Progress and Data
During 2007, Ford's ongoing restructuring affected our stakeholders in many ways.
Our plan to return the Company to profitability has already reduced salary-related costs through the elimination of about 7,800 salaried employees, representing about one-third of our North American salaried workforce. Most salaried employee departures were completed by the end of the first quarter of 2007. By agreement with the UAW,1 we also extended early retirement or other voluntary separation packages to all UAW-represented hourly employees. Through year-end 2007, about 32,800 hourly employees left the Company through one of these offers. We have focused on communicating effectively about these changes and assisting departing employees in preparing for new opportunities. For more information, see the Sustaining Ford section.
Among our salaried employees, overall employee satisfaction in 2007 improved slightly over 2006 levels. Our comprehensive Pulse survey showed improvement in about 76 percent of the 58 items evaluated.
This past year, two major safety indicators – global lost-time case rates and severity rates – continued their trend of steady and marked improvement. In 2007, these two measures dropped 22 and 14 percent, respectively, compared to 2006.
Our serious injury and fatality rates, however, did not meet our goals in 2007. Tragically, we experienced nine fatalities, including seven direct Ford Motor Company employees in the Americas, as well as two contractors – one in Europe and one in South America. We also experienced 187 serious injuries. In most of the cases, the causes were in high-risk focus areas for us, including issues relating to pedestrian safety in plants, energy control and power lockout, and lifting and rigging.
We deeply regret the deaths that occurred and offer our sincerest condolences to the family members, friends and co-workers of the nine individuals. Ford has fully cooperated with the appropriate investigating and reporting agencies and has taken actions intended to prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
We have focused the attention of our top executives and manufacturing managers and are using quality improvement processes to address safety issues. In North America, for example, management compensation has been more heavily weighted to safety results, including serious injury performance. And we are launching a revised safety audit tool and focus audit protocols that are directed at high-risk areas.
Also in the past year, we rolled out a strategic approach to managing health and wellness issues and adopted a standard set of global workplace health indicators.
We are working closely with our suppliers to improve quality, find cost efficiencies and align our social and environmental practices. In 2006, we began a new supplier partner program called the Aligned Business Framework. Through this process, we are reducing the number of suppliers of different components but increasing our level of collaboration and commitment with these preferred suppliers. This system is improving costs and quality, as well as increasing innovation and teamwork with our strategic suppliers. See the Human Rights section for information on our Aligned Business Framework.
One hundred percent of our preferred, or Q1, production supply facilities have attained ISO 14001 environmental management certification.
Our dealers present our face to customers and communities and provide the Company with important feedback. We are working to strengthen our relationships with our dealers through open dialogue on key issues such as new products, vehicle quality and customer satisfaction.
We continue to make progress in embracing and fostering the diversity of our employees, customers and business partners, and we have been recognized for our achievements in these areas.
In recent years, our markets have continued to change. Consumers are showing an increasing interest in more fuel-efficient vehicles, though they do not want to compromise on performance, style or affordability. Demand for vehicles in developing countries has continued to grow and is outpacing demand growth in our developed markets in the United States and Europe.
We continue to work hard to understand and anticipate the products and services that customers want, including more sustainable vehicles. We have focused on developing a clear identity for each of our brands based on extensive market research and target customer definitions.
Ford also continued its longstanding tradition of investing in local communities, although challenging business conditions affected the amount of money Ford Motor Company Fund was able to provide in grants in 2007. During the year, the Fund and other corporate giving programs supported hundreds of organizations with charitable grants totaling $37 million. We continued programs and initiatives focusing on education, American heritage and auto-related safety.
In 2007, Ford's Employee Volunteer Corps continued to build stronger communities around the world. During Ford's Global Week of Caring in September, about 14,000 employees donated more than 34,000 hours of public service projects in their communities. The number of volunteers jumped significantly from the nearly 3,000 who contributed during the inaugural Global Week of Caring in 2006.