Review by the Works Council

In 2024, the Works Council further specified and shaped its vision and key priorities as formulated in 2022. The key priorities relate to the balance between control and participation, between acting as an outstanding employer and as outstanding employees, and between fulfilling Alliander’s task and resilience. They also help the Works Council maintain a broad overview of our company that is growing so rapidly in terms of the number of employees and the stronger role of digitalisation to cope with its ever-increasing societal task in the energy transition
The Works Council contributes to Alliander by representing the interests of the employees and the organisation in the discussions with Alliander's board and management. In 2024, we held monthly meetings with the Management Board. In addition to this, the Works Council also initiated in-depth consultations with experts responsible for matters such as strategy, finance, HR, the occupational health and safety service and sustainable employability. 
Informal consultations were held with ExCo members on Alliander's growth and we engaged in an open discussion with the Supervisory Board on the topics of safety and AI (Artificial Intelligence). 

Task feasibility: everything affecting Alliander’s work package

In meetings with the Management Board, the Works Council gained a clear insight into Alliander’s strategy, financial situation and way of communicating with the national government.
Last year, based on the strategic agenda and in several sessions with ExCo members, we regularly discussed the topic of rapid organisational growth in relation to task feasibility. Task feasibility is aimed at building, building and more building, on using networks in better and more flexible ways, and on improving communication with customers. The most important things for the Works Council are to know exactly what the task feasibility challenge entails, whether that task is physically manageable, whether Alliander’s plans are suitable for it, what Alliander's current position is, and what the impact is on the organisation and its employees. In response to the working week in September, for example, where the directors shared their strategic multi-year plans, the Management Board ran us through Alliander’s integrated business plan and the actions that are being taken in respect of supply chain management. In the business unit committees, we continue to follow the implementation and effects of the business plans of the individual organisational units with a sharp and critical eye. The sale of Kenter was also completed. As the Works Council we were closely involved in this development and issued our approval for the sale. 

Top-class employer: management of and prerequisites for the organisation 

Congestion issues greatly affect how our employees have to do their work. Increasingly often this results in unsafe situations for our employees, both in the field and online. This year, Alliander achieved level 4 on the safety culture ladder, but in practice the number of lost-time accidents is on the rise. As the Works Council, we find this unacceptable and continue to insist on the importance of arranging a Safety toolkit session in various work consultations. The planned growth in the number of employees requires all HR processes to run more efficiently, so the Works Council has put significant effort into the HR projects, including a simpler job classification system, more effective performance management and a more transparent remuneration system, and the relationships between these instruments and their implementation. For its consent regarding performance management, the Works Council asked that attention be paid to its major impact and linked it to the Works Council’s key priority of transitioning ‘from work pressure to work enjoyment’. 

The Works Council also collaborated in co-creation on other topics, advising on the modernisation of the mobility policy in order to further shape Alliander's sustainability by including other modalities.   

Top-class employee: contributing to Alliander's task and personal leadership 

Despite the outflow of employees due to retirement and the tight labour market, the number of employees grew significantly in 2024. The growth in the workforce continued at an even faster pace last year. Because of this, about half of all employees have only been working for Alliander in their current position for one or two years. This requires more attention for onboarding, training and mentoring, which in turn puts additional pressure on the existing employees. Alliander is asking its employees to proactively contribute to the challenges faced by Alliander, to cultural changes and to further developing their personal leadership. As a participation body we share our thoughts to ensure that this process succeeds. One example is the 2023 Works Council survey investigating employee retention, the results of which were used for the development of the aforementioned HR tools in 2024. The Works Council will closely monitor further implementation of this in 2025, including ‘My Energy Plan’ and ‘People Review’.     
Negotiations on employee benefits are held between the employer and the unions, but as a participation body we have influenced this process by giving both parties an insight into people’s thoughts and feelings within the organisation and the expectations employees have in terms of modern benefits. The Works Council directly affects the formulation of employee benefits in company schemes, for example, it used its influence and advocated measures to strengthen the purchasing power of employees. 

Resilience: from work pressure to work enjoyment and mental resilience of employees

Working from home is now the norm for many. This, together with the major growth of the organisation in different teams, leads to a reduction in social cohesion and possibly a greater distance between employees and Alliander. So the Works Council advocates, among other things, the promotion of activities by Alliander and the staff association, to foster team spirit and the ‘Alliander feeling’.  The high workload that employees may experience is seen as an area of concern by the Works Council, making it a frequently discussed topic during meetings with the Management Board. The Works Council has expanded the framework document on reorganisations, which we use for every planned major change to call for an explicit focus on the impact of the change on the workload and work enjoyment of the employees concerned. The theme of personal safety remains important to the Works Council. Making it possible for people to come forward with their story and keeping it this way is extremely important in a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse Alliander. The basis for doing your job well is to feel accepted as you are and to feel safe in your interactions with managers, colleagues, suppliers and customers.   
As more responsibilities are being transferred to the organisational units, employee participation needs to be strengthened at the management level of the organisational units. After all, employee participation is only effective if it follows whoever has control. This may help to ensure that we can talk to directors about the thoughts and feelings of our employees. 

The theme of employee retention (including new employees) will continue to be a focal topic for us as the Works Council in 2025. It is especially important in an unstable world in which employees attach great importance to a pleasant, safe and stable working environment in which they can perform optimally and develop effectively. The Works Council continues to work to achieve this situation.

On behalf of the Alliander Works Council,
Nico Büskens