BP 2012 Annual Report Download - page 58

Business review: BP in more depth
BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2012
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Diversity and inclusion
We are a global company and aim for a workforce that is representative of
the societies in which we operate. For our employees to be properly
motivated and to perform to their full potential, and for the business to
thrive, our people need to be treated with respect and dignity, and without
discrimination.
Through living our values we create an inclusive working environment
where everyone can make a difference and give their best. Our work on
diversity and inclusion is overseen by the group people committee who
reviews performance on a quarterly basis. The committee agrees
strategic direction and group standards which are then implemented
through business-specific diversity and inclusion plans. In 2012 we
launched a framework to set out our ambition and drive further progress
across the group. It includes statements of wide-ranging improvements
we hope to achieve by 2016.
By 2020, more than half our operations are expected to be in non-OECD
countries and we see this as an opportunity to develop a new generation
of experts and skilled employees. At the end of 2012, 17% of our group
leaders were female and 22% came from countries other than the UK and
the US. When we started tracking the composition of our group
leadership in 2000, these percentages were 9% and 14% respectively.
We supported the UK government-commissioned Lord Davies review in
2011, which made recommendations on increasing gender diversity on
the boards of listed companies. See page 113 – governance report.
We are also incorporating detailed diversity and inclusion analysis into
talent reviews, with processes to identify actions where any issues
are found. We continue to increase the number of local leaders and
employees in our operations so that they reflect the communities in which
we operate and this is monitored at a local, business or national level.
We aim to ensure equal opportunity in recruitment, career development,
promotion, training and reward for all employees, including those with
disabilities. Where existing employees become disabled, our policy is to
provide continuing employment and training wherever practicable.
Employee engagement
Executive team members hold regular town-hall style meetings and
webcasts to communicate with our employees around the world.
Team meetings and one-to-one meetings are complemented by
formal processes through works councils in parts of Europe. These
communications, along with training programmes, are designed to
contribute to employee development and motivation by raising awareness
of financial, economic, ethical, social and environmental factors affecting
our performance. The group seeks to maintain constructive relationships
with labour unions.
We conduct an annual survey of our employees – with more than
55,000 employees in around 70 countries for 2012 – to monitor employee
engagement and identify areas where we can improve this. The 2012 results
show levels of engagement are up across all levels and business areas.
Business leadership teams review the results of the survey and agree
actions to address the identified issues. Safety scores remain strong
although there is more work for us to do in continuing to embed our OMS
as the way BP operates so people fully understand what it means for them.
We also measure how engaged our employees are with our strategic
priorities of safety, trust and value. The group priorities engagement
measure is derived from 12 questions about employee perceptions of
BP as a company and how it is managed in terms of leadership and
standards. Aggregate results for these questions showed a 4%
improvement on 2011 to 71%.
Alongside engagement, a new indicator of employee and workplace
satisfaction was introduced in 2012, replacing the previous employee
satisfaction index (ESI). This new measure is more comprehensive than
the previous index and looks at management behaviour, job satisfaction,
development and reward. The aggregate score for employee and
workplace satisfaction in 2012 was 71%. For comparison, the ESI, based
on a narrower set of measures, rose by 4% to 66%.
The BP code of conduct
The BP code of conduct sets the standard that all BP employees are
required to work to. It is based on our values and it clarifies the ethics and
compliance expectations for everyone who works at BP.
The code defines what BP expects of its people in key areas such as
safety, workplace behaviour, bribery and corruption and financial integrity.
The code is based on four foundations: what we do, what we stand for,
what we value and speaking up.
Employees, contractors or other third parties who have questions or
concerns that laws, regulations or the code of conduct may be breached,
can get help through OpenTalk, a helpline that is operated by an
independent company. The number of cases raised through OpenTalk in
2012 was 1,295, compared with 796 in 2011. In the US, former district
court Judge Stanley Sporkin acts as an ombudsperson. Employees and
contractors can contact him confidentially to report any suspected breach
of compliance, ethics or the code of conduct, including safety concerns.
We take steps to identify and correct areas of non-compliance and take
disciplinary action where appropriate. In 2012, 424 dismissals were
reported by BP’s businesses for non-adherence to the code of conduct or
unethical behaviour compared with 529 in 2011. This excludes dismissals
of staff employed at our retail service station sites, for incidents such as
thefts of small amounts of money. A new reporting process to capture
information on dismissals is presently being put in place for 2013.
Following the settlement with the US government of all federal criminal
claims related to the Gulf of Mexico, BP has agreed to appoint an ethics
monitor in the US for a term of four years to review and provide
recommendations for the improvement of BP’s code of conduct and its
implementation and enforcement.
BP continues to apply a policy that the group will not participate directly in
party political activity or make any political contributions, whether in cash
or in kind. We review employees’ rights to political activity in each country
where we operate. For example, in the US, BP facilitates staff
participation in the political process by providing staff support to ensure
BP employee political action committee contributions are publicly
disclosed and comply with the law.