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Supported by three pillars: (i) Attractiveness, Engagement and Communication; (ii) People and Organization Development; and (iii) Compensation and Benefits—the Human and Organizational Development (HR) area worked, in this atypical year, to accelerate the integration of human resources issues, and started to report directly to the CEO.
Due to the requirements imposed by the pandemic, some initiatives had to be adapted to new formats.
This was the case with all phases of the Internship Program, the main entry level to the company, which were changed to a virtual format. As in 2019, the 11 participants were identified through blind selection—that is, only professional attributes were taken into account, without access to personal information, such as gender and ethnicity. The summer internship program, Votorantim Experience, included two young professionals who developed projects in the areas of Corporate Development and Real Estate Investments.
Initiatives such as workshops with Financial Market Leagues from universities, training for engineering students with the involvement of portfolio companies and events including different student organizations continued to take place during the year, although virtually.
The process of onboarding new employees also had to be adapted to the pandemic scenario. The Ambassadors Program, which encourages employees to represent the company externally, remained active online, with participation in 22 market events, such as college fairs and student mentoring initiatives. Three Votorantim Meeting (Encontro Votorantim) events, a forum where the company’s leadership discusses business guidelines with the employees, were hosted during the year—one in person and two virtual. One of them featured the presentation of the revised Votorantim values (V3) and the other included discussions on topics such as the transformation of the portfolio, businesses, citizenship, culture and diversity, where one of the highlights was a presentation on unconscious biases made by neuroscientist Carla Tieppo.
The knowledge creation meetings that took place virtually during the year included a presentation on structural racism by philosopher and writer Djamila Ribeiro, in response to an internal survey that identified the need to prioritize ethnicity in initiatives to promote diversity. In parallel, the company distributed internally a booklet entitled “The importance of anti-racism: tips and attitudes” as an instrument to increase awareness of this issue. Another topic addressed in a discussion with men on World Women’s Equality Day was masculinity and its aspects, by the editor of the website Papo de Homem, Guilherme Valadares. Also, in March, on International Women’s Day, female assertiveness was discussed during a breakfast that included the participation of 34 employees—all of whom received a copy of the book “We should all be feminists”, by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Votocast, the podcast platform launched in 2019 and made available to the general public, addressed current issues from the perspective of internal experiences, including health initiatives, fighting machismo, embracing the LGBTQIA+ population, risk analysis, and urban development, among others. In addition, to share knowledge with society at a time when people most needed it, internal initiatives—such as discussions on mental health within Semana+ Vida (Health Week) and a debate on employability during social isolation—were extended to the general public.
Initiatives to fight COVID-19 (learn more), carried out jointly with the Votorantim Institute and the portfolio companies, were the constant focus of communication efforts, especially to provide accountability to employees and external audiences on the financial and operational resources directed to these activities. The transparency website created for this purpose was updated periodically with details of the initiatives. At the end of the year, Votorantim posted an ad and video on its social media sites to fulfill its accountability to society.
During the year, Votorantim further established its presence in social media, reinforcing direct communications and interactions with its stakeholders, with a 12% increase in LinkedIn connections (finance professionals are the second largest group of Votorantim’s followers), 25% more Instagram followers, almost 60,000 views on videos posted on YouTube and more than 5,000 listeners of the 11 episodes of Votocast, through Spotify, YouTube and other podcast platforms.
Download the booklet “The importance of anti-racism: tips and attitudes”
In 2020, within the scope of the already established Votorantim Development System (Sistema de Desenvolvimento Votorantim, SDV), individual development activities—including coaching, counseling, creation of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and discussions—continued virtually, involving 95 employees in 304 hours of service.
With regard to organizational and relationship development, employees of the holding company responded to an engagement and culture survey, with 97.5% participation. Based on the Barrett Values Centre methodology, the survey concluded that employees exhibit the following characteristics as part of the current culture:
Unlike previous surveys, the recent culture survey included individual feedback: Each participant had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of individual transformation based on his/her values and how it impacts the evolution of organizational culture. Based on that, Votorantim created internal events called Bate-Papo Virtual (Virtual Chat) to promote greater integration between the areas and the employees of the holding company. Nine virtual meetings were held during the year, including discussions in two areas: Businesses and Culture. Among the topics discussed were the development of real estate investments, ESG and long-term investment approaches.
The activities of the Votorantim Academy, divided into four channels, were deployed across all portfolio companies:
In the face of the pandemic, Votorantim made a commitment to mitigate impacts that could further affect the lives of its employees and suppliers. In addition to continuing to follow all practices related to compensation and benefits, including market research to identify trends in wage policies, Votorantim expanded its range of initiatives as a result of the pandemic. With the adoption of remote working in March, the holding company made chairs and office equipment available to its employees, offered the option to exchange restaurant vouchers for food vouchers and provided online consultations with psychologists. In June, the company organized a process for gradual and optional return to the offices, following official health protocols that included wearing a mask, periodic testing and social distancing. At the end of the year, approximately 50% of employees had returned to the office following a flexible and hybrid schedule in terms of workdays and hours.
The holding company also strived not to harm its supply chain and maintained all its contracts, including paying for the supply of fresh fruit for employees, although that service was not offered during the time when the office was closed, and massages for employees, which were replaced by virtual yoga classes. Telemedicine services also remained active 24 hours a day to answer questions or address the needs of employees.
Semana+ Vida (Health Week), held annually, was adapted and divided into two phases. The first phase included bringing flu vaccination forward to March. The vaccinations were extended to employee’s dependents and were made available via a drive-thru system, following strict safety protocols. The second phase addressed quality of life awareness and was completely virtual. It focused on mental health and included live virtual events with psychologists, psychiatrists and even yachtsman Beto Pandiani, who shared his experience with living in isolation. The program also included meditation, nutrition and cooking sessions, with professionals in each of these areas providing tips to improve home and family life during the pandemic.
Other activities traditionally carried out to celebrate important dates were adapted to ensure continuity. Examples included the delivery of Easter eggs to the homes of employees and a video, delivered along with a personalized book to the children of employees in celebration of Children’s Day, showing their parents’ workplace. Throughout the year, a team of employees from the Center of Excellence (CoE) promoted Hora do Conto (Story Time), virtual meetings with presentations for children, as another point of connection with families during the pandemic.
Another accomplishment in the year was the launch of the new HR portal, which became more interactive and provided more autonomy to employees by integrating self-service, simplifying promotion processes and scheduling of vacations, for example.
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