Norwegian company Veritas sets up global body

On New Year’s Day Veritas, the Norwegian risk management company, set up its new Global Employee Forum (GEF). The forum is intended to be a complement to existing representative bodies, such as the EWC.

DNV does certification and consultancy work in 106 countries. It has 8600 workers, most of whom are highly-qualified.” We want their contribution” says Cecilie B. Heuch, HR and HSE-Director in the undertaking. “We consider them to be essential stakeholders.” Another reason is that DNV lays great store by diversity. “Our workers come from all types of backgrounds; there are 99 nationalities for instance. We want to show that they all count.”

DNV already has bodies which represent workers, not only in Europe but also in countries such as Japan and Singapore. Two years ago the undertaking’s management took the initiative to set up an American Employee Forum and an Asia Employee Forum, especially to have workers ponder strategic issues as well.

The creation of a Global Employee Forum was the next logical step. At the beginning it will have seven worker representatives: 2 Norwegian workers, 2 from the EWC (non-Norwegian), 2 from Asia-Pacific and 1 representative of workers from the Americas and Africa. This is equivalent to one representative per thousand workers in each area.

The DNV will start with four regional meetings in the spring of 2009 during which Henrik O. Madsen, the boss, will talk to regional representatives personally. In the autumn he will be meeting the GEF in Høvik, Norway. The objective is to repeat this once yearly.

Company values
There will not be a shortage of things to talk about. Ms Heuch explains that DNV has strong company values and that a lot of the policy is applicable globally. For instance, the HR policy, with a global approach on subjects such as employment, training and bonuses. Financial and commercial topics can also be discussed on the GEF. Hench stresses that DNV is aiming for more than communication and contributions alone, and that the company explicitly wants its workers to voice their opinions. “We’re talking about very competent people here, some of them are almost at the level of the top management. People with major international knowledge and recognition.”

The GEF will have no impact on the EWC’s position and rights. Ms Hench confirms that there were a lot of questions about this when management made the plans known. But the GEF will not meddle in affairs that other bodies are dealing with, among which working conditions.

Since it is still early days Ms Hench can say very little about experiences with the new model. The workers have already put one item on the agenda. “They want some emphasis placed on global professional careers”. DNV workers are international and are used to working on projects on different locations. The company has more than 400 “expats” and “global trainees”.

DNV’s aim is to use the Employee Forum to inform workers about company figures and important changes in circumstances and forecasts. Ms Hench said that the undertaking is still growing and that no cutbacks are in the pipeline. “but we are aware that there is currently a lot of uncertainty among people and we want to do something about these feelings. We expect a lot from this initiative and I’m looking forward to getting down to work.”

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