Workforce Productivity
Syncrude strives to meet its business goals by working with our people
to enhance organization effectiveness and increase the contribution
of individual employees.
Employee Performance Management 
A new system to identify contribution
objectives, assess the performance of
administrative, professional and technical
staff, and to link the development needs
of these employees with expectations,
has been introduced in response to
employee feedback.
The Syncrude Performance
Management and Development System
provides an improved framework for
employees and their leaders to set clear
performance expectations, provide
feedback and foster continuous improvement,
while supporting Syncrude’s core
values. It will also improve the linkage
between performance, compensation
and advancement.
Employee Career Development
The internal transfer of over 400
employees to new assignments in 2005
demonstrates Syncrude’s commitment
to the ongoing career development of
our workforce. These transfers helped
Syncrude grow key competencies for large
project management skills, offer career
development opportunities for our
employees, and develop and define
programs that address key skill shortages.
One program developed to address
skill shortages in Syncrude’s upgrading
area resulted in the successful moves of 29 people into new careers as process
operators after receiving training at
Keyano College and on-the-job
mentorship. As well, a new internal
transfer process involving the posting
of certain positions was introduced in
mid-2005. In total, 60 internal postings
for work in new areas were made available
to Syncrude employees, resulting in
47 of the positions being filled internally.
Internal promotion of job vacancies is a
direct result of feedback from employees,
who said they wanted to be kept
informed of available career opportunities.
Mentoring Program
Through workplace mentoring, we
reduce the loss of knowledge caused
by higher attrition due to retirements,
and help new employees establish social
connections and a sense of belonging in
their new position. Across the organization,
workers with 15-plus years of experience
are mentoring newer recruits in such areas
as operational excellence and reliability
& maintenance to enhance their level of
talent, knowledge and experience.
Mentors are ensuring that people
who are new to our operation get the
hands-on training and mentoring they
need to run our operation in a safe
and reliable way.
Job Shadowing
A new job shadowing program in
Syncrude’s bitumen production areas is
helping employees better understand the
critical interdependence between mining
and bitumen extraction functions.
Participants say that the opportunity
to learn about elements of Syncrude’s
business they don’t normally work in
fosters greater cooperation and more
productive relationships among people
with different operational responsibilities.
Healthy Workforce Initiatives
Syncrude offers a number of companywide
initiatives to foster the emotional
and physical well-being of our employees
and reduce the risk of injuries on or
off-the-job. These include programs that
support physical activity, healthy eating,
smoking cessation, stress management,
fatigue management, responsible use
of drugs and alcohol, and occupational
health and safety.
Syncrude’s on-site health centres
allow employees and contractors to
conveniently address their health issues,
whether work related or not. The majority
of health centre visits are for preventative
health surveillance and evaluative testing
and monitoring of employees in key
occupational areas. Nearly one-third
of health centre visits are for nonoccupational
reasons.
Scholarships, Bursaries and Endowments
| |
2005 |
2004 |
2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
| Annual Contributions |
$ 961,200 |
$ 1,060,805 |
$ 1,145,935 |
$ 1,105,887 |
$ 685,000 |
| Number of Employee Student Scholarships |
409 |
415 |
424 |
407 |
399 |
| Number of Tuition Refunds to Syncrude Employees |
136 |
96 |
128 |
141 |
n/a |
|
symbol.