People

The Board recognises the major contribution that our people make to the Group's success. During the year we completed the first year of our Human Resources ('HR') strategy aimed at refreshing HR policies and practices and striving over time to achieving “Employer of Choice” status. Progress was made on several key themes in support of the Group's business objectives.

Communication has been improved by the use of an Employee Survey - the second of which was undertaken at the end of 2000. Results were fed back early in 2001 to all staff and actions are underway across the Group to address local issues.

Recruiting and retaining key talent remains a challenge during a year that has seen record low unemployment in the UK and skill shortages across several of our professional areas. We have sought to counter this with improved recruitment processes, and our intake of graduates, which is increasing substantially, supported by the successful development of a dedicated web site www.whywsatkins.com.

We have increased our investment in training and development, including more structured methods of identifying and supporting the management talent necessary for the Group's future success.

Note: A full version of the Review of the Year is available in the Annual Report.

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