Case study: How FENC promotes employees’ career development
Initially established as a textile company, FENC (Far Eastern New Century Corporation) has grown tremendously over the years. Armed with innovative technology and with a steady pace, FENC has been integrating vertically to encompass the entire spectrum of the textile industry, including petrochemical, polyester polymer, chemical fiber, cotton yarn spinning, knitted fabrics, dyeing and garment industries. When it comes to human resources, FENC has always believed in finding the right person for the right position and, most importantly, giving employees the opportunity to develop their full potential.
This case study is based on the 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report by FENC published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
FENC seeks to provide all its employees with diverse training, development and job rotation opportunities Tweet This!, also devoting efforts to promoting internal talents, through a comprehensive internal promotion system. In order to promote employees’ career development FENC took action to:
- carry out performance reviews
- provide training opportunities
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) FENC has identified;
- How FENC proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by FENC to promote employees’ career development
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report FENC identified a range of material issues, such as operational performance and strategies, production and product innovation, environmental safety and health management, constructing a happy workplace, responding to climate change. Among these, promoting employees’ career development stands out as a key material issue for FENC.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups FENC engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Employees/ Labour Unions
| · Internal Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Educational Programmes · Visits/ Exchanges · Evaluation/ Review/ Audit · Questionnaire/ Survey · Grievances/ Comment Box · Company Website |
| Government
| · External Meetings · Internal Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Educational Programmes · Visits/ Exchanges · Evaluation/ Review/ Audit · Company Website |
| Partners | · External Meetings · Internal Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Visits/ Exchanges · Evaluation/ Review/ Audit · Questionnaire/ Survey |
| Customers
| · External Meetings · Internal Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Visits/ Exchanges · Evaluation/ Review/ Audit · Questionnaire/ Survey · Grievances/ Comment Box · Company Website |
| Local Residents
| · External Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Educational Programmes · Visits/ Exchanges · Grievances/ Comment Box |
| Shareholders/ Investors/ Financial Institutions
| · External Meetings · Internal Meetings · Visits/ Exchanges · Questionnaire/ Survey · Grievances/ Comment Box · Company Website |
| NGOs | · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Visits/ Exchanges · Evaluation/ Review/ Audit |
| Industry Associations | · External Meetings · Training/ Drills/ Practices · Visits/ Exchanges · Questionnaire/ Survey |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics FENC carried out a survey to assess the degree of influence material topics posed on stakeholders, collecting a total of 416 questionnaires.
What actions were taken by FENC to promote employees’ career development?
In its 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report FENC reports that it took the following actions for promoting employees’ career development:
- Carrying out performance reviews
- Performance reviews at FENC include probation review, regular review, project review and annual review. Regulations for each are clearly defined and strictly followed. A minimum of one round of employee performance review is conducted each year, to examine employees’ annual contribution to FENC, achievement rates and progress in order to help employees improve work performance and competency, while discovering opportunities for career advancement. The measures help employees develop their full potential, and maximise their contribution to FENC. The annual review serves as a reference for salary adjustment, bonus and career advancement. It is also an important reference for promotion and dismissal. With the exception of interns and foreign employees, all employees who have been with FENC for more than 1 year at business sites in Taiwan and Vietnam, must undergo annual performance reviews. For business sites in China, all permanent employees must go through annual performance reviews. Performance reviews for foreign employees in Taiwan shall be determined by their supervisors, based on their monthly attendance and production of Grade A products. Bonus is awarded based on the result of the reviews. In 2018, with the exception of employees who resigned or those under leave without pay for over a year, all employees who should undergo performance review completed the process.
- Providing training opportunities
- In order to foster talents, FENC is devoted to building a comprehensive training system with enhanced quality and optimised approach, which provides diversified learning opportunities and nurtures talents that will lead to sustainable development. While facing the difficulties in improving human capital, FENC is eagerly promoting an organisation that encourages learning, to bring mutual growth and win-win for employees and the company. Training programmes are planned according to company strategies and organisational development, and FENC also conducts surveys to collect employee feedback, as references for annual training. The courses provided foster professional and management skills and from time to time, the programme also offers courses on industry and other trends. Employees are encouraged to take courses outside FENC as well, to improve agility in adapting to the ever-changing environment. To help employees advance swiftly in adapting to an environment that is changing at an accelerating rate, FENC is avidly promoting digital learning and has launched an online book management system, an e-book platform, an online learning platform and online English learning platform, creating an innovative and diverse environment for learning. Employees may acquire knowledge without the constraint of time and space, and apply what they have acquired toward the workplace to continue polishing their performance. FENC Academy, an online educational platform exclusively for FENC employees, integrates multiple issues and subjects into materials that can be easily digested through digital and systematic approaches. As of December 2018, FENC Academy has offered 103 courses with 1,469 employees enrolled. Additionally, the programme offers 21 different tests, and a total of 1,879 employees have taken those tests. Through multiple training options, FENC provides a wide array of programmes for employees to choose from, including courses on professional skills such as computer and language. Employees may select the courses that will improve their professional capabilities, while FENC also offers lectures that address topics such as finance and health management, to help employees drive professional growth and potential, maintain physical and mental health, enrich career planning and promote self-fulfilment.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
2) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Gender equality
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Gender equality
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
- Business theme: Employee training and education
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by FENC, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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