Corporate responsibility
At the heart of the company’s approach to corporate responsibility is a focus on what is right for colleagues and customers, and the vision and values which underpin the company.
During 2008 the company undertook major exercises to listen to the views of colleagues around the world and piloted a new process for listening to the opinions of its customers. Both will be extended in 2009 to support the company’s vision to “be the best at what we do by doing what is right for colleagues and customers”.
In line with the company’s vision, while progress was made in 2008 in the areas of skills development, health and safety, customer service and sustainability, the company intends to place much greater focus upon these areas of corporate responsibility over the next three years.
In 2008, Rentokil Initial improved its position in Business in the Community’s “100 Companies that Count” corporate responsibility index and continued to be placed within the top ten business services companies within the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. The company’s Carbon Disclosure Project submission also achieved an above sector average performance.
Below are the company’s corporate responsibility key performance indicators:
| KPI | 2008 | 2007 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colleague engagement – Colleague engagement score (surveyed across Rentokil, Ambius, Specialist Hygiene and central functions) | 73.00% | 72.00% | +1.0% |
| CO2 emissions – Kilogrammes per employee (on a like for like basis) | 2,829.00 | 2,862.00 | -1.1% |
| Water consumption – Litres per kilogramme of textiles washed (on a like for like basis) | 13.74 | 14.40 | -4.6% |
| Work related accidents* – Reportable accident/ 1,000 full-time equivalents | 12.02 | 13.15 | -8.6% |
| Health and safety scorecard – % business units populating this management system | 93.00% | 76.00% | +22.4% |
*Work related accidents – RIDDOR reporting based on all UK businesses.
Rentokil Initial’s management approach to corporate responsibility matches action to local needs, while adhering to group-wide policies. Andy Ransom, the company’s Executive Director, Corporate Development, has board responsibility for corporate responsibility.
Since 1999 the company has had a broad range of corporate responsibility policies and in 2008 it revised its code of ethics. During 2009 the company intends to re-launch its core business principles in a code of conduct which colleagues will be expected to abide by in their daily dealings with all stakeholders. This will be supported by the development of functional “centres of excellence” within HR, finance, legal and IT which will provide group-wide functional support, systems and management processes.
The Corporate Responsibility Report 2008 is available on www.rentokil-initial.com. Highlights from each reporting area follow.
Back to topColleagues
Skills
As a service focused organisation the enhancement of colleagues’ skills remains an important priority for Rentokil Initial. This was exemplified by the company’s signing of the UK Government’s Skills Pledge in 2008. Since 2005 the company has delivered accredited training to over 1,500 UK-based employees across a wide range of training requirements including numeracy and literacy skills, customer service and administration.
Initial Facilities Services (IFS) has been the lead company for the development of NVQ and Skills for Life training. It provides its employees with a wide range of training schemes including:
- NVQ Level 2 and Level 3 – skills required for customer service, management and hospitality services;
- VRQ Level 2 – skills required for health and safety good practices, infection control and equality and diversity; and
- Skills for Life – helping to develop skills amongst the more disadvantaged of our workforce, including literacy and numeracy skills.
In the 12 months from March 2008, 606 employees within the IFS division took part in training which delivers a formal qualification such as NVQ. As part of this programme (undertaken with the Learning and Skills Council) a training needs analysis is undertaken for each business area. This identifies skills development and qualification requirements. The nature of IFS’s workforce, comprising a high percentage of migrant and low-skilled workers, means that providing these training courses directly benefits the business in achieving its commercial and service objectives, and supports the individual.
The Rentokil division is also acting to enhance the skill levels of its technicians. In the UK it is giving each technician a clear career pathway and new technical training programmes (aligned to the current industry qualifications offered by the British Pest Control Association) have been launched. 150 pest control employees were identified to participate in a Team Leadership NVQ, as part of the Skills Pledge.
During 2008 Rentokil Initial opened two new training facilities. First, a new Rentokil training facility which is the first of its kind in the UK pest control industry and teaches technicians the practical aspects of pest control in a controlled environment. Second, a new Facilities Services training centre was opened in Canary Wharf, London, which has specific training environments to cover the range of possible cleaning tasks, such as in hotels, kitchens, offices, washrooms and flooring. It also provides training for the potential hazards that may arise, such as cleaning skills for dealing with blood and body fluids and sewage cleaning.
Engagement
During 2008 the company extended its Your Voice Counts colleague engagement survey to over 9,000 employees, mainly in Rentokil and Ambius. It attracted an increased response rate of 94% and an improved overall colleague engagement score of 73%, up from 72% in 2007. There were significant improvements in scores across every major theme especially ‘visibility of leaders and trust in company’, ‘colleague enablement (e.g. tools)’, ‘communications’, and ‘interest in colleague well-being’. The survey will be extended across all divisions in 2009.
The company is also taking steps to support colleagues with practical advice during the tougher economic conditions. In 2008, Rentokil in the UK introduced financial skills workshops, supported by the country’s Financial Services Authority. These workshops were designed to deliver objective and simple financial advice, and improve employees’ overall financial capability by ensuring they are aware of a wide range of personal finance management matters. The programme was delivered to over 700 field-based employees in 56 locations supported by 42 FSA presenters.
Health and safety
Health and safety has always been of great importance to the company. In 2008, the company put in place plans to step up its commitment and add management focus and KPIs as part of its new operational plan starting in 2009. The intention is to ensure that health and safety performance is always at the heart of its approach to running each and every one of the operations.
This additional focus is supported by the new standard “scorecard” reporting system across the group which is designed to crystallise priorities and identify areas for improvement. By August 2008, 93% of business units reported on health and safety management systems and performance, allowing benchmarking and comparative performance for the first time.
Our “Success is no Accident” programme in the UK contributes to safety improvements, with reportable accidents (RIDDOR) falling by 8.6% to 12.02 (per 1,000 full-time equivalents) and providing data to help businesses to identify the causes of accidents and deal with them. The company is well on the way to rolling out the Success is no Accident system in countries where it can be effective to reduce the time lost through incidents and address the causes.
Back to topCustomers
Rentokil Initial’s main priority in 2008 was to support its customers through improved service provision as part of its company-wide “customer service and operational excellence” agenda. Across the company improvements were made by operating businesses, in particular City Link, Rentokil (UK and Australia) and Initial Washrooms (UK and Australia), where customer service had become a significant issue in the recent past.
As well as delivering service to the highest standards, Rentokil Initial continues to act responsibly towards customers by acting proactively ahead of potential regulatory changes. A recent example is the European Commission’s decision, resulting in Annex 1 listing for the non-anticoagulant rodenticide, Alphachloralose. This was significant for domestic pest control customers, ensuring availability of an effective product and removing potential environmental concerns.
Rentokil’s worldwide perspective enables identification of pest trends with significant customer impacts. For instance, increased travel is resulting in increased bed bug incidence in hotels. In 2007, Rentokil developed a customer’s guide for the hospitality industry, and, in 2008, held a very successful series of seminars for customers in Europe.
Customer satisfaction surveys continued across the European Initial Textiles and Washrooms division with over 2,000 customers responding in 17 countries (Initial Textiles in France has undertaken customer surveys for 20 years), as well as in Ambius USA and across Rentokil which tested the Net Promoter Score system.
From 2009 onwards, as part of the strategic plan, the company has introduced group-wide KPIs of customer retention, State of Service and customer satisfaction using Net Promoter Score which will be rolled out across all businesses.
Back to topEnvironment
Of great importance to colleagues and customers are the company’s sustainability activities which focus on reducing energy and water usage, and improving product stewardship. In compiling this year’s environmental data, the company has moved to an information system that is linked to its accounting system. As a result, the company has improved the quality of collection of energy usage data across the group. For 2008 the total emissions data is based upon operations representing over 90% of the company’s employee base.
Extended reporting now includes all fuel used by the company’s worldwide fleet of vehicles. Throughout the group, 70% of the fuel used in vehicles is diesel, and almost 100% in UK service vehicle fleet.
The company’s total CO2 emissions were 273 million kilogrammes. As a result of the extended reporting the 2008 figure includes additional emissions data that has skewed comparisons with the reported 2007 emissions of 264 million kilogrammes. Therefore to enable stakeholders to assess a realistic performance, the company has recalculated its CO2 emissions on a like for like basis, extracting those operations newly included as well as any operations that were included in last year’s reporting on the basis of estimates, but now for which accurate data is available.
On a like for like reporting basis, in 2008 Rentokil Initial decreased its emissions per employee from 2,862 to 2,829 kilogrammes – an improvement of 1.1% year-on-year.
Whilst total CO2 emissions showed a small year-on-year increase, this is the result of an increase in textiles production volumes overall of 3% and associated increase in gas consumption. As a guide, to take this increase into account, the normalised data of emissions per kilogramme of product washed in 2008 fell by around 2.5% compared with 2007.
CO2 emissions – European laundry plants – Million kilogrammes
Following the company’s investment in its European laundry processing facilities such as the new plant in Lokeren, the European laundry plants’ water consumption fell in 2008 by 4.6%. The benefit of investment in new processing facilities also supported the UK Washrooms business which is continually looking for process improvements and has already achieved a 6% increase in throughput of its new water efficient Revolution processing machinery. In addition, in development, a water recovery and re-use system will be introduced in early 2009. This system will serve to recover and re-use up to 80% of the waste water from the UK Washroom’s processing machinery, and reduce effluent discharge.
Water consumed – European plants (excluding UK) – Litres per kilogramme of textiles washed
Around the world, local initiatives are also supporting sustainable practices. Initial Hygiene in New Zealand has placed great importance on sustainability. As well as introducing Eco-Care hygiene products, it launched “Think Green, Live Green” to support World Environment Day. In the UK initiatives between the fleet management team and their supplier led to revised company vehicle choice, focused on lower emissions, and also provided driver communication to raise awareness of ways to reduce fuel consumption. Across the European pest control operations the company reviewed the chemicals it uses, involving over 400 substances, and ensured all were registered for use under the EU’s REACH directive ahead of the November 2008 deadline.
Back to topSupply chain
The responsible management of supplier relationships is an important focus for the company. In 2009, the company will reinforce responsible behaviour by re-launching the company’s business principles within a code of conduct. In the UK, management of supplier relationships will be further enhanced through the creation of a single procurement team with standard systems and management processes.
During 2008 Initial Textiles’ procurement department continued to ensure responsible supplier relationship management using World Ethical Audit standards together with OEKOTEX certification. This in turn provided customers with assurance of ethical sourcing practices.
Back to topCommunities
In 2008, Rentokil Initial employees participated in a wide range of activities to support their communities around the world. Community investment programmes continued in South Africa where colleagues supported people impacted by Aids/HIV and in Australia supporting Rainforest Rescue. The company also played its part in supporting people in China following the Sichuan earthquake.
In addition two major programmes commenced at a divisional level. Initial Textiles and Washroom Services launched a programme across Europe with Save the Children as part of the division’s support for the UN’s Year of Sanitation programme, while City Link launched a new programme where all employees participated in fund raising activities to provide support for the Chase children’s hospice.
The company’s charitable donations in 2008 amounted to £142,000.