Bank of Montreal 2007 Annual Report Download - page 23

BMO Financial Group 190th Annual Report 2007 19
Managing and Acting Responsibly
Corporate Responsibility
Our Values
BMO’s corporate values represent our core beliefs.
They stand as our organizational commitment
to our colleagues, customers and shareholders,
and to the communities of which we are a part.
They guide our actions.
•We care about our customers, shareholders,
communities and each other.
•We draw our strength from the diversity
of our people and our businesses.
•We insist upon respect for everyone and
encourage all to have a voice.
•We keep our promises and stand accountable
for our every action.
•We share information, learn and innovate
to create consistently superior customer
experiences.
Employees
As we pursued our strategic imperatives in 2007 –Customer,
Growth and Pace –we also increased our emphasis on
making sure we have the very best people in the right roles
to deliver on our business goals. Our many best-in-class
Human Resources practices have enabled us to achieve the
highest-ever employee engagement score in our Annual
Employee Survey. The score was also extraordinarily high
compared to external benchmarks of other large industries
surveyed. All of this contributes to our reputation as an
“Employer of Choice.”
Talent Management and Diversity
Several new initiatives were also undertaken to improve the
way we select and develop our people and to improve our
practices for managing performance. At a time when the war
for talent has never been more challenging, our recruitment
strategies have been enhanced for both quality and speed.
Diversity is a key component of all our recruitment strategies
to ensure we excel at fulfilling the current and evolving needs
of all of our customers, in an ever-changing demographic
landscape. During 2007, BMO worked in partnership with
community organizations such as Jewish Vocational Service
of Metropolitan Toronto, the National Education Association of
Disabled Students and the Foundation for the Advancement
of Aboriginal Youth (FAAY) demonstrating our commitment as
an Employer of Choice. In 2008, we will continue to actively
partner with community and government agencies to recruit
talented people from the communities where we live, work
and do business, including groups who are under-represented
in our workforce. We are committed to developing new
opportunities through community outreach, bursaries, scholar-
ships and job placements to create a representative workforce
that supports the attainment of our strategic imperatives.
Conducting our affairs ethically and with integrity. Contributing to economic
well-being. Providing what is important to employees: fairness, equality,
diversity and opportunity. Encouraging environmental stewardship and
partnering for healthy, resilient communities. That’s how we practice corporate
responsibility at BMO. Why we do so is clear too. By being responsible to
all whose lives are touched by our business, we ultimately do what’s in the
best interests of our customers, employees, shareholders and communities.
In the following pages, we discuss three areas of corporate
responsibility –employees, community and environment –
that are of particular relevance to our stakeholders and our
company. For a broader account of our corporate responsibility
strategy and activities, please refer to our 2007 Corporate
Responsibility Report and Public Accountability Statement,
to be released in February 2008.