"We don’t need many people, we need good people"

"We don’t need many people, we need good people"
13 October 2008


According to Alex de Volukhoff, Russia head of Lafarge, the French cement giant, the difficulty of finding and retaining effective managers is particularly acute in Russia.

"For Lafarge – and we’re in over 80 countries – it’s probably the most difficult HR market in the world at the moment. The conjunction of a high potential market and the need makes the size of the HR issue much bigger here."

MBAs and professional education are still not in step with the needs of the company, says Mr de Volukhoff.

Last year, Lafarge Russia launched an executive programme to train Russian and Ukrainian managers, as well as technical specialists. A few dozen employees have been enrolled, Mr de Valukhoff says.

A recent poll by Opora, Russia’s small and medium-sized business lobby, found that the 5500 businessmen surveyed across 40 regions of the country cite lack of qualified personnel as the main problem.

"We don’t need many people, we need good people," adds Mr de Valukhoff.
Published under Cement News