Corporate social responsibility report
"As a Group we seek to operate responsibly and ethically in all areas of our business. We have a strong ethical belief in the way business should be conducted."
As a Group we seek to operate responsibly and ethically in all areas of our business. We have a strong ethical belief in the way business should be conducted and how employees should be treated. We have integrated social, environmental and ethical policies into the way we do business and how we interact with our stakeholders including our shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and local communities. The Chief Executive has Board responsibilities for matters relating to the Group’s culture and ethical policies, environmental matters and customer and employee issues. These matters are reviewed by the Board as part of its management of risk and maintenance of its core values is vital. The Board considers that it has sufficient information in order to be able to assess these risks.
Customers and suppliers
We seek to be honest and fair in our relationships with both customers and suppliers. AVEVA has relatively few preferred suppliers, and evaluates potential suppliers based on several factors including vendor policies, reputation and contractual terms and conditions.
We have a policy not to offer, pay or accept bribes or to accept substantial favours. We encourage our suppliers and customers to adopt the same principles to which we ourselves aspire.
We offer the highest level of support and continue to enhance our product offering to ensure our customers’ effective use of our software thus minimising waste and improving efficiency. The Group is committed to its customers and has dedicated support staff within its Group Solutions Centre to handle all support calls and capture customer feedback.
In addition to sponsoring a variety of industry trade shows, AVEVA hosted a number of customer focused events during the year, including the AVEVA Marine User Meeting (AMUM) in Shanghai, China, and the International Symposium for Engineering Information Technology (ISEIT), held in Berlin, Germany. As in previous years, these events provided a valuable industry forum to build relationships with the customer base and potential new customers, to obtain feedback on the product offering and to promote best practice in the use of our software.
Following on from the success of the ISEIT and AMUM conferences, AVEVA announced in 2010 an exciting change to their successful conference series with the introduction of the AVEVA World Summits. The new Summits will become AVEVA’s premier customer events held in multiple locations around the world. They will continue to focus on strategic business, industry and technology issues critical to the success of existing and future AVEVA customers.
Employees
The Group now has over 800 employees of whom over 500 are based overseas. 2009/10 saw a review of our growth strategy in the light of changes in the global economy and the refocusing of our investments which resulted in some job losses. Alternative options, including part-time working, retraining and career breaks, were offered to ensure that key skills were retained. Job losses were kept to a minimum so as not to damage the longer-term business goals.
We are dependent on the drive and commitment of our employees; they are our most important and valuable asset and key to our continuing success. We have continued to review the skills and experience needed to fill our critical roles and continue to recruit in certain areas. Retention and skill development is regularly reviewed by the Board as part of the risk management process.
We recognise that we must excel in the management of people and support employees to develop their careers within the Group, which assists towards maintaining a high level of morale. Staff turnover remains well below the industry norm and positive retention programmes are being developed by the Group HR team. Staff retention rate is a KPI which is monitored regularly and at 31 March 2010, the retention rate was 93% (excluding the impact of the redundancy programme which was completed in 2009) (2009 – 93%). We aim to be an employer of choice by:
aiming to recruit, train and develop high calibre people and helping them to subscribe to our values while continuing to grow the business in key areas;- providing clean, healthy and safe working conditions;
- being an equal opportunity employer and not tolerating any discriminatory actions or harassment of our employees; we are proud of the diverse nature of our workforce;
- recognising the requirement to provide facilities for disabled employees and taking all reasonable measures to meet any special needs an employee might have;
- encouraging fuel-efficient commuting through the provision of car share networks, cycle sheds, showers and changing facilities in the UK offices; and
- offering flexible benefits in the UK to allow employees to select benefits to suit their lifestyle, and an Employee Assistance Programme to provide independent support for a variety of both work and non-work related issues.
AVEVA will continue to review its benefits programme throughout the Group to ensure that valued and cost‑effective benefits are offered to all employees whilst remaining competitive. The Group’s employment policies are continuously under review and are aimed at meeting or exceeding the legislative requirements in the countries in which the Group operates. Wherever possible, these promote a considerate and flexible approach to work/life balance. As part of this, the Group continues to review and improve communication with employees and has conducted surveys and held forums with employees to gain their views on key issues.
Training and development
E-LearningIn support of the development and retention of staff, this year the Group launched E-Learning to all employees across the Group to enable them to access technical and generic training material. This is particularly suited to an employee base so widely spread across different locations.
This initiative includes bespoke training for new employees and information for specific groups such as graduates, managers, etc.
Central Induction ProgrammeOur successful Central Induction Programme has continued to be enjoyed by new recruits and proved very beneficial in providing information and a welcome to the Company. This is now being supplemented with the E-Learning programme and local induction plans. During the year over 50 new employees attended the courses hosted in Cambridge.
Management development training programmeManaging employees in a changing and demanding organisation with such diverse cultures and numerous locations brings a number of challenges. AVEVA has developed a training programme and a learning framework to provide support for the management team. The management development course has been extended to include different levels of management and is led by our internal Training and Development Manager.
Graduate training programmeThe AVEVA graduate training programme has now been extended to include graduates in our EMEA Sales Division and in 2010 will be extended further to include North America and non-R&D functions such as business strategy and sales. During the year an additional four new graduates were hired and will undergo a two year graduate training programme gaining experience from different disciplines in the Group.
Group-wide appraisal schemeDeveloping skills is important to individuals and to AVEVA – developing people helps move the Group forward and helps maintain the respect and reputation of our staff with our customers. The appraisal process therefore:
- ensures staff receive regular, constructive feedback on their performance;
- links job descriptions and individual objectives with AVEVA’s business plans; and
- sets and reviews personal skill development goals.
©ICRC/Ch. Von Toggenburg
©ICRC/Ch. Von Toggenburg
Health and safety
We have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure the safety and well being of all our employees whilst carrying out their duties on behalf of the Group and also to maintain a safe environment for customers and other visitors whilst on our premises. Health and Safety, Fire Safety and Electrical Safety audits are carried out on a regular basis. In the last twelve months we have had one RIDDOR reportable accident which resulted in no further action. As a global business, our employees undertake travel to many areas of the world to visit customers’ sites or to assist customers in the deployment and testing of our products. The Group regularly takes advice from the UK Foreign Office, the World Health Organisation and similar organisations concerning health and safety in the various regions where we operate (for example we regularly updated employees on advice this year relating to the H1N1 virus and provided additional precautions in the workplace to prevent the spread of infection).
Environment
As a developer of software the Company has no manufacturing facilities and therefore the Group is classed as “low impact” in environmental terms. The majority of sales are for software which is delivered electronically to customers. Our software products are created by very knowledgeable, talented individuals using computers and a variety of software development tools. There are no harmful chemicals or anything that could give rise to noxious waste employed in the process. We purchase energy saving screens which are MPR II and TCO 03 compliant. We have this year also had a survey carried out by the Carbon Trust to give us guidance on further adjustments we can make to cut down on our carbon footprint. We use third party recycling vendors to assist us with the disposal of computer hardware in an environmentally friendly manner. The Group actively undertakes recycling of waste products with printer toner, paper, cardboard and plastic recycled in many locations. We encourage employees to undertake recycling as much as possible.
Travel
We encourage and support environmentally considerate travel to work arrangements at all our principal office locations, according to local circumstances. At our Cambridge headquarters this includes encouraging employees to cycle to work, share car journeys or use public transport. There are a number of employees who take advantage of the excellent facilities for cyclists with staff encouraged to use these. International travel is important to support and promote our business worldwide. The level of international travel is monitored on a regular basis and ways to reduce travel investigated.
Video and web conferencing is utilised whenever practicable. Recent investments to our core IT infrastructure across the Group has enabled more effective communication/ collaboration and is expected to continue to improve operational efficiencies in the future.
Educational partnerships
Skills shortages continue to be a challenge in most engineering companies and it will take some time for the recent increases in the number of engineering students at universities and technical colleges to close the skills gap that currently exists. In recognition of this, and in addition to its own in-house graduate recruitment schemes, AVEVA actively supports the work of educational establishments and government bodies around the world to narrow the skills gap. The AVEVA Academic Initiative is a Group-wide programme whereby the Company:
- works with universities and technical institutes to promote the use of AVEVA products within undergraduate courses and postgraduate research projects;
- works with government agencies to re-skill engineers for employment in other disciplines; and
- works with engineering bodies to encourage school leavers to pursue careers in engineering.
The company provides both software and training support to enable engineering students to gain hands-on experience of the latest technologies and use these to undertake a variety of academic and practical projects directly applicable to the industries in which they will work.
In the 2009/10 financial year AVEVA provided support to:
Asia Pacific region:Over 30 universities, colleges and high schools in China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.
EMEA:More than 15 universities and colleges in Algeria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Americas:Seven universities, colleges and postgraduate institutes in North America and Canada.
In addition, AVEVA has donated in excess of $800,000-worth of engineering software and provided free, special training courses to US initiatives aimed at re‑skilling designers and engineers from the declining auto industry and upgrading the skills of piping designers re-entering the plant industry workforce.
AVEVA sees its Academic Initiative as a vital strategic investment that will bring long-term benefits to the engineering industries around the world.
Community involvement
The Group is involved in a number of charitable and good causes. The Group’s policy has been to continue to support local charities in the areas that we operate as well as a number of national and international charities. Employees are encouraged to participate personally in charitable and community activities with the Group also gift matching the efforts of employees who took part in the Chariots of Fire Charity Marathon, the Oxford to Cambridge Bike Ride and Red Nose Day.
During the past year we have donated £36,000 to a wide range of organisations as summarised below:
East Anglian Air Ambulance was founded in 2000. The charity provides 365 days a year air ambulance service for Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, which is 11% of the total area of England.
East Anglian Children’s Hospice (EACH)EACH supports families throughout their experience of caring for children with life‑threatening or life‑limiting illnesses.
Mid-Anglia General Practitioner Accident Service (MAGPAS)MAGPAS has provided emergency care in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough since 1971 and works in partnership with the East Anglian Air Ambulance and the East of England Ambulance Service Trust.
Arthur Rank HospiceArthur Rank Hospice provides specialist palliative care to people living throughout much of Cambridgeshire. The Hospice offers a safe, friendly and supportive environment for those affected by cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. The staff work to provide the best levels of end-of-life care to improve patients’ quality of life, while also supporting their relatives and carers.
HeadwayHeadway promotes understanding of all aspects of brain injury and to provide information, support and services to people with a brain injury, their families and carers.
Macmillan Cancer SupportMacmillan Cancer Support is a source of support, helping with all the things people affected by cancer want and need.
International Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, is a humanitarian organisation which aims to help those caught up in armed conflicts around the globe.
The Prince’s TrustThe Prince’s Trust, founded in 1976 by The Prince of Wales, has become the UK’s leading youth charity, offering a range of opportunities including training, personal development, business start‑up support, mentoring and advice.
The Outward Bound TrustThe Outward Bound Trust’s mission is to unlock the potential in young people through discovery and adventure in the wild.
Help for HeroesHelp for Heroes is a registered charity providing support to service men and women wounded in current conflicts.
Marie Curie Cancer CareMarie Curie Cancer Care provides free nursing care to cancer patients and those with other terminal illnesses in their own homes.