In 2017, the Company focused mainly on increasing its visibility as an employer and staffing GRK Bystrinskoye.

GRK Bystrinskoye, Russia's largest mining and processing facility, successfully completed its ambitious recruitment exercise.

As part of the large-scale recruiting campaign, we informed over 9 million people from 26 Russian regions about the launch of GRK Bystrinskoye providing advice on the working conditions and available jobs. To stay in touch with the job seekers, the Company set up a dedicated toll-free hotline. In nine months, we hired 1,900 highly qualified workers, engineering service officers (ESOs) and managers.

Partnerships with universities

To make jobs in the metals and mining industry more attractive for young people and help develop skills in personnel, Nornickel pays special attention to collaboration with Russia universities. In 2017, the Company invited 400 students from dedicated universities to take part in its Career Start-Up programme. Nornickel was the first company in the Russian mining industry to engage students and graduates in solving real business tasks.

The students obtained practical skills as part of their apprenticeship at the Company's major facilities along, while also gaining unique knowledge by taking part in the Conquerors of the North business game. In the span of two summer months, the programme participants were offered to take a hands-on training experience and compete in a multi-stage business game with a focus on team work to try and tackle some of the Company’ real tasks. The Company engaged 20 of its top experts to provide mentorship support to the participants.

Nornickel places a strong emphasis on engineering education in Russia and partakes in the promotion of relevant professions among school graduates and university students. In 2017, we supported Cup MISIS Case and Cup Technical, case-solving championships among students of Russian technical universities. During the contest, students dealt with cases related to Nornickel's operations gaining insights into the Company's business processes.

Assistance programme

Due to the remote location of MMC Norilsk Nickel's industrial sites, the Company is actively engaging employees from other Russian regions. To help them settle in faster, we launched a programme called Assistance to New Employees in Adapting to the New Place of Residence in Norilsk and the Taimyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky Municipal District. The programme does not only target highly qualified specialists and managers, but also focuses on attracting young talents and skilled workers to fill positions on the skills shortage list. Today, the programme covers 1,715 of the Company's employees, including 267 new participants who joined in 2017. With this programme the Company seeks to provide comfortable living conditions for the invited employees and reimburse their relocation and resettlement costs.

In order to identify and recruit the best candidates to fill open vacancies and reduce staff turnover, in 2017, the Company started using the latest methods of employee evaluation and capacity assessment. Those help measure abilities and risk appetite of each individual, which are important in recruiting candidates to positions with a high level of exposure to occupational hazards. They are also helpful in obtaining information about each employee’s motivating and demotivating factors. The project was first piloted at GRK Bystrinskoye where 100% of new employees (all the way up from workers to managers) were recruited following successful assessment. The Company selected candidates based on their learning curve, teamwork skills and low risk appetite, which are essential for all staff categories, from top management to workers. Experience shows that this method helps reduce onboarding time for employees and minimise occupational safety risks.