he Gerdau Group is the company with the best organizational climate in Brazil. This is the conclusion reached by the international Hay Group consulting firm, after evaluating the climate management of the country’s major corporations over the past two years. The firm serves the 500 largest Brazilian companies. The Gerdau Group obtained an 80% approval rating from the more than 15,000 employees who participated in the study.

One of the keys to achieving this positive result is autonomy. Ten years ago, the Group created a self-management system based on operational cells and eliminated supervision levels. With this self-management strategy, the employees themselves are in charge of the process. They become entrepreneurs within the Group.

The opinion poll itself, which has also been conducted for ten years, is based on this policy of autonomy. Each year, employees identify the Group’s strengths and weaknesses. Everyone is advised of the results of this evaluation, which are then used to put together an action plan, involving all employees, to improve weak points. Besides winning first place in Brazil for organizational climate management, the Group also earned first place in the category of development opportunity transparency.

These opportunities can be illustrated by career paths such as that of operator Juvêncio Silva of Gerdau Riograndense, a steel mill located in Sapucaia do Sul (state of Rio Grande do Sul). “When I started at Gerdau, I had only completed up to the third grade, but I saw that there was room for growth at the Company," said Silva. After his first achievement, he never looked back. He has already completed high school and a vocational course. Now his goal is to begin his university education.