Our strategic objective of being recognised as an outstanding corporate citizen in each of our communities reflects our company values of thinking holistically, being flexible, delivering performance and acting with integrity.
Our corporate responsibility approach for 2008 was to build on the work achieved in previous years and to concentrate on the issues that are material to our business and stakeholders:
Trust
Trust is crucial to any relationship, especially one where people’s financial future is at the heart of it. We take this trust very seriously. Acting with integrity and actively demonstrating commitment to the fair treatment of all our customers has never been more important, especially in light of the global financial uncertainty of the last year.
The importance of putting customers at the heart of what we do has long been part of our culture and practices. The Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative, a key focus of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) aim to rebuild consumer confidence in the financial services industry, helped us to shape our customer focus. At the end of 2008, we met the FSA deadline for companies to provide evidence that through our strategies, behaviour, practices and procedures, the culture of TCF was embedded throughout the organisation. This is illustrated by the increase in team-based discussions on the topic, which grew by 9% to 61% over the three months leading up to our October staff survey.
We also support another FSA initiative, the Retail Distribution Review, which sets out to provide greater clarity about the advice customers are being offered and the way it is paid for.
We have a developed and embedded Enterprise Risk Management Framework that enables the Group’s risks to be identified, assessed, controlled and monitored consistently, objectively and holistically. Our Enterprise Risk Management committee is well embedded and has proven to be a highly effective and responsive executive forum for the management of risk over the course of a particularly challenging year. Further information is provided in the Risk management section of the Business review.
As part of our corporate governance approach our Board is committed to maintaining high standards in directing the Group’s affairs and being accountable to shareholders. Our Board also believes that good governance makes for efficient and effective management that can deliver shareholder value over the longer term. To support this commitment and belief, we all operate within an approved governance framework, which is regularly reviewed and documented in the Board Charter.
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Responsible investment
We take our responsibility as an investor seriously. We believe that analysis of company policies and practices on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is an integral part of the investment process.
Where possible, we use our influence to encourage best practice in the way ESG issues are managed by the companies in which we invest. In 2008 we had 680 engagement meetings to discuss ESG issues with companies (2007:633).
In November our responsible investment practices were recognised when we were ranked fifth in a survey of 30 UK pensions companies by Fair Pensions – an independent body that campaigns for responsible investment.
We also exercise our voting rights. In 2008 we voted on all our clients’ UK and Irish equity holdings and at selected overseas company meetings – a total of 730 shareholder meetings. To expand the scope of our voting activity we will be implementing a programme to vote all of the securities we manage on behalf of all clients around the world in 2009.
We are a signatory to the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment – a set of guidelines that reflects our commitment to incorporate ESG issues into our investment processes. In November our responsible investment practices were recognised when we were ranked fifth in a survey of 30 UK pensions companies by Fair Pensions – an independent body that campaigns for responsible investment.
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Health and wealth
We know from research that health and wealth are of particular interest to our customers and we are in a position to help them with both areas through all stages of their life.
We begin by introducing financial education to primary school children through On the Money, a collection of educational stories now in its second year. An independent evaluation of the resource found that 93% of pupils said they knew more about money since starting the project.
The stories have since been translated into Scottish and Irish Gaelic and in 2009 we intend to broaden On the Money’s reach across the UK and look at the feasibility of extending to our overseas operations.
In order to get a better understanding of the public’s perception of our industry, and to understand people’s attitudes to saving and investing, we carry out research and publish a quarterly savings and investments index.
We are always looking to protect the health of our people and promote best practice across the industry. We have done this in conjunction with Business in the Community’s Business Action on Health (BAH) campaign of which Standard Life Healthcare is a founding member.
The UK Government has selected the BAH campaign as a strategic partner for the implementation of its health, work and wellbeing initiative. Already 100 companies have signed up to report on workplace health issues, and in 2008, 85% of Standard Life Healthcare staff took part in the scheme.
We continue to help our people in the later stages of life and last year we launched our first pre-retirement courses. The one-day seminars are designed to educate our people about the various issues and options they’ll face in retirement, and help them consider the different circumstances that may arise. Taking part in these courses is helping our future retirees to prepare for both the financial and the emotional changes retirement may bring.
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Managing our people
We believe engaged and enthusiastic people who embrace our values are crucial to building sustainable relationships with our customers through exceptional service.
Throughout 2008, we conducted a series of Group-wide events called Shaping our Future to inform and engage our people globally in our mission, vision and strategy. This strategy includes a drive for operational excellence and improved risk management, which we believe will contribute to greater consumer trust.
We believe that each individual possesses a unique blend of skills, knowledge and talents. In 2008, we introduced Clifton StrengthsFinder® a talent discovery tool to provide each individual with an insight into their talents and how this increased awareness can be used to enhance their performance. Complementing this initiative, we have introduced a structured approach to managing talent globally to ensure we attract, identify and retain world class talent.
Consistent with our goal of being an employer of choice, we offer our people in the UK and Canada the chance to tailor their benefits package. Most of our people also have the opportunity to become shareholders in our business. Our Share Plan gives our people a better understanding of the interests of shareholders and promotes a wider interest in our performance and business needs. 96% of our people across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Canada now hold shares in our business.
96%
of our people across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Canada now hold shares in our business
We have established a new Partnership Agreement with VIVO, the Standard Life Staff Association, the representative body for the majority of UK based employees. The agreement was negotiated, consulted upon and ratified by employees – 66% of eligible employees voted, and 92% were in favour of the new agreement.
We actively encourage our people to take up placements with charities and community groups in a mutually beneficial exchange. In 2008, more than three years of employee time and consultancy was contributed over nine different placements of between three to 12 months, with groups like Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition and Age Concern.
We also support the community with our Work Life initiative which helps people who have experienced homelessness, or have a disability, by offering them a temporary employment contract with us. In the last 12 years over 25 people in the UK have benefited from this initiative. Last year, we employed another two individuals in the UK, and eight in Canada through links with the West Montreal Re-adaptation Centre.
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Our community and environmental impacts
Wherever we operate, we take an active interest in our neighbouring communities and surrounding environment. We do this because we are aware of the effect our business can have on a community. As set out in our newly revised Environment and Corporate Community Investment policies, all our activities, from minimising our environmental impact to investing in our communities, are based on long-term commitments that will benefit them now and in the future.
We believe the material environmental issues for our business are the energy and paper we use, the waste we produce and the travel we undertake. We have been working for the past 10 years to improve our overall performance in these areas for the business that we operate by consuming less, recycling more and disposing sensitively of anything that remains.
In 2008, total energy consumption for our UK head office operations fell by 12%. The volume of paper we have consumed in the UK and Ireland has also decreased by 23% since our 2006 baseline. However, in 2008 the number of air miles we travelled on business went up by 4%. While some increase can be attributed to international travel as our business grows globally, we will be encouraging our people to reduce domestic air miles in 2009.
The volume of paper we have consumed in the UK and Ireland has decreased by 23% since 2006.
Ensuring our people are kept informed and involved in environmental issues is a key part of our approach. Our InvolveME programme provides information on environmental issues and encourages our people to consider the environmental impacts of their working lives. As part of this programme we have hosted environmental roadshows with external partners, and Green Teams were set up to empower our people to make local changes to improve environmental performance. Currently we have 13 teams across Canada, Germany, Ireland and the UK. These teams have been instrumental in raising awareness of environmental issues and encouraging local action.
We have also taken measures to minimise the environmental impact of the buildings within our investment property portfolio by monitoring their energy, water and waste consumption. For example, we achieved a 70% reduction in recycled waste at retail centres against our target of 45%.
Charitable fundraising gives our people the opportunity to help make a real difference in the communities where they live and work. Every year, our people in the UK vote for the causes they wish to support and projects are sourced accordingly with the funds raised augmented by the company. Through the outstanding fundraising efforts of our people around the world, last year a total of £1.393m was raised for nominated charities.
Our community work also includes our Step up in Life and Skills for Life programmes. Through these programmes we help groups develop generic employment skills and run workshops about applying for jobs, interview skills and how to make a successful start at work. 39% more students took part in Step up in Life last year with 8,915 students benefiting from the programme. In all, our total contribution to our communities was £2.85m for the year, or £278 for each employee.
Our willingness to work in partnership with the relevant people in education and the wider community has been key to the success of these initiatives and was reflected in Step up in Life winning the Merrill Lynch Education Award from Scottish Business in the Community (Big Tick Award) and the Scottish Financial Enterprise Innovators Award for Investment in the Future.
Looking forward
As the financial market is likely to continue to be testing, we remain focused on and committed to our corporate responsibility approach. For more information or to give us your feedback, please visit www.standardlife.com/corporate_responsibility
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