Unilever 2014 Annual Report Download - page 14

DESRIPTION OF RISK WHAT WE ARE DOIN TO MANAE THE RISK
TALENT
A skilled workforce is essential for the continued success
of our business.
Our ablty to attract, develop and retan the rght number of
approprately qualfed people s crtcal f we are to compete
and grow effectvely
Ths s especally true n our key emergng markets where there
can be a hgh level of competton for a lmted talent pool The loss
of management or other key personnel or the nablty to dentfy,
attract and retan qualfed personnel could make t dffcult to
manage the busness and could adversely affect operatons and
fnancal results
Resource commttees have been establshed and mplemented
throughout our busness These commttees have responsblty
for dentfyng future sklls and capablty needs, developng career
paths and dentfyng the key talent and leaders of the future
We have an ntegrated management development process whch
ncludes regular performance revews underpnned by a common
set of leadershp behavours, sklls and competences
We have targeted programmes to attract and retan top talent
and we actvely montor our performance n retanng talent
wthn Unlever
SUPPLY HAIN
Our business depends on purchasing materials, efficient
manufacturing and the timely distribution of products
to our customers.
Our supply chan network s exposed topotentially adverse
events such as physical disruptions, environmental and industrial
accidents or bankruptcy of a key supplier which could impact
our ability to deliver orders to our customers.
The cost of our products can be significantly affected by the cost
of the underlying commodities and materials from which they
are made. Fluctuations in these costs cannot always be passed
on to the consumer through pricing.
We have contingency plans designed to enable us to secure
alternative key material supplies at short notice, to transfer
or share production between manufacturing sites and to use
substitute materials in our product formulations and recipes.
These contingency plans also extend to an ability to intervene
directly to support a key supplier should it for any reason find itself
in difficulty or be at risk of negatively affecting a Unilever product.
We have policies and procedures designed to ensure the health
and safety ofour employees and the products in our facilities, and
to deal withmajor incidents or crises including business continuity
and disaster recovery.
Commodity price risk is actively managed through forward buying
oftraded commodities and other hedging mechanisms. Trends are
monitored and modelled regularly and integrated into our
forecasting process.
SAFE AND HIH QUALITY PRODUTS
The quality and safety of our products are of paramount
importance for our brands and our reputation.
The risk that raw materials are accidentally or maliciously
contaminated throughout the supply chain or that other product
defects occur due to human error, equipment failure or other
factors cannot be excluded.
Our product quality processes and controls are comprehensive,
from product design to customer shelf. They are verified annually,
and regularly monitored through performance indicators that drive
continuous improvement activities. Our key suppliers are externally
certified and the quality of material received is regularly monitored
to ensure that it meets the rigorous quality standards that our
products demand.
In the event of an incident relating to the safety of our consumers
or the quality of our products, incident management teams are
activated in the affected markets under the direction of our product
quality, science, and communications experts, to ensure timely and
effective market place action.
SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION
Unilever’s operations are increasingly dependent on IT systems
and the management of information.
We interact electronically with customers, suppliers and consumers
in ways which place ever greater emphasis on the need for secure
and reliable IT systems and infrastructure and careful management
of the information that is in our possession.
Disruption of our IT systems could inhibit our business operations
in a number of ways, including disruption to sales, production and
cash flows, ultimately impacting our results.
There is also a threat from unauthorised access and misuse of
sensitive information. Unilever’s information systems could be
subject to unauthorised access or the mistaken disclosure of
information which disrupts Unilever’s business and/or leads to
loss of assets.
Hardware that runs and manages core operating data is fully
backed up with separate contingency systems to provide real
time back-up operations should they ever be required.
We maintain a global system for the control and reporting of
access to our critical IT systems. This is supported by an annual
programme of testing of access controls.
We have policies covering the protection of both business
and personal information, as well as the use of IT systems and
applications by our employees. Our employees are trained to
understand these requirements.
We have standardised ways of hosting information on our public
websites and have systems in place to monitor compliance with
appropriate privacy laws and regulations, and with our own policies.
51Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2014 Governance