BT 2016 Annual Report Download - page 30

34 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2016
Gender is only part of the story. Our aim is to create an inclusive
culture that values all dierences in people. Research shows
that diverse teams are more innovative and can deliver a better
experience to an equally diverse customer base.
This year we’ve focused on Inclusive Leadership training for
senior management teams, specific programmes around working
patterns and promoting our
#bettertogether culture. The Race at
Work report we sponsored with Business in the Community will set
the direction for development programmes for our employees from
black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
We are a ‘Two Ticks’
a employer and we actively encourage the
recruitment, development and retention of disabled people. We’ll
automatically put an applicant with a disability or long‑term health
condition, who meets the minimum criteria for a vacancy, through
to the first stage of a recruitment process. We’re making progress
on improving diversity but we recognise that there is a lot more
we need to do.
Staying safe and well
We’re committed to having no avoidable health and safety
incidents. The 11% reduction in the rate of lost time due to injury
brings us to our lowest‑ever level. However, some of our activities
are inherently hazardous and the risks, particularly in external
engineering, remain challenging to manage. We’ve accepted
some localised and historic failures raised by the Health and Safety
Executive. We’ve done a lot to mitigate the risks highlighted and
we still compare well with industry benchmarks.
We haven’t done as well as we wanted on some indicators. Our
sickness absence rate has risen by 5%, driven mainly by increasing
levels of musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. We’ve
measured our people’s sense of wellbeing for some time. The
long‑term improvements we’ve seen were broadly at this year,
with a small increase of 0.5%. The pattern of sickness absence
and wellbeing varies across the group and is strongly linked to the
level of change taking place within a particular business area. We
see the best results where changes have been well managed with
a style that takes account of people’s perceptions. We’re sharing
best practice on managing change across the lines of business and
through the Academy.
We continue to focus on early intervention when people are sick or
injured. Our company‑funded schemes helped get 91% of people
treated back into their role on full duties.
Volunteering
66%
Inspire two-thirds of our people
to volunteer some of their time
Our 2020 ambition
Our people can use up to three working days a year on
volunteering activities. As well as having a positive impact on
society, our employee engagement survey (see page 33) shows
higher engagement levels from those who volunteer than from
those who don’t.
Some people choose to help charities with particular issues
needing their expert input and knowledge. Others use their
energy and enthusiasm to make a practical dierence in their local
communities. That includes helping our tech literacy programme
and promoting traineeships.
This year over 27% of our people spent nearly 45,000 days
volunteering their time to support charities and community groups
around the world. BT volunteers were involved in raising £8.5m for
Children In Need and £2.9m for Sport Relief.
The EE business shares our passion for making a dierence. It
supports several charities through volunteering such as ‘Apps for
Good’, in which young people use new technologies to design and
make products that can make a dierence to their world, gaining
confidence and skills at the same time. Our combined contributions
will benefit good causes in the years ahead.
Pay and benets
We compare pay and benefits for our people with companies
of similar size and complexity to ensure our remuneration is
competitive.
In the UK, most of our engineering and support people are
paid on terms and conditions negotiated through collective
bargaining with our recognised trade unions, ensuring fair terms
and conditions for all. Our managers’ pay and any bonuses are
determined by a combination of business performance and their
personal contribution to the company.
Our executives may also receive long‑term awards to reward the
creation of shareholder value. The amount they ultimately receive
is determined by the group’s performance over a three‑year period.
Executive directors must retain incentive shares for a further two‑
year period.
In line with our regulatory obligations, incentives for people
in Openreach are tied solely to a combination of personal
contribution and Openreach’s performance, rather than that
of the wider group.
We support our people by providing a range of retirement savings
plans. In the UK, our main defined benefit scheme is the BT
Pension Scheme and our defined contribution scheme is the BT
Retirement Saving Scheme. You can read more about these on
page 107.
Sharing in success
Almost 60% of our people take part in one or more of our savings‑
related share option plans (saveshare), which operate in over 25
countries. In August 2015, almost 13,000 people in our 2010
saveshare plan were able to buy shares at 104p, representing an
average gain of around £10,000 each.
Our networks and
physical assets
Our networks, platforms and IT systems are the
foundations of the products our customers rely
on around the world.
Network platforms
Our global reach
Our global network provides service to 180 countries and is
supported by in‑country networks and infrastructure. Most
of our network assets are in the UK and continental Europe.
We continue to selectively expand the reach of our network to
support multinational companies in other regions. And we use
the expertise we gain from protecting BT’s own networks, to
help secure our customers’ networks.
a Two Ticks is an accreditation that is given to organisations that are committed to employing
disabled people.