship and the possibility of being hired at the end of the same. In 2017, 50 interns participated in the program and 14% of them were hired to work full-time at Bridgestone Mexico
b) Mentoring for Leaders
As part of the initiatives created to develop talent in Bridgestone Latin America North Region, the company implemented the Mentoring Program at a regional level in 2017, to allow the team to exchange experiences, develop competencies and receive guidance through their Mentor-Mentee relationships. The program, which focuses on workers with strong potential across the organization, began in September 2017 with 10 high potential team members, and is structured as follows:
1. Interest and Learning Areas
2. Build the Mentor-Mentee Relationship / Objectives
3. Maintaining the Relationship
4. Measure of Effectiveness
It started in September 2017 with 10 high potential employees in the organization.
c) Dan-Totsu Leadership Program
It is a diploma coordinated with the ADEN International Business School that aims to train Bridgestone employees through a comprehensive platform that strengthens their business skills and develops leadership skills in them. The first generation of this program graduated in 2017 with 32 participants and 120 hours of training. The collaborators that have been part of this program - or will do so in the future - acquire a perspective and a vision that will allow them to continue guiding Bridgestone on their Transformation Journey.
Work-Life Balance
Bridgestone Mexico respects the work-life balance of each of its team members, which favors enhanced performance in all daily activities and seeks to ensure the overall well-being of each of its workers. Thus, the company strives to ensure that its work-life balance initiatives benefit them and their family members.
Bridgestone Mexico earned the Great Place to Work certificate for the fourth year in a row. Being ranked as a Great Place to Work is a reflection of the commitment and trust between the organization and its employees.
a) Family @ Bridgestone
Bridgestone Latin America North believes that it is essential to incorporate its employees’ family members into the organization’s culture and spaces. In 2017, it relaunched cultural initiatives that link families to work through the Family Bridgestone program. Four pillars support this program: Parents School, Kids at Bridgestone, Health, and Diversity.
The Family Bridgestone program seeks to strengthen family-work ties to create spaces that nurture the team’s life balance and teamwork, as well as their inclusion and commitment to the organization.
The Parent School consists of carrying out three or four workshops per year and seeks to reach more than 2,000 parents in the region. The talks are aimed at employees and their families, with the aim of providing support and guidance to parents around the education and values of their children.
Kids at Bridgestone is a new initiative that was recently launched to focus on the employees’ children ages 3 to 12. One hundred kids participated in the Bridgestone Mexico program in 2017, at both the Cuernavaca plant and Palmas head office. This new benefit was created to make it easier for parents to handle childcare when the kids get the last Friday of school off each month, because of the school administration activities. Thanks to this initiative, the team shares its learning space with the children through a variety of activities.
Bridgestone Mexico also developed the Bridgestone Olympics as part of the Wellbeing pillar of this program. The Olympics seek to nurture spaces that promote teamwork, the integration and interaction of employees from different departments and locations and a healthy lifestyle, through sporting activities.
The team players benefitting from the implementation of this activity in the Cuernavaca plant and the Palmas head office in 2017, are as follows:
• 208 soccer players.
• 40 basketball players.
• 80 bowlers in Cuernavaca.
• 15 bowlers in Palmas.
• 35 ping pong players.
• 11 female soccer team players.
Bandag held soccer and bowling tournaments with the participation of 30 team members in each activity.
The company also held the 2017 Health Fair with a focus on nutrition and wellness mapping, reaching a total of 230 employees and 65 family members at the Cuernavaca plant. The 2017 Health Day at the Bandag Tire-Retread plant was based on the SOLVE Workshop benefiting 52 employees and 47 of their family members.
Benefits
Bridgestone Mexico seeks to create an atmosphere of certainty and stability so that each employee can make specific plans, have the means required to face situations of need, and enjoy a good quality of life. This increases the bonds of trust between the employees and the organization, guaranteeing peace of mind for all and creating a sense of internal cohesion.
Bridgestone provides benefits superior to those established by law for its non-union employees, with a complete compensation plan through its Key Flex platform that includes:
• Base salary
• Vacation days
• Grocery vouchers
• Year-end bonus
• Savings fund
• Vacation bonus
• Variable compensation
• Statutory profit sharing
• Performance bonus
• Cafeteria services
• Coverage by the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS)
Bridgestone Mexico also offers its union workers benefits above those required by law, such as a production bonus, vacation bonus, uniforms, incentives for perfect attendance records, paternity leaves, and permissions to take days off for close family-member funerals, among others.
Recognitions
The recognition of the talent and the efforts made by the team is essential to reinforcing their ties to the company. Bridgestone Mexico understands this as a key factor in motivating the team and promoting desirable actions and behavior across the organization. Each year, the following awards are presented:
• Seniority Recognition (BSMX).
• Bridgestone President Awards (BS-LAN).
• Bridgestone Americas Awards (BSAM).
• Bridgestone Group Awards (BSJ).
Bridgestone Group launches an annual invitation to nominate a project, idea or activity that has produced a positive impact on one of the following categories:
• Achievements
• Mobility
• People
• Environment
• Management Fundamentals
This award recognizes the employees that contribute to the business with their initiatives and go the extra mile in their daily work activities as they reflect the Bridgestone Essence.
a) Bridgestone President Awards
This award is given to employees selected for their performance or for making high impact contributions to the business. In addition to the recognition itself, it is accompanied an incentive of 300 USD. In 2017 this award was granted to 56 collaborators who completed a total of 14 projects.
b) Employee seniority recognition
Each year, the company holds a special ceremony to honor those who have reached a certain level of seniority within the organization. The activity consists in a dinner attended by approximately 100 people, where the recognitions are awarded.
Retirement Program
Bridgestone Mexico is concerned about providing its staff members with a seamless and simple transition when they retire, so the company implemented the Self-Placement Package in 2017, which it offers to employees before they retire.
The package contains personalized advice on the main procedures related to the retirement process. Its purpose is to provide comprehensive direction and guidance for the team members, based on their personal and business interests, and symbolically thank them for everything they did while working for the company. The package includes the following services:
• Self-placement consulting, which includes eight sessions with a consultant to identify knowledge, skills, achievements, and management of a contact network to create an occupational plan at both a personal and professional level.
• Advice on the IMSS Pension program, to determine the number of weeks on record, average salaries, and the amount that retirees can expect to receive through the IMSS Pension plan.
• Help with processing the retiree’s pension plan, which includes discussing the IMSS Pension Procedure with a consultant including the AFORE retirement savings fund pre- application, submitting the application to the IMSS, the retirement system eligibility document, the pension resolution, registering the retiree, and applying for the corresponding refunds from the AFORE and the INFONAVIT Housing Savings Funds.