Barclays 2013 Annual Report Download - page 129

4
Bringing the values to life
In 2013, more than 98% of colleagues attended Values and Behaviours
engagement sessions. In parallel, we have established a comprehensive
leadership development curriculum which integrates Values and
Behaviours into our learning programmes for Managing Directors and
all colleagues. For more detail see the People section on pages 86 to 88.
Further, we have trained 1,500 Values Leaders to champion our Values
and Behaviours across the bank. In July, we hosted an online values
forum, providing a direct opportunity for colleagues to voice their
opinion – over 29,000 posts were generated.
5
Monitoring progress
The Balanced Scorecard defines what we need to achieve over the next
five years to be well on the way to becoming the ‘Go-To’ bank. This
provides the framework and starting point for all colleagues when they
set their individual performance objectives, and colleagues will also be
assessed against how they live the values and behaviours. To inform
our broader understanding of areas where we can make improvements
we are using customer, colleague and other stakeholders surveys.
6
Code of conduct
We published our global Code of Conduct – ‘The Barclays Way’– in
October 2013. It outlines our way of working across our business
globally and will be refreshed annually. As of February 2014 more than
137,000 colleagues had attested to having read and understood the
Code and colleagues will be required to re-attest annually.
7
Board experience
Our stated objective is that approximately 50% of Non-Executive
Directors (NEDs) have financial services experience. Furthermore, we
now require that 25-33% of that 50% have directly relevant banking
experience and this has been a key factor for the appointment of new
NEDs. Over the last year we have appointed Wendy Lucas Bull, Mike
Ashley and Stephen Thieke, all of whom have significant directly
relevant banking experience, from a variety of sources. For further
detail see pages 83 to 85.
8
Non-Executive Directors
We updated the Charters of Expectations and NED appointment letters
in October 2013 to reflect an additional time commitment of 25-30
days p.a. for Chairmen of Board Committees above the average 30-36
days p.a. commitment for all NEDs. In order to facilitate NED
engagement with the business we have in place a programme to help
NEDs build a detailed understanding of specialist topics as well as a
NED Induction Programme, to allow new NEDs to meet business and
functional heads. For further detail see the Corporate Governance
section on page 52.
9
Board information
Revised Board paper guidelines were published in July 2013, and a
revised executive summary template was introduced in late 2013.
Together these require papers to be short, insightful and neutral,
present essential themes and help inform a robust debate. To support
this, Group functional teams have taken increased responsibility for
providing balanced and timely oversight of papers that business units
intend to present to the Board.
10
Cohesive executive team
We have established a Senior Leadership Group (top 150) to build
confidence, unity and collective ownership of our change programme.
To improve transparency of our most senior decision making, we tried
new and different formats for the Group Executive Committee in 2013.
For example, we opened up some sessions to include a broader group
of Senior Leaders as observers and participants. The Board reviews the
effectiveness of senior executives regularly on an informal basis and
formally through the Board Effectiveness Review annually. For more
information see page 58. Individual Group ExCo remuneration
recommendations take into account the ExCo members’ effectiveness.
11
Group Chief Executive Succession
The Board Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee
regularly reviews the Group CEO role profile and conducts an annual
review of the Group CEO succession plan. This Committee has
oversight for talent management and future leader succession
planning. Several talent receptions were held in 2013, to increase the
opportunity for meaningful interactions between NEDs and Senior
Leaders. For further detail see the Corporate Governance section on
page 75. All Group ExCo appointments in 2013 have considered both
internal and external candidates and 12/41 (29%) of Senior Leader
appointments were external.
12
Board coordination
We considered holding joint meetings of Board Committees to improve
collaboration and coordination; however, we concluded the most
efficient means of achieving this objective was cross participation. For
example, Wendy Lucas Bull sits on both the Barclays Africa Group
Limited Board and the Barclays Group Board. Excluding the Chairman,
nine of our NEDs sit on more than one Board Committee, with four
sitting on three or more Committees. Moreover, the Board Enterprise
Wide Risk Committee (BEWRC) comprises the Chairmen of each of the
other principal Board Committees, further enhancing coordination.
13
Board Committee for conduct, reputational and operational risk
The Board Conduct, Reputation and Operational Risk Committee
(BCRORC) was established in January 2013 to oversee the governance
of non-financial risk whilst the BEWRC takes a Group wide view of risks
and controls, to bring together in one place the entire financial and
non-financial risk profile of Barclays. For further detail on the mandate
of both Committees see the Corporate Governance section on pages
73 to 77.
14
Board effectiveness
The methodology and results of our 2013 Board annual effectiveness
review, facilitated by an independent third party are summarised on
page 58. The activities being undertaken to address recommendations
from prior years are presented on page 60 and progress against this
year’s objectives will be outlined in the 2014 Annual Report.
15
Shareholder interaction
The Chairman’s Corporate Governance report on page 52 provides
examples of how we have promoted open and effective
communication with shareholders, including our shareholder
communications guidelines which can be found on our website.
We are committed to the constructive use of the AGM and proactively
encourage shareholder participation, both through attendance and
voting. The 2013 Annual Report incorporates new elements to help
stakeholders navigate the regulatory and statutory disclosure
requirements, whilst providing insight and context to the long term
strategy and Purpose as defined by our Balanced Scorecard.
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