BT 2015 Annual Report Download - page 102

100 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2015
he table below shows proress aainst the ain actions
Areas of focus Actions
Competitor awareness
opetitor analses ddressed throuh independent
eternal presentations to the
oard.
Succession planning and exposure to management
– priorities to include:
ore discussion of succession for
the positions of hief ecutive
Group Finance Director and
potential future other eecutive
directors as well as  ebers
and other e roles
iscussions at the
oinatin 
overnance oittee
 tain
account of thouhts and views
fro the hief ecutive.
uccession plannin for the
hairan and non-eecutive
directors
he
oinatin  overnance
oittee
reularl reviews
succession plannin and the
coposition of the oard. e have
strenthened the oard durin
the ear with the appointent
ofsabel udson.
he oard to identif collectivel
the individuals over who
it would lie to aintain an
oversiht
on-eecutive directors have
attended the hairans talent
eetins which include a wide
breadth of people fro across
the business. here is now a
saller pool of invitees to the
alent reafasts to allow the
non-eecutive directors to et
better acuainted with potential
successors to  and other
eposts.
Customer service
ocus on custoer service he oard continued to focus on
custoer service throuhout the
ear both in and outside of the
oard eetins.
Site visits
onsider further site visits he oard visited s operations
in tal and the penreach
custoer contact tea. sabel
udson and arren ast have
both spent tie at s ewcastle
contact centre.
Improving strategic planning and challenge
aintainin careful overnance
includin at oard level on future
investents
he oard spent considerable tie
reviewin s investent in the
 reier eaue rihts auction
and  port.
ic ose as the enior ndependent irector reviewed and discussed
the hairans perforance durin the ear tain into account
feedbac fro the other oard ebers includin fro the eternal
evaluation eercise conducted b intstoc which included a separate
uestionnaire on the role of the hairan.
e have beun the oards evaluation for 011. his is bein
conducted internall b electronic uestionnaires. ou will find further
details on this evaluation process on pae 10.
Board induction
n appointent directors tae part in an induction prorae
to increase their nowlede and understandin of the business.
hereceive inforation about  includin financial data and the e
policies supportin s business practices. e also ive new directors
details on the role of the oard its ters of reference ebership of
the ain oard coittees and the atters reserved for decision b the
oard the oard coittees or s ost senior eecutives. elow is a
suar of what sabel udsons induction prorae involved.
Induction for Isabel Hudson
sabels coprehensive induction prorae has included
 eetin the hief ecutive and each line of business  to ain
aood understandin of the business and challenes
 briefins with the roup inance irector opan ecretar and
other senior eecutives across a rane of functions such as finance
pensions overnance investor and edia relations and roup
strate
 a visit to s ewcastle and penreach contact centres to see
custoer service operations first-hand and
 briefins on  policies on anti-corruption and briber ifts and
hospitalit charitable donations corporate sponsorship and he
a e or.
sabel will continue to have opportunities to ain a reater
understandin of s business includin visitin s research
laboratories at dastral ar pswich.
he induction prorae put toether b  has been ver
thorouh with plent of opportunit to as uestions and has been
the basis of an ecellent introduction to the roup.  has a ver
open approach to non-eecutive directors and there is plent of
opportunit to ain reater insiht into areas of particular interest.
 sabel udson.
Training and information
e encourae all directors to update their sills and nowlede
and the oard and individual directors receive onoin trainin as
reuired. hehairan also reviews with each director an trainin
or developent the need to help the in perforin their role.
nd directors receive briefins to enhance their awareness of the
dierent aspects of the business. he hief ecutive reularl provides
inforation on the business in his report to the oard which can
include updates on operational atters the copetitive and reulator
environent and other chanes aectin the roup and the wider
counications industr roup and line of business perforance
strate investor relations and corporate responsibilit. he hairan
also provides a weel written update to the non-eecutive directors
on e business activities hih level eetins reulation and relevant
sector hihlihts.
he opan ecretar provides briefins durin the ear on an
sinificant developents in leal overnance and copliance areas.
e also hold oard seinars durin the ear coverin accountin
overnance and copliance and reportin developents.
oard evaluation
ollowin a tender eercise we appointed intstoc an independent
eternal oranisation to conduct the oard evaluation for 011.
intstoc also supplies  with a database application which 
uses to eet the insider list reuireents under the isclosure and
ransparenc ules.
fter interviewin each of the directors seein their views on how the
oard and its coittees wor intstoc produced a report which we
discussed at the oard eetin in a 01. e areed actions and
enhanceents based on the inforation intstoc provided and the
conclusions we derived fro it.