Human Resources

Resolute Forest Products’ long-term competitiveness is tied its ability to recruit, develop and retain top-quality employees with the right skills. We are committed to implementing new human resource practices to retain employees and renew our workforce. Our focus is on implementing new leadership and human resources practices to create an inclusive workplace. We are building a strong corporate culture that attracts results-driven and action-oriented employees and allows natural leaders to grow.

As part of our commitment to developing an understanding of the attraction and retention challenges faced in each of our operating regions, our corporate human resources team helped execute development plans for each of our operations in 2021 that include:

• Ongoing implementation of international recruitment
• Benchmarking of compensation practices and tools
• Supporting our asset performance team toward developing an asset performance and improvement culture
• Continued focus on our Emerging Talent program, the promotion of Employee Referral program and the development of our diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy

In 2021, we hired 1,490 new permanent and temporary employees, raising our employer profile through targeted recruitment practices. We also hired 187 student and seasonal workers, and recorded 210 internal promotions. We work diligently with employees and union leadership on the mutually beneficial renewal of collective agreements. For more information on collective agreements, please visit our Labor Relations page.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We have in place a Diversity Policy designed to ensure equal consideration and opportunities to all employees. In early 2022, while we were a public company, Resolute also adopted a board of directors-level diversity policy that strives to achieve a minimum of 30% representation of each gender (ie. male and female) by 2024, building on the executive leadership level diversity policy that acknowledges diversity as a key factor in the company’s talent management strategy. In 2021, we also provided workplace respect and civility training to 100% of our new employees in line with our annual commitment to do so.

The first meeting of our DE&I working committee took place in early 2022. Composed of employees from all business segments as well as our corporate office, the working committee provides recommendations and input relating to DE&I projects and initiatives. Its members act as ambassadors within their business segment and throughout the company. The committee reports to Resolute’s executive team.

These initiatives, combined with innovative immigration policies and programs, are providing solutions to our staffing challenges.

Ethics Codes and Human Rights

Strong corporate governance drives Resolute to maintain rigorous policies related to ethics, business conduct and fundamental human rights, including a Code of Business Conduct, an Ethics Reporting Policy, an independent ethics reporting hotline/helpline and a Human Rights Policy. The board of directors reviews these and other internal policies on an annual basis, following an initial review conducted by management. Resolute’s board of directors' Human Resources and Compensation/Nominating and Governance Committee is ultimately responsible for maintaining ethics and integrity codes and determining, in accordance with management’s recommendations, when and how such policies should be updated. Market best practices, regulatory compliance, internal audits, reporting transparency and year-to-year performance are considered during the policy review and update process.

The Code of Business Conduct also provides an important framework that ties in many other policies and implementation mechanisms related to various laws (anti-corruption, anti-bribery, harassment-free workplace) and ensures compliance in environmental reporting, legal compliance and ethics reporting.

All employees are trained on the requirements of the company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics Reporting Policy, and we are committed to training every new employee we hire.

Renewal Strategy

We believe our employees are an important factor in our success and that investing in new talent strengthens the foundation of our business. Over the next few years, many of our long-term workers will be taking a well-deserved retirement, and we will need to attract skilled candidates who are motivated and eager to learn. Through our Emerging Talent program, we have built a workplace where our employees can learn, grow and contribute.

We have also ramped up efforts to recruit skilled employees in a more targeted way. In addition to participating in career days, open house events at schools and other community activities, we involve our current employees in recruitment efforts through our Employee Referral program, which is designed to attract quality candidates, increase the overall speed of recruitment, and improve hiring success rates.

While recruitment is important, we are equally committed to ensuring our current employees are consistently motivated and engaged. Our human resource teams work hard to: promote individual professional development goals; support sharing of knowledge and resources across the company; and create opportunities for growth and learning wherever possible. We assess 100% of salaried employees’ effectiveness through our performance appraisal process, which is focused on enhancing organizational capability through managerial accountability and people development.

For more information on how Resolute measures and reports on employee hires and turnover, visit the Key Performance Indicators page.