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Our employees are our greatest strength. Because of this, we are committed to providing a safe workplace environment in which they can attain their full potential and exercise their creativity.

We offer competitive and fair compensation and benefits. We hire, train and retain the most competent people; we provide them with opportunities to advance their skills and professional position; we offer various recognitions through established mechanisms; we guarantee that raises and promotions are based on capacity, performance and merit; we promote and maintain safe, healthy, environmentally-friendly workplaces; we respect freedom of association and we prohibit any type of discrimination or harassment.

Talent development
Talent integration
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Peñoles has a recruitment and hiring process, whose purpose is to make sure we bring in talent—unionized and non-unionized—that can contribute know-how and skills and can also demonstrate ethical conduct in keeping with our institutional values. Key to this process is seeking candidates first among our existing work force, which also builds a culture of growth and advancement in the organization.

Our Engineers-in-Training program supports the strategy of employee incorporation, in which employees receive training in behaviors and skills that ensured optimum development of key business operations. Between its creation in 2003 and the present, 2,056 engineers have joined the program, primarily in the fields of Mining, Geology, Electrical, Civil, Metallurgical, Mechanical, Chemical and Industrial Engineering, as well as Accounting and Administration. This represents a total of 84 different classes of engineers trained in the program. In 2020, Peñoles hired 48 engineers-in-training.

Performance evaluations
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Aware of the importance of conducting a formal exercise of target setting and performance evaluation, we carried out this process for the eleventh time in a row in 2020, involving 100% of our non-unionized full-time employees. One of the main purposes of this evaluation is to have a clear and measurable alignment of priority strategic goals for each year with specific goals and operating targets for each area and employee. The results of this essential process are a key component in determining raises and in deciding on employee training, development and retention plans.

As a complement to our prompt follow-up, intended to ensure we achieve the established goals, we have a system of performance notes that formalizes prompt feedback on the employees’ progress during the year. This process provides evidence to ensure that evaluations are fair and clearly documented.

Skill formation
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One of Peñoles’ fundamental interests is the advancement and training of its personnel. To this end, we have regularly scheduled, specific training programs to meet current and future challenges in technical, administrative and human skills, and thus to obtain better indicators that can be used to encourage productivity, quality and competitiveness.

In 2020, a total of 455,819 work-hours of training were given, equivalent to an average of 59 hours per employee.

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Committed to the professional advancement of our employees, in 2020 we provided 48 scholarships for high school, college and postgraduate education. The number of employees with undergraduate education grew from 60.7% in 2019 to 64.1% in 2020.

Aware of the importance of leadership in achieving extraordinary results, we have a training program called School for Leaders, based on the Peñoles Leadership Model, which promotes and develops behaviors aligned with the four essential characteristics of the model: inspire, facilitate, motivate and recognize.

In 2020, 385 leaders participated in both types of program: 23 in classroom training—which was moved to live online sessions when the pandemic began—and 362 in online courses. The classroom module consisted of 56 hours of course work, and the online program of approximately 64 hours.

Identifying positions that are critical for the operating continuity of the business is a high-impact, highly relevant strategic human resource action. Because of this, since 2012 we have been identifying positions considered key to the company and preparing succession and career plans that guarantee there are qualified people to occupy these positions as they become vacant. In 2020, 409 key positions were logged, and succession plans were developed and updated for 95% of these, corresponding to 390 positions. In the next five years, we expect some 135 positions to open up due to retirement and are therefore preparing 293 potential successors with leadership training, preparation and technical knowledge—an average of two candidates for each position expected to become available.

Working environment
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In 2020 we continued to base our actions on the results of the October 2018 Workplace Environment Survey—the first year we applied this biannual survey to all unionized and non-unionized employees working at the group. The survey, which was conducted by the Great Place to Work Mexico organization, collected the opinions of 7,178 employees—92% of our total workforce—and confirmed a satisfaction index of 76%, 7 percentage points higher than the previous survey. Based on these results, Grupo Peñoles received the Great Place to Work certification.

At Peñoles, we defend the human and labor rights of our personnel. We do not permit child labor, forced labor or slavery, and we respect differences in ethnicity, gender, political association and ideas. We also comply with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact.

In 2020 there were no reported incidents of extortion, abuse, discrimination, forced or compulsory labor, unfair labor practices, violation of indigenous rights or any other complaint related to human rights. We have a Code of Conduct and the Línea Correcta program to avoid any practices that go against our own ethical principles.

Labor relations
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The company abides by all laws, treaties and international conventions on labor matters to protect the rights of workers, including the right to free association and collective bargaining. Our unions regularly appoint review commissions which, together with the company, analyze and negotiate the existing collective bargaining contracts.

The company and its unions share the values of workplace safety and competitiveness that distinguish us, and we value the ongoing commitment to open dialogue and continuous improvement in all our processes. Our labor relations are based on trust, a permanent focus on ethical conduct, and the constant pursuit of mutual benefit.

Each of the collective bargaining contracts signed with our national unions incorporates the rights and obligations of both parties, and a shared commitment to safety, productivity, and quality of life on the job.

Union organizers have free access to the assigned areas and are given facilities to meet with workers. At the unions’ request, the company agrees to allow union meetings to be held as long as they comply with safety and hygiene measures.

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Collective bargaining agreements cover 59% of our active workforce; all of our employees are Mexican.

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Our good working relationships are reflected in the fact that our 2020 salary, contractual and third-party (contractor) agreement reviews were negotiated without strikes or any type of work stoppage.

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Constant dialogue with trade union representatives allows us to keep them promptly informed of any significant operational change, and be transparent in sharing business information, as well as to meet the commitments we have acquired with our stakeholder groups.

At the same time, we have continuous improvement, evaluation and incentives systems based on results in productivity, costs, safety and environmental protection, which help us to meet our goals and challenges.