Aviva 2006 Annual Report Download - page 68

Aviva plc
Annual Report and Accounts 2006 64
Europe performance continued
Business review continued
Responsibility
Our ambition is simple: we want to be the world’s most trusted
savings, investment and insurance provider. This means that we
must always work to the highest standards of business conduct.
This sits at the heart of our approach to corporate social
responsibility (CSR).
We recognise there are multiple stakeholders in our CSR activities:
–Our shareholders, who wish to receive a return on their
investment, but also to be assured that the company is behaving
responsibly in how it operates
–Our customers, who rightly expect us to treat them fairly and to
be open and honest in the products and services we offer them
–Our staff, whose engagement and commitment to delivering
agreat service to our customers is key. They want to be treated
with respect at work and to feel proud of being a part of Aviva
–The communities in which we operate, and the suppliers and
organisations with which we work, who want us to be a
responsible employer and partner,thinking about the way
we do business and acting responsibly to the benefit of all.
This review seeks to set out how our CSR activities support
our overall business strategy while taking account of the views
of our different stakeholders.
We report our progress on CSR fully in a separate annual
CSR report, which is available online at www.aviva.com/csr.
CSR governance
We report annually in accordance with the FORGE management
and reporting guidelines, and respect the disclosure guidelines
issued by the Association of British Insurers.
In 2006 we established a Board CSR Committee, which met three
times during the year. It is chaired by Aviva’s senior independent
director, Wim Dik, and consists of Aviva’s chairman, three other
non-executive directors and the group chief executive. It is
responsible for CSR strategy and policy, and for reviewing the
progress of our CSR programme. The CSR Committee report can
be found on page 86.
We held an annual CSR review group meeting, bringing together
CSR representatives from our business units, partner non-
governmental organisations and external auditors. The review
group looks at performance, developments and best practice;
it exchanges ideas and initiatives and sets the direction for
the year ahead. A CSR steering group meets three times
ayear to review progress.
Employees and responsibility continued
iNew board CSR
committee
One of our chairman LordSharman’sfirst initiatives was
to demonstrate our commitment to corporate social
responsibility by creating a board CSR committee.
The committee comprises LordSharman, group chief
executive Richard Harvey and non-executive directors
Carole Piwnica, Guillermo de la Dehesa and is chaired
by Aviva’ssenior independent director, Wim Dik. The
CSR committee met three times in 2006 to provide
guidance and direction for the group’s CSR programme
and monitor its progress.
UFor moreinformation on our CSR programmes visit
www.aviva.com/csr
Developing a diversity strategy and programme has been an
important initiative during the past two years. Supported by Aviva’s
annual global employee climate survey, our diversity aims have been
integrated into our performance management process.
From January 2007, the CSR and diversity functions have been
combined into one CSR team with a wider remit. This team will
take the lead on a more comprehensive set of activities that form
our CSR agenda. The wider remit establishes clearer accountability
for the delivery of our CSR programme in one place.
To mitigate CSR risks, we have an established system of risk
management embedded into our business planning and
performance monitoring processes. Further details of this process
are contained in the internal controls section of the corporate
governance report.
Standards of business conduct
We are committed to conducting all aspects of our business to
rigorous ethical, professional and legal standards. We regardethical
practice as critical to responsible business and have put in place
measures to refresh regularly our employees’ understanding of
our standards of business conduct policy.
The policy is reinforced by specific measures to tackle the challenge
posed by financial crime. Wehave implemented policies that meet
the requirements of applicable legislation, regulatory guidance and
industry best practice regarding anti-money laundering, fraud
management and malpractice reporting worldwide.