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Corporate Responsibility Committee
Leadership is provided by a cross-functional committee of senior executives, chaired by the Company Secretary, Lucy Neville-Rolfe. The Corporate Responsibility Committee meets a minimum of four times a year. It is responsible for:
- reviewing social, ethical and environmental policies as part of our risk management process;
- identifying opportunities in which Corporate Responsibility can help us improve the effectiveness, profitability and prospects of the business;
- agreeing, monitoring and reporting on our Corporate Responsibility Key Performance Indicators (KPIs);
- improving our understanding of ‘good practice’ throughout the group;
- increasing internal awareness of Corporate Responsibility;
- approving our external stakeholder communication and engagement plan.
The Committee reports to the Board after each meeting and is supported by our Corporate Responsibility team.
Corporate Responsibility audit
In March 2004 we completed an internal audit to examine the extent to which Corporate Responsibility is embedded in our Values, policies and behaviour. The audit covered the implementation of Corporate Responsibility strategy, governance, data measurement, accuracy and reporting process, and communication with stakeholders.
Strengths identified by the audit:
- the Corporate Responsibility Committee and KPI reporting process has strong support throughout the business;
- commercial priorities are frequently aligned with social, ethical and environmental priorities;
- there is a strong positive perception of our Corporate Responsibility record among external stakeholders.
However, the audit also identified the importance of continuing to develop our Corporate Responsibility strategy throughout our international businesses, and further strengthening our communications.
As a result of the audit we have:
- put in place a programme to accelerate the development of Corporate Responsibility throughout our international businesses;
- reviewed and updated our CR KPIs and governance structure;
- strengthened our internal and external CR communications strategy.
International Corporate Responsibility
This year we developed a strategy to strengthen Corporate Responsibility performance throughout our international businesses. These businesses already comply with our core policies on the environment, health and safety, and human rights, as well as with our code of ethics and our ethical trading programme.
In 2006, ‘the way we operate is responsible and safe’ segment will be incorporated within the Steering Wheel of our international businesses with associated CR KPIs.
To share best practice, we are holding CR workshops for our international businesses. The first workshop was held in Europe in January 2005, the second will be held in Asia in May 2005.
Reporting
This annual Corporate Responsibility Review is our main method of reporting to our stakeholders on our social, environmental and ethical performance. It is available on our website in html and as a pdf, as well as in hard copy. Our website contains further information and policies and is updated regularly.
Surveys
We respond to a number of CR related surveys every year including the Business in the Community (BiTC) Corporate Responsibility Index and FTSE4Good Index Series. The BiTC CR Index benchmarks us against our sector and all participating companies. This year we were noted for outstanding performance in the following areas: corporate strategy, integration, community management, marketplace management and environmental impact. Our membership of FTSE4Good indicates that we meet globally recognised CR standards.
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