Employees

Our more than 2,500 employees are a highly qualified, dedicated group of people who can respond to complex challenges in a dynamic energy business. At TransAlta, we expect a lot from our workers, and they deliver, with hard work and dedication that creates real results. Their efforts improve our productivity, maintain our environmental and safety excellence, build our reputation in the community and make it possible to deliver our product reliably every day. Simply, they are our most important asset.

Work environment

Policies and initiatives

Building on the strong foundation of our employees and making TransAlta a great place to work can only happen when a work environment is created in which everyone is encouraged to reach their full potential and is treated with dignity and respect. TransAlta has policies and initiatives to help foster this environment and to ensure we create a workplace that attracts and retains the best available talent and skills. Some of these policies and initiatives include:

• equal opportunity
  TransAlta is an Equal Opportunity Employer, supporting the fair and equitable treatment of all employees. All qualified employees seeking job opportunities in the company will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, age, physical disability or political affiliation.
• flexible work arrangements
  As our business permits, we strive to be flexible in our work arrangements to address work-life balance issues. We offer policies for different flexible work arrangements for salaried employees and union staff who work shifts in mines and plants. We also have various leave programs, paid and unpaid, to address family and personal needs.
• fairness and anti-harassment policies
  Our policies promote equality in the workplace and commit TransAlta to provide a workplace that is free of harassment, including racism, sexism, intimidation or sexual harassment. We have documented harassment investigation procedures that provide guidance to managers and employees in identifying harassment and providing employees with the means to report harassment and seek solutions. There are also clear policies to prevent violence in the workplace.

Pay and benefits

At TransAlta, we recognize employee performance through many types of rewards. Our strategy is to provide a mix of base pay, annual incentives, benefits and retirement programs that reflect the value of our jobs in the marketplace and the performance of our employees and our business. To do this, we regularly participate in many surveys to gather and analyze compensation data submitted by comparable employers in each of our markets.

As well as a market-tested base salary for employees, we offer a range of incentives and benefits to our employees. We provide annual incentive bonus payments to non-unionized employees and some bargaining units, based on the achievement of corporate and departmental goals. Our incentive compensation recognizes performance at the corporate, business unit, team and, for some people, at the individual level. Our medium-term incentive program, introduced in 2003, rewards managers and other selected individuals for successfully carrying out corporate strategies that contribute to longer-term shareholder value.

Providing opportunities for employee ownership in the company is a priority for us. All regular and part-time employees, except senior management, have the opportunity to purchase common shares through the employee share purchase plan. This plan offers employees an interest-free loan for up to 30 per cent of their base salary. Senior managers and executives are eligible to receive shares under the performance share ownership plan. Awards under this plan reflect the value we create for shareholders, with shareholder return being the key measure.

We offer benefits programs to all employees. These programs vary from country to country and reflect the availability and level of government-sponsored medical programs, employment legislation and competitive market practices. In most locations, they include life insurance, retirement programs and short-term and long-term disability coverage.

Employee recognition

The Above & Beyond Program allows managers the opportunity to recognize employees for their on-the-job accomplishments. Established in 2003, the program pays tribute to the outstanding contributions of individuals and groups with cash rewards, merchandise and other forms of recognition. Contributions can vary widely from identifying a safety hazard to creating process improvements to showing leadership on the job.

Employee development

We provide employees opportunities for personal and professional growth, focusing on the development of core competencies such as business knowledge, decision-making, technical skills, teamwork and leadership. We do this through a comprehensive performance management process and our training and education programs.

We have redesigned our company’s performance management process for our out-of-scope (non-union) employees. The new process improves how we assess and recognize performance, as well as coach and develop employees to improve their performance. As part of this process, employees are asked to complete self-reviews. Based on these reviews, employees and leaders discuss competencies and development plans. These discussions help to guide salary planning, internal recruitment and succession planning.

Special development programs identify employees with high potential and assist them in expanding their leadership skills. In 2004, nearly 80 employees participated in our leadership training programs. We also use job rotation as further means of professional development. Employees being considered for broader managerial responsibilities are rotated through different roles to broaden their experience.

Our online education program provides a one-stop shop for training and development and enables employees to review and register for online courses. In 2004, nearly 300 employees took online courses covering technical skills, personal development and understanding desktop software. Late in the year, we also launched Books 24X7, an online reference tool that allows employees to have access to thousands of business-related books.