Magyar Suzuki Striving to be the Best Employer in the Region
Ildikó Fejesné Gyurján, HR, finance and IT executive general manager, Magyar Suzuki
Its employees are the most important strength of Magyar Suzuki. The company has done a lot in recent years to ensure that it remains an attractive, stable workplace for both the Suzuki community and new employees.
The company has an ambition to be the most attractive employer in its region. One important feedback in this work is the Family Friendly Workplace certification mark, which was awarded to Magyar Suzuki recently. Ildikó Fejesné Gyurján, the company's executive general manager responsible for HR, finance and IT, comments on the HR challenges of automotive companies and Magyar Suzuki's solutions.
The Challenges Remain the Same
The labor shortage has had a fluctuating but constant presence in the lives of companies, including Magyar Suzuki Corporation. The war or the economic situation has not changed this. Everybody has to find the best solution for the same question: how to attract and retain skilled workers. Meanwhile, we are happy to see that our products are in high demand, that is why our production plan for 2023 is higher than for 2022. In order to reach the target, we have to change not only the speed of our assembly line but also the breakdown of our work processes, meaning that we will have to gradually expand our workforce. We are striving for diverse solutions in recruiting. We recruit our own staff mainly locally, and work with recruitment agencies to find suitable temporary workers. Last year, we received colleagues from India. In their cases, integration was our top priority. We successfully integrated them, not only into our workplace but also into our wider community and society.
Differentiation is Key
We continue to seek to recruit from the region, but there is strong competition among employers. This is why it is important for all companies to differentiate and emphasize their corporate values both externally and internally. For more than 30 years, Magyar Suzuki has been a symbol of stability among Hungarian economic entities, while maintaining a dominant international background. Compared to other carmakers, our company has a complex activity, we are not only a full scale manufacturing base but also a distributor with our own dealer network in Hungary and in surrounding countries, and our Pan European Spare Parts Logistic Center. To find and retain talents, our goal is to be the best employer in the region.
In recent years we have not only increased wages, but also the range of other benefits. Our employees receive support for childbirth, marriage and funerals, and can buy Suzuki models and spare parts with discounts, together with direct family members. Holidays falling on weekends are compensated with time off for colleagues who work on a fixed schedule.
Our long-lasting efforts in the areas of community protection, health and training of employees, health screening programs and family friendly solutions have won numerous accolades. We support part-time employment for women with children under three years of age, and 50 places are provided in the Angyalkert kindergarten for children, in line with the two-shift working schedule from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The annual comprehensive health check-up is becoming increasingly popular, all our staff are entitled to a free hot meal once a day, and free buses and bicycles are provided to help them get to work. We also have a Suzuki worker hostel, but families in need can also apply for 1+1 years of housing at a reduced rate.
Changing of Generations and Constant Labor Supply
As a company that is more than 30 years old, we are currently undergoing a generational change, so it is important that we focus on all age groups in the same way. We want to make the company attractive to young people while passing on the experience of the older generation. We have several university co-operations, which bring us 15-20 trainees a year. What is more, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Komárom-Esztergom County registered us as an accredited partner organization for dual training, so cooperation with the first selected school can start from September. We will provide vocational, hands-on training for secondary school students of the János Bottyán Technical College, but other vocational schools may also join our program in the future.
This article was first published in Top 50 Executives The Most Influential Automotive Executives in Hungary 2023 on June 16, 2023.
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