New structure and functions of the group's central services
At the proposal of Vice-Chairman and CEO, Juan Béjar, FCC's Board of Directors has approved the new central services organisational structure. The reorganisation seeks to provide business managers with decision-making powers on the functions and resources which directly impact their units' EBITDA.
In line with the new philosophy, corporate units will now be called "central services", reflecting their focus on providing support for the business. These units will be responsible for defining general policies and ensuring compliance.
The central services, which will report directly to Mr. Béjar, will comprise the General Secretariat (legal department) and general Administration departments (tax, accounting and administrative processes), Finance (treasury, funding, management and budget control, and investor relations), Organisation (human resources, information systems and technology, and group procurements), Internal Audit (risk management), and Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Under the new structure, the Finance department will be responsible for management control, Organisation will include human resources, information systems and technology and group procurements, and Internal Audit will undertake risk management.
This new organisation will also include the decentralisation of certain functions, such as procurement management, human resources and the legal department. The objective is for the business units to be fully responsible for their P&L. Greater autonomy for managers is in line with the general policies and management models that will be established by the group's management committee.
Management control, for which the Finance department will now be responsible (previously part of the Administration department's tasks), will be redesigned and reinforced to ensure rigorous oversight of the results for each business and to avoid situation like the one at Alpine.
This new model will reduce structural costs and personnel in both central services and in the business areas. The goal is to cut structural costs by at least 140 million euro, in addition to the cost cutting already implemented group wide, as set out in the new adjustment plan recently launched by Cementos Portland Valderrivas.
The areas will now proceed with the reorganisation of their zones and delegations. The Board also approved the inclusion of Versia and Industrial Waste activities in the Environmental Services division. The Construction area has already started to roll back the business to focus on countries and projects where the group can leverage its competitive advantages. Additionally, both Services and Construction will notably reduce the number of legal companies.