Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 7

throughout my charmanshp to engage
the Boards fully and actvely n ths process
In 2015 we were once agan reassured by
the robustness of the process and by the
ppelne of talent avalable nsde Unlever
A smlar emphass has been gven to the
dversty of talent – and n partcular to
gender balance – agan, wth great results
The proporton of women occupyng
management grades now stands at 45%
of the total, the hghest fgure n Unlever’s
hstory and up from 38% ust fve years
ago I am also proud to say that Unlever
contnues to lead the way among ts peers
at Board level, wth the proporton of female
Non-Executve Drectors n 2015 exceedng
50% for the frst tme
ENAEMENT
Throughout my charmanshp, the Boards
have looked to engage fully across the
roup and that was the case agan n 2015
We were pleased for example to spend tme
at Unlever’s state-of-the-art R&D faclty n
Trumbull, US where we saw at frst-hand
the hgh-qualty nnovatons beng
developed for the Personal are category
Whlst n the US, a number of Drectors
also vsted Slcon Valley to meet wth some
of Unlever’s global partners and to see
how we are antcpatng trends and usng
technology to better connect wth
consumers The Boards also spent tme
n Brussels engagng wth European Unon
(EU) polcy-makers on how to make the
EU a more attractve and compettve
envronment n whch to do busness
Over the years I have looked to engage
frequently and openly wth Unlever’s
shareholder base and that was repeated
n 2015 I met once agan wth prncpal
shareholders n Europe and the US and
dscussed wth them ssues related to
strategy and governance I was also
delghted to vst the Phlppnes and
Sngapore as part of Unlever’s annual
nvestor conference, where nvestors were
able to see some of the factors behnd the
strength and success of Unlever’s
operatons n South East Asa
I was also pleased to meet wth ndvdual
shareholders at our AMs n Aprl 2015
These were held for the frst tme at
Unlever’s offces n the Netherlands and
the UK Followng the success and
smplcty of hostng the AMs n-house,
we wll use the same venues agan ths year
Informaton on the AMs can be found
wthn the NV and PL AM Notces whch
wll be publshed n March 2016
EVALUATION
Followng the external Board evaluaton
n 2014, we used a smplfed nternal
evaluaton ths year Whlst we concluded
that overall the Boards contnue to operate
n an effectve manner, n ths VUA (volatle,
uncertan, complex and ambguous) world
we set the bar even hgher for ourselves
for 2016 n relaton to the knowledge we
must acqure as a Board and the rsk
assessments we must conclude
Each Board ommttee also performed
ts own self-evaluaton agan and agreed
on areas to enhance ts effectveness
further and these are descrbed wthn
each ommttee report
BOARD OMPOSITION AND
SUESSION
Durng my tenure as your harman,
we have sought to fnd people wth
relevant sklls and experence to make a
dfference to the Boards’ dscussons Our
thorough processes dentfed three new
Non-Executve Drectors n 2015 and I was
delghted to welcome Nls Andersen,
Vttoro olao and Judth Hartmann durng
the year They have further strengthened
the dgtal expertse, fnancal and ndustry
experence of the Boards Ann Fudge
became the Vce-harman and Senor
Independent Drector followng Kees
Storm’s retrement at the 2015 AMs
LOOKIN AHEAD
Even though the tough tradng condtons
are lkely to reman for some tme to come,
the Boards have full confdence n the
strategy Unlever s followng and n the
hgh calbre of ts executve leadershp and
management team The progress Unlever
has made over recent years leaves t well
placed to go on delverng consstent top
and bottom lne growth On behalf of the
Boards I would lke to thank all of
Unlever’s 169,000 employees for ther
efforts, energy and the successes that you
wll read about n ths Strategc Report
Mchael Treschow
harman
ONTINUIN TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE
LONTERM ROWTH FOR SHAREHOLDERS
OVERVIEW
Despte another year of tough economc
condtons, 2015 once agan saw the delvery
of consstent, compettve, proftable and
responsble growth, a trend that has now
been frmly establshed at Unlever
Over my tenure Unlever has undergone
sgnfcant change The portfolo strategy
has been sharpened and adapted n order
to ncrease Unlever’s presence n faster
growng and more proftable segments of
the market Innovatons have been made
bgger and stronger and many more brands
have been ntroduced successfully nto new
markets, most recently n 2015 wth the
launch of Lux n the Phlppnes
The step-up n performance that has
followed these changes has been founded
on a much clearer operatng model and
a streamlnng of the organsatonal
structure, whch together have helped to
generate the funds for growth whle also
resultng n sgnfcantly hgher levels of
operatonal dscplne and servce delvery
Increased nvestments have been made n
plant, product qualty and nformaton
technology n order to modernse Unlever’s
essental nfrastructure and support
growth over the longer term
The ntroducton of an nsprng msson n
2010 n the form of the Unlever Sustanable
Lvng Plan (USLP) has contrbuted to
busness success, wth Unlever’s
Sustanable Lvng brands growng at a
faster rate than the rest of the roup
Employee engagement has also rsen
steadly snce the ntroducton of the USLP
and Unlever s now regularly recognsed
as one of the world’s most admred and
sought-after employers
The Boards were pleased n 2015 to
see Unlever further ts commtment to
sustanable and equtable growth under the
USLP by becomng the frst ever company
to publsh a detaled, stand-alone Human
Rghts report under the framework set
down by the UN udng Prncples on
Busness and Human Rghts
A key element n the enhanced performance
of the roup over ths perod has been a
steady mprovement n the strength and
depth of Unlever’s senor management
Leadershp development, talent
management and successon plannng
have all been prortsed n pursut of ths
obectve and I have been pleased
4Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015Strategic Report
HAIRMAN’S STATEMENT