Aviva 2007 Annual Report Download - page 70
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Please find page 70 of the 2007 Aviva annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.Aviva plc
Annual Report and
Accounts 2007
Business review continued:
Employees and responsibility continued
66
Business
review
Employees and responsibility
Aviva’s ambition is to be the world’s most trusted savings,
investment and insurance provider and we will achieve this
in part by exciting our people to exceptional performance.
This, then, is our goal as we deliver on our employee and
responsibility agenda and strive to meet the expectations
of our stakeholders:
– 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 Aviva to treat
them fairly and to be open and honest in the
products and services we offer them
– Our employees, whose engagement and
commitment to delivering a great service to our
customers is essential
– The communities in which we operate, and the
suppliers and organisations with which we work,
who want Aviva to be a responsible employer and
partner, thinking about the way we do business and
acting responsibly to the benefit of all
Governance
Governance of our people and CSR agenda operates
at Board level through regular updates and reviews
and, in particular, through the activity of the Board
Committees on CSR and Remuneration. The reports
of both these committees can be found on pages 92
and 93 respectively.
John Ainley, group human resources director,
is responsible for implementing the employee and
responsibility strategy and is supported by strong teams
at the group, regional and business unit level who work
together to deliver our objectives. Apart from regular
monthly meetings and global task forces, annual global
conferences are organised for this community to network,
exchange best practices, review progress and agree on
the collective agenda for the organisation.
In 2007, substantial work was undertaken to identify
the risks in implementing the CSR, environment and
people policy. In alignment with the group risk management
process, we have established means to identify risks
and mitigating actions through a robust set of metrics.
In 2008 we will continue to embed these new policies
as well as strengthening the risk assessment process.
Talent management
Managing our employee talent
is fundamental to the success of
Aviva. Our “Talking Talent” process
was piloted amongst the group’s
senior managers in 2007 and will
be rolled out globally across Aviva
in 2008 and 2009. Talking Talent is
underpinned by a shared belief that
all of our people have talent that
can be harnessed to the benefit
of our customers. It is therefore
in our interest that we understand
those talents using a consistent
framework and then deploy our
employees in the right jobs at the
right time.
People
We employ some 57,000 people worldwide. In 2007 we
put in place a new regionalised structure comprised of the
UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and North America. Together with
our group centre function, the strategy to create a lean,
activist group centre and empowered regional teams is
now operational, encouraging growth, the sharing of
best practices and the achievement of regional business
objectives and synergies.
To help set up the new structure, there were a
number of moves amongst our senior people in 2007
creating a better balance of talent across the group.
In all circumstances where we undertake major structural
change we seek to minimise the number of compulsory
redundancies through voluntary turnover and
redeployment. Where unavoidable redundancies
take place we provide support to affected employees
through outplacement services and job search assistance.
Further details are provided on aviva.com/csr.
In 2007, we conducted extensive research through
focus groups into our employees’ experiences of working
for Aviva to help us understand what Aviva meant to
them as an employer. The findings from this exercise are
now being worked into an employment brand strategy,
enabling us to attract and retain talent in highly competitive
markets. We are also providing business units with practical
tools to bring the employment brand to life locally.
The quality of people leadership will be critical
in delivering on our plans. In 2007 we developed a
leadership feedback tool which we will roll out across
the group in 2008 and 2009. The tool is for use by
anyone with line management responsibility, recognising
the importance of the line management relationship
in employee engagement, and has been successfully
piloted in 2007.