Corporate responsibility report - Aegis Group plc Annual Report and Accounts 2011

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Governance / Responsible, responsive and transparent

The CR Steering Group met 5 times in 2011 to hold the CR Department and the Group to account on the progress and performance of Future Proof. Its remit is to uphold the highest governance standards around corporate responsibility and sustainability across Aegis.

Our governance approach is three-pronged:

–: recognising our corporate responsibility by taking a leadership position around the role of sustainability in media and marketing, from emissions to responsible advertising
–: showing responsiveness by proactively engaging with our internal and external stakeholders and responding to their comments and concerns
–: striving for transparency through disclosing the good and the bad news, and progressively disclosing more indicators to present a fuller picture of the value chain.

What went well?

–: In 2011, we were awarded the ICSA Hermes Transparency in Governance Award for Best Sustainability and Stakeholder Disclosure in the FTSE250. This reflects our commitment to being responsible, responsive and transparent in our CR reporting. The judges commented that Aegis was chosen not just for its clear explanation of progress made over the year but also for its honesty on a range of sustainability topics and related challenges regarding its Future Proof programme
–: We executed our first CR Audit Plan in 2011 in conjunction with Internal Audit and our external CR auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers. As part of our Compliance Certification process, compliance with internal policies such as the CR Reporting Policy and Charitable Donations Policy is assessed. More than 75% of our entities self-reported compliance on internal CR policies. In addition, the CR Department also executed detailed audit visits to assess compliance with the CR Protocol in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, United States and Canada. Whilst no substantial non-compliance was uncovered, recommendations for improvement were made
–: In 2011, CR risks were incorporated in the Group risk management process and the Global CR Manager became a member of the Group Risk Committee. This also led to a significant upgrade of risk identification and evaluation standards, using both Internal Audit as well as GRI guidelines on CR risks to review materiality in the CR Risk Register.

What did not go so well?

–: Whilst we engaged investors and investment companies on our sustainability progress, we have yet to approach clients, suppliers or vendors for feedback
–: Feedback from a range of internal and external stakeholders indicated that our short and medium term targets were not sufficiently monitored with KPIs to be able to be scrutinised and benchmarked appropriately.

2012 Target

We will increase compliance with internal CR policies and protocols to 85% of our business units.

We will achieve a GRI C+ for our CR reporting over 2012.

Long term targets – summary

	2015 Targets			Progress
	We will reduce our carbon footprint per average full-time employee by 20% by 2015.			We are on track to achieve this target. In 2011, we decreased our carbon footprint intensity by 8.6%.
	We will enable our stakeholders (suppliers, clients, vendors and consumers) to reduce their carbon footprint.			We are not yet on track to achieve this target. We have not yet developed, piloted and launched a global environmental initiative for our stakeholders.

	2015 Targets			Progress
	We will donate 1% of our employees’ time to charitable causes by 2015.			We are on track to achieve this target. In 2011, we increased the donation to 0.6% of our employees’ time.
	We will enable our stakeholders (suppliers, clients, vendors and consumers) to increase their community involvement.			We are not yet on track to achieve this target. We have not yet launched our GlobalGivingTIME initiative beyond our internal stakeholders.

	2015 Targets			Progress
	We will ensure that 90% of our practitioners receive training in client delivery tools incorporating community and environmental considerations.			We are on track to achieve this target. We completed the first iteration of the Green Thread in 2011 and are set for launch and implementation in 2012.

	2015 Targets			Progress
	We will ensure that 90% of our employees know what they can contribute to the Future Proof strategy in their roles by 2015.			We are on track to achieve this target. In 2011, our employee opinion survey, Global Check-in, indicated that currently 53% of our employees globally know what it takes for them to contribute to Future Proof.

	2015 Targets			Progress
	We will achieve a GRI A+ accreditation on our annual CR reporting by 2015.			We are on track to achieve this target. In 2011, our CR Risk Register was updated by undertaking materiality tests in line with GRI guidelines. We will separately publish our first GRI CR Report.

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