With regard to our fomenting our employees’ security, a basic premise of our business sustainability strategy, in 2017 we made progress with the execution of our Institutional Risk Prevention Program.

The objective of this scheme, whose two strategic pillars are Safe Facilities and a Culture of Risk Prevention, is to drive a solid culture of risk prevention that guarantees the safety of our people, our visitors and the company’s assets through continuous training in risk-prevention processes and the development of specific protocols.

During 2017, we made 551 preventive tours of branches and offices to make sure that the equipment and installations indicated in the Evacuation and Immediate Response Protocol were functioning correctly and to identify any unsafe and risky conditions.

We set up and/or upgraded Risk Committees at 401 work centers, in order to organize, deploy and execute the preventive actions indicated in the policy, thereby assuring an immediate response both during and after any contingency. The 401 Internal Support Brigades received training and 438 evacuation simulations were carried out during the year.

Year after year, we support diverse social causes through collection campaigns at Banco Famsa ATM machines. Grupo Famsa has been committed to its local communities since it was founded. Over the years, it has donated economic resources to a range of charity institutions, such as Hogar de la Misericordia, the Mexican Red Cross and the Bécalos Project, the latter in partnership with the Mexican Banking Association and Grupo Televisa.

In 2017, we made a concerted effort to help those affected by the earthquake in Mexico City and other Mexican states. Working hand in hand with the founders of the “Aquí estamos México” and “Fuerza México” initiatives, Grupo Famsa gifted close to half a million pesos in funds from the community and matching funds from the company.

During the year, Grupo Famsa associates, through our volunteer program, collaborated with Fundación Pro Niños, a foundation that is part of Fundación Quiera which has the mission of helping children and young people in situations of risk: either in the street or in the workforce.

Our organization’s success is largely based on our people, so we focus on growing Grupo Famsa’s competitive capabilities by expanding the scope of our training programs and offering new options for our personnel to develop their professional competencies.

During 2017, we advanced with our objective of promoting an organizational culture that encourages continuous personal and group learning, in order to drive our business strategies and ensure that all our associates have the elements they need to grow in the organization and reach their personal goals.

To this end, we increased the skills of our human capital by implementing our own and external programs in all our territories. Thus, we trained 13,468 colleagues, providing more than 346,000 man-hours of instruction in workplace capabilities, mainly in sales, and in human and service areas to complement their professional development in the company.

Looking to the future, in 2017 we began a project for incorporating technology into our training plans in order to reach all employees more efficiently. We reinforced our digital communication channels, following the latest trends in technology and taking advantage of new models for corporate universities.

Thus, in 2017 we reiterated our commitment to continue supporting the development of our associates and customers, while at the same time seeking the wellbeing of our communities, always in accordance with the values that have characterized Grupo Famsa throughout its history.