Telus 2011 Annual Report Download - page 54

50 . TELUS 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
and manage their own health information, and is expected to improve
the flow of personal health information among healthcare providers,
regardless of where the patient is located. This is consistent with TELUS’
vision of helping transform healthcare in Canada through communica-
tions technology to reduce costs and errors, better connect patients and
help prevent illness.
TELUS Garden
In March 2011, TELUS announced that it is partnering in a residential,
retail and commercial real estate redevelopment project in downtown
Vancouver, TELUS Garden, which will transform a city block that includes
the Company’s current national headquarters. It will feature a 46-storey
residential condominium tower and a 22-storey office tower, as well
as renovations to TELUS’ current eight-storey headquarters to provide
leasable office and retail space. The commercial and residential buildings
will be built to LEED platinum and gold standards, respectively, and
incorporate green initiatives.
The project is on schedule to begin construction in the first quarter
of 2012 and is expected to be completed in 2015. TELUS plans to invest
in the project predominantly through contribution of its existing real
estate holdings on this city block, coupled with project debt. The project
includes a city-owned parkade being purchased by the Company.
TELUS plans to lease space in the new jointly owned office tower for
its corporate headquarters. The Company does not plan to maintain an
ownership position in the residential tower aside from some retail space
after the construction and sale of condominium units.
Investing in internal capabilities to build a high-performance
culture and customer excellence
In 2011, the TELUS team achieved excellent overall employee engagement
results of 70%, up by 13 points from 2010, as measured in the annual
Pulsecheck survey. This places TELUS in the best employer zone for a
company of its large size and diverse makeup.
The Company has been increasingly focused on delivering improved
customer experiences by putting customers first. For example, approx-
imately 1,600 senior leaders and management staff interacted for a day
with front-line team members to identify and address issues that are
having a negative impact on the customer experience. At the end of 2011,
69% of its customers said they were likely to recommend TELUS, up
seven points from one year earlier.
Going to the market as one team under a common brand,
executing a single strategy
In June 2011, the membership of the Telecommunications Workers Union
(TWU) ratified a new collective agreement that covers approximately
11,250 active TELUS team members across Canada in the Company’s
wireline and wireless business segments. The new agreement was
reached without labour disruption and will expire at the end of 2015. In
addition, the Company began collective bargaining for a Quebec region
agreement that expired at the end of 2011. See Section 10.4.
The discussion in this section is qualified in its entirety by the Caution
regarding forward-looking statements at the beginning of the MD&A.
Management confirms or sets new corporate priorities each year to
both advance TELUS’ long-term strategic priorities (see Section 2.2) and
address near-term opportunities and challenges. Corporate priorities are
key performance drivers that help achieve key performance measures quan-
tified by the Company’s public financial targets disclosed in Sections 1.4
to 1. 6 . Progress against the 2011 priorities is described below.
3KEY PERFORMANCE DRIVERS
A report on 2011 corporate priorities and an outline of 2012 priorities
Corporate priorities
2010 2011 (see the following table) 2012
Capitalize on the full potential of TELUS’ leading
wireless and wireline broadband networks
Enhance TELUS’ position in the small and
medium business market
Ensure TELUS delivers its future friendly
brand promise to clients
Continue to improve TELUS’ operational
efficiency to effectively compete in the market
and fund future growth
Increase TELUS team engagement and live
the culture of personal responsibility and
customer service.
Deliver on TELUS’ future friendly brand promise
to clients
Optimize TELUS’ leading wireless and wireline
broadband networks
Drive market leadership position in small and
medium business and healthcare markets
Continue to improve TELUS’ operational efficiency
to effectively compete and fund future growth
Raise TELUS team engagement to the next
level and continue to drive the philosophy of
“our business, our customers, our community,
our team, my responsibility.”
Deliver on TELUS’ future friendly brand promise
by putting customers first
Increase TELUS’ competitive advantage through
technology leadership
Drive TELUS’ leadership position in its chosen
business and public sector markets
Accelerate TELUS’ leadership position in
healthcare information technology
Strive to further improve operational efficiency
and effectiveness at TELUS
Build TELUS’ culture for sustained competitive
advantage.