Introducing a new policy for Sustainable Excellence in HR Management

Interview with Bill Boyce, Corporate Human Resources Development Group Vice President

The new framework for implementing Corporate Responsibility in ST, defined by our new code of conduct, the Principles for Sustainable Excellence, is designed to help the company align its policies, processes and ultimately its action with evolving stakeholder and societal expectations. This is a gradual process that requires a systematic review of the policies and procedures that form our document hierarchy.

In 2006, as a result of the first phase of the review process, we identified a gap in our policies in the area of social responsibility and human rights. We realized that while the majority of our HR procedures and practices generally reflected the content of our Shared Values and Guiding Principles (our TQM heritage before Sustainable Excellence), there was no overarching policy explicitly defining the rules and guidelines necessary to ensure the full integration of human rights and employee well-being.

The objective we published in 2005 was to draft and publish a policy to fill this gap and this was done in 2006. The new policy, ‘Sustainable Excellence in Human Resources Management’ provides specific rules and guidelines in the following areas:

Human rights in the workplace

• No forced labour
• No child labour
• Freedom of Association and collective bargaining
• Equal opportunities
• Fair treatment

Workplace Environment

• Employee empowerment, engagement and continuous learning
• Working time
• Health & Safety
• Fair wages
• Security
• Responsible restructuring
• Protection of employee information

In addition to this, it requires all ST organizations worldwide to ensure that all relevant Local Operating Procedures are in place to support the new policy, including a formal procedure to manage and communicate to employees the channels available to report potential breaches of our code of conduct. This is the first concrete step to ensure that a consistent formal approach is adopted by all ST locations to address noncompliance reporting (to date this aspect has been largely decentralized).

Based on the reporting data that we collect and our detailed knowledge of the management of these areas, we were already confident in our overall management of social aspects, including human rights. However, this new document and the actions that it will give rise to will support us in going even further in communicating and integrating our Principles (first step Awareness; second step Integration). The next challenge for 2007 will be supporting all ST organizations in implementing the policy effectively and measuring and monitoring that effectiveness.

1		The Principles for Sustainable Excellence and the policies represent the intent of Top Management.
2		The Management Manuals and Addenda provide consistent information, both internally and externally related to Management Systems (e.g. the ST Quality Manual describes the common aspects of the quality Management System whilst the Addenda describe specificities). The key-process descriptions describe activities managed inside each key-process.
3		The Procedures define how activities are carried out. The 2 hierarchical levels of procedures are: • Corporate procedures (SOPs) • Local procedures (LOPs)
4		This level includes detailed working documents such as work instructions, specifications, drawings or quality plans.
5		Records are registrations of performed activities or results achieved.