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We are the best employer in the trading sector in terms of job satisfaction.

The employee engagement index was 53%. In the Universum Professionals survey, Kesko's ranking was 29.

We launched the K-job programme, the purpose of which is to provide those aged under 30 with channels to find a job in the K Group. We particularly focused on guiding ‘Learn and Earn’ trainees, young people in short-term work orientation, and summer employees. In the Universum Professionals survey, Kesko's ranking was 31.

The employee engagement index was 61%. The percentage of employees who would recommend the K Group as an employer has gone up to 68%, according to the personnel survey (56% in the previous survey in 2014). In the Universum Professionals survey, Kesko's ranking was 38.

We continued to employ young people by offering summer jobs to approximately 5,500 young people. We organised a K Digital Trainee programme, and, through that, employed five graduates in business development jobs.

Together with FIBS we conducted a diversity management starting point analysis in Finland and we will utilise its outcomes to develop our operations.

We determined our employer promise and, in accordance with it, we will develop, for example, our cooperation with educational establishments and reinforce our recruitment and induction processes.

Wellbeing at work

We improve work motivation and satisfaction.

The focal point of the wellbeing at work programme was to develop supervision and management and promote occupational health and labour protection cooperation.

The focal point of the wellbeing at work programme was to support employees' health and reduce sickness absences, developing safety at work and strengthening the role of labour protection as well as promoting employee engagement and implementing the people principles.

The focal point of the wellbeing at work programme was the comprehensive and business-oriented development of OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) operations. We enforced the monitoring of key figures to improve proactive work and to support management by information. Furthermore, we implemented other proactive measures, such as new health training.

We also launched an occupational safety project whose aim is to further develop our occupational safety culture and shared operating models. We also made labour protection more systematic and developed the ways in which it is organised.

We support our employees' leisure time fitness activities in all our operating countries. The Finnish companies, for example, provide vouchers for physical exercise and cultural benefits.

Read more about benefits to employees.

Skills management

We conduct an annual performance and development review with every employee.

In the personnel survey, 83% of respondents said that they have had a performance and development review during the past 12 months.

Performance and development reviews apply to all employees, and in 2015, they were carried out twice: in the spring and in the autumn. The realisation of the discussions was requested in the personnel survey that was conducted in the beginning of 2016. The response rate to the survey was 85%. A total of  80% of employees that responded to the survey had had their reviews carried out during 2015.

The performance and development reviews were used in all Kesko Group companies and operating countries. The performance and development reviews were carried out at least twice, in the spring and/or in the autumn. In 2017, we launch, in stages, the new performance management model and the K Success Factors systems that support it. In the future, we will record the development reviews in the K Success Factors systems.

We will regularly train our supervisors.

Core tools for developing supervisor work were the Let's Talk About Work training, the Performance Management training, the Employee Engagement training, as well as the new comprehensive online training modules in different sectors of supervisory work. The online training modules for supervisors were taken 2,391 times in total.

The emphasis was on the implementation of the K Group’s operating principles, challenging situations faced by supervisors, leading a new team, effective supervision and how to use the personnel survey results to develop the team.

The first training programme promoting the K Group’s new management culture was entitled ‘K-Way new supervisors’ and was piloted towards the end of the year. Supervisory training for Kesko's personnel was taken a total of nearly 700 times. Online training modules for supervisors were completed approximately 3,700 times.

We continued the K-Way new supervisors training programmes, K-Way experienced supervisors training programmes and Let's Talk About Work training programmes. In total, 363 supervisors participated in these training programmes. 

The topic for the new Mindfulness training was understanding and training your own mind as well as efficiency. 17 supervisors from Finland participated in the training. The objective of the new K-Way Middle Management Leader training programme was to strengthen the skills for strategy implementation and business competence. The training programme had a total of 22 participants from all operating countries. In Russia, we started a new K-Way Leader training programme that aims to strengthen management competence and supervisory skills in the K Group. The training programme was attended by 12 supervisors.

In 2017, we will continue to organise the K-Way supervisor trainings and start a new development programme for top management. We will continue spreading the coaching and mentoring processes that support supervisory work.

Occupational ability

We reduce sick leave, accidents at work and premature retirement due to disability.

Since the beginning of 2011, approximately 950 supervisors in Finland have been trained using the Let's Talk About Work operating model. The Let's Talk About Work model has been used in almost all companies. In Finland, the percentage of sick leave has been reduced by 11% since 2009 and the percentage of premature retirements due to sickness has reduced by 37% since 2010. Sick leave has reduced by 10% in other countries since 2009.

We focused on reducing the number of sick leave and premature retirements due to disability by means of occupational health service activities, the Let's Talk About Work training for supervisors, work revision, occupational rehabilitation and the work done by the Work Ability Manager working in the OHS team. The Work Ability Manager’s activities support the employee’s return to work, while considering various options for continuing at work. Sick leave has continued to decrease.

We focused on reducing sick leave, accidents at work and premature retirement due to disability. The Let's Talk About Work training for supervisors continued and over the last five years, more than 1,000 supervisors have been trained.

We piloted work induction services. We will reduce sick leave in the long term with a project which has a systematic take on labour protection and safety at work. We developed a unified accident insurance management model, which we will launch in 2017.