Open Mine / Open Mine 03/2011 

Dear readers,

This issue of Open Mine carries an interview with Radim Tabášek, OKD’s Chief Human Resources Officer. He is responsible for managing one of the most important assets of our Company – the employees. OKD and NWR are very focused on providing proper employee care. Fair employee compensation, training and education, and career development are all stated in the Company vision PERSPectiva 2015. As operators of state-of-the-art mining equipment, we seek to spearhead the technological development in our field of business – which is why we need highly motivated engineers and a skilled workforce.

We realise that our employees are the key to the success of the Company and we seek to acknowledge their contribution. Financial incentives are one option, as proven recently when additional performance bonuses were paid in recognition of higher productivity in the first half of this year. The public recognition of good employee performance can encourage everybody to develop. This approach is being implemented at OKD under the umbrella of the Continuous Improvement Initiative where employees who submit good improvement ideas are rewarded financially and also receive publicity and Company-wide acknowledgement of their ideas and efforts.

Communication is the buzzword nowadays not only in HR and, within our Corporate Culture Training, we encourage people to speak up, to talk to each other when solving problems and to adopt a more open management style. In addition to soft skills development, we also make sure our colleagues are properly trained in their jobs and, for those who would like to enhance their professional expertise and knowledge, there are opportunities for further education, either at secondary schools or colleges.

We try to motivate our miners to adopt a responsible approach to their work and to accept responsibility for the health and well-being of themselves and their colleagues in the workplace. Safety is an important subject closely related to HR. The safety of our employees is non-negotiable. This governs all other aspects of our business, including production volumes and financial results. Unfortunately we have recently had some sad setbacks in our operations but this only serves to strengthen our commitment to developing and delivering a successful safety strategy.

Godspeed!
Klaus-Dieter Beck
Chief Executive Officer of OKD