EADS is a rapidly expanding international company with global ambitions, driven by innovation and high performance standards. EADS is developing its people to drive the Group towards its goals in a demanding global business environment.

Global ambitions

In line with EADS’ ambitions to have a more global presence, Human Resources (HR) management has been anticipating how to manage its expanding global workforce and benefit from its increasing diversity.

With several Divisions expanding their activities in China, a joint HR project was launched to establish a common EADS HR policy for China. Through the joint HR task force, the ECHO project, a common HR policy and practical handbook was created for the use of the HR professionals of the Divisions and Business Units expanding into the country. Additionally, a number of training programmes were organised, including an Expand Management Development programme visiting Shanghai. Action Learning Expeditions were organised to China and India for EADS top managers.

Employer image

In 2005, EADS’ appeal as a place to work was recognised by a number of independent surveys. According to a survey carried out by Universum, engineering students ranked EADS as the fifth most attractive place to work in Europe (first in France and sixth in Germany). Reflecting the commitment of EADS to promoting gender diversity in engineering careers, a survey has shown that among German female engineers EADS has been improving its appeal to become the ninth best place to work – up from 21st in 2004.

Human resource evolution

In 2005, the number of employees increased to 113,210 compared with 110,662 in 2004. Airbus’s workforce grew from 51,959 to 54,721. EADS has been increasing its engineering and manufacturing resources to cope with the increasing development workload of new programmes such as the A350, and due to important programmes coming in to the delivery phase, such as the A380, NH90 and Tiger helicopters.

People development

Several new innovative training schemes were launched during the year, intended to develop EADS employees’ full potential.

In addition to its ongoing programmes, the Corporate Business Academy has launched the Summer Academy, a customised training and learning programme, in which staff use innovative methods for learning. A new programme of strategic and personal development for senior executives, named€HIEVE, has also been launched.

Importantly, EADS is preparing itself for changing demographics in society and its impact on working life. EADS is taking specific action to improve career opportunities for senior employees in France. This involves a formal career assessment when employees reach 45, combined with further training. The aim is to ensure that the skills and motivation of older employees last longer in their working lives.

Employee Share Ownership Plan

Employees participated in the achievements of the Group in large numbers. More than 10,000 employees purchased almost two million shares through the Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP), representing approximately 0.25% of the share capital. EADS employees have bought 21.52 million shares during the last six years. With EADS’ share price evolution during the year, employees have profited from their collective efforts to develop EADS. To make ESOP more attractive to EADS UK employees also, a new tax savings plan called the Stock Incentive Plan (SIP) has been launched.

HR efficiency

EADS has launched a global e-HR programme covering all Divisions. This programme is aiming to review and simplify current processes, implement common e-HR platforms, based on common SAP software systems, and to establish in the medium term, common global shared services for pay and time. This will be a major driver in HR efficiency in EADS in the coming years. Additionally, common tools have been established for internal reporting and executive management.

In summary, EADS HR is responding to the challenges of an increasingly global organisation and a modern workforce. EADS employs some of the world’s most talented engineers and managers. In order to achieve its ambitions, it must continue to attract the best and to offer opportunities for learning and career development.