HSBC 2007 Annual Report Download - page 310

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Report of the Directors: Governance (continued)
Employees > Involvement / Disabled persons / Remuneration policy / Share plans
308
HSBC continues to be committed to creating a
diverse and inclusive work environment reflective of
its customer base, international workforce, and
communities in which it operates. It has a Group-
wide strategy that aims to improve gender, ethnicity
and age diversity to ensure the long-term
sustainability of the organisation. There is particular
focus on increasing gender and ethnic diversity at
senior management levels. Diversity initiatives are
implemented at a country level taking local and
national laws into account. Employee network
groups and mentoring programmes are promoted and
established where possible to facilitate open
discussion of workplace issues for employees
belonging to minority groups, and to foster an
environment that celebrates diversity.
HSBC recognises its role as an employer in a
wider context and is committed to employee health
issues, promoting employee involvement in
community and not-for-profit organisations and
providing flexible working opportunities. As a
responsible employer and corporate citizen, HSBC
recognises the need to address the issues raised by
HIV/AIDS in the workplace and, in 2007, launched a
HIV/AIDS policy. The policy defines the approach
and minimum standards to be achieved by HSBC
entities around the world. Key principles include
non-discrimination and confidentiality, voluntary
testing, commitment to prevention, education,
awareness, care and support. To coincide with the
launch of the Group policy an e-learning module and
a dedicated intranet site was established to provide
education on the important issues surrounding
HIV/AIDS.
HSBC considers its people to be fundamental to
its past and future success. In its pursuit of making
HSBC the best place to work, HSBC maintains an
ongoing dialogue with employees, and looks to
understand how they are motivated and engaged. In
2007, HSBC conducted its first Global People
Survey which comprised questions designed to
measure employee engagement levels consistently
across the Group. The survey covered HSBC’s
permanent global workforce, and responses were
received from almost 290,000 employees, a
significant response rate of 88 per cent. Questions
were summarised under 12 dimensions. On all of the
dimensions, employees rated HSBC above external
global norms. Particular areas of strength were
HSBC’s brand reputation, its commitment to
corporate sustainability and the quality of its direct
managers. HSBC has communicated the results and
key action plans are being developed to improve
engagement. Following the success of the first
survey, plans are underway for the second survey
in 2008.
Employee involvement
HSBC values open communication with its
employees. Employees are encouraged to discuss
operational and strategic issues, and ways of
improving performance, with their line managers.
Open communication throughout the organisation is
encouraged and opportunities to share individual
perspectives are created through networking events,
management blogs, international assignments and
learning and development programmes. Information
is regularly given to employees about employment
matters and the financial and economic factors
affecting HSBC’s performance. This is
communicated via management channels, internal
seminars, training programmes, in-house magazines
and an intranet site accessible to the majority of
HSBC’s employees worldwide.
Employment of disabled persons
HSBC believes in providing equal opportunities to
all employees. The employment of disabled persons
is included in this commitment and the recruitment,
training, career development and promotion of
disabled persons is based on the aptitudes and
abilities of the individual. Should employees become
disabled during employment, every effort is made to
continue their employment and, if necessary,
appropriate training is provided.
Remuneration policy
As the quality and commitment of its human capital
is deemed fundamental to HSBC’s success, the
Board’s stated strategy is to attract, retain and
motivate the very best people.
In a business that is based on trust and
relationships, HSBC’s broad policy is to recruit those
who are committed to making a long-term career
with the organisation since trust and relationships are
built over time.
Remuneration is an important component in
people’s decisions on which company to join and to
stay with, but it is not the overriding one; it is
HSBC’s experience that people are attracted to,
an organisation with strong values, one which is
meritocratic and competitive and which offers
transparent and interesting career development.
In line with the overall principles applied by the
Remuneration Committee as described on page 322
in the Directors’ Remuneration Report:
• employees’ salaries are reviewed annually in the