Aviva 2005 Annual Report Download - page 46

Employees
44
Aviva plc 2005 Business review
Business review continued
Environment
Our general insurance business has significant exposure to claims
from weather-based events across our European and Canadian
businesses. In the UK alone, the ABI estimates that weather
related costs to insurers are in the order of £500 million to
£1 billion per year.
We established a climate change forum in 2005 to co-ordinate
related activities across our businesses. Significant climate change
related initiatives that our businesses are involved in include flood
research, flood mitigation and prevention work and the sponsorship
of a pan-European flood project. Additionally, we are developing
products and services that provide a positive link between climate
change and premium paid, for example Norwich Union’s Pay As
You Drive™ product. We also use the investment influence of our
fund management subsidiaries to encourage environmentally
responsible behaviour.
In terms of our direct impacts on the environment, our total carbon
dioxide emissions have reduced by 11.0% during 2005. This has
been achieved by increasing energy efficiency, reducing wastage
and securing a progressive move to purchasing 100% zero emission
electricity for the UK. Our Irish business purchases 20% of zero
emission electricity and this year, for the first time, so did our
business in the Czech Republic.
Governance
Our business units regularly review their CSR performance and
undertake an annual self-assessment. This assessment is subject
to an external review, performed as part of the overall assurance
of our summary CSR report. In 2005, this work was performed
by Ernst & Young LLP.
We report annually on our progress in accordance with the FORGE
management and reporting guidelines for banks and insurers.
Additionally, we duly respect the disclosure guidelines issued by
the ABI. Governance of the programme is subject to both a regular
schedule and continual review. The board is presented with plans
and a progress report annually. CSR forms a segment in the
induction programme for all new directors upon joining the board.
In the past two years, the chairman has presented to the annual
meeting of our CSR Review Group, which brings together
representatives from corporate office, business units, partner
non-governmental organisations and auditors. The meeting reviews
performance, considers developments, exchanges ideas and
initiatives and sets the programme for the year ahead. Quarterly
reviews are also carried out by a CSR steering group; the group
includes senior management from our principal businesses.
To mitigate CSR risks, we have an established system of risk
management that is embedded into our business planning and
performance monitoring processes. This system includes the
management of risks relating to social, environmental and ethical
(SEE) matters. Further details of this process are contained in the
internal controls section of the Corporate Governance Report on
pages 57 to 61.
Employee numbers
During 2005, our average number of employees worldwide was
54,791, compared with 55,872 during 2004.
Number of Number of
employees employees
2005 2004
UK 33,827 32,588
Europe 16,356 17,429
International 4,608 5,855
Total 54,791 55,872
Our relationship with our people
Aviva has a presence in over 25 countries across Europe,
North America, Asia and Australia. In each location that we do
business, our relationship with our employees is governed by our
people strategy, our values and the group’s human resources
policies. These policies relate to reward, management development
and training, diversity, recruitment and health and safety.
Our people strategy, delivered against a backdrop of constant
change, captures a need to:
– Attract and retain top talent while complying with corporate
governance best practice
– Invest in the development of our people
– Build change capability whilst maintaining employee morale
– Enable the delivery of excellent customer service through
our employees.
Talent management
Talent management was a focus in 2005, and will remain so in
2006. We continue to build on embedded processes such as
the Organisation and Development Review (ODR) complemented
by the Aviva Leadership Academy. The ODR is our succession and
development planning framework through which approximately
80% of our top 140 roles have internal succession cover. The Aviva
Leadership Academy is a suite of development programmes with
international business schools, focused on preparing current and
emerging leaders for our business’s challenges.
In addition to these initiatives, research conducted amongst our
senior managers has resulted in a refreshed focus on structured
development planning, the increased provision of international
career opportunities through short-term secondments and a
strengthened link between measured performance and reward.
2005 saw the implementation of our senior manager reward
strategy, covering the group’s top four tiers of senior management.
The main reasons for this new strategy were to drive performance
through highly differentiated rewards and to bring greater alignment
with shareholders’ interests and good corporate governance practice.
Other corporate information:
Corporate social responsibility
continued