Guiding Principles
Our Guiding Principles describe the organisation we are and the organisation we want to be. They represent the common values at the heart of our success:
Strength from Diversity reflects our cultural mix and a working environment that respects employees’ individual differences. It also reflects our vision of harnessing diversity - of people, cultures, viewpoints, brands, markets and ideas - to create opportunities and strengthen performance. We are interested in what makes you unique.
Open Minded reflects our openness to change, opportunities and new ideas, including ways of addressing regulatory issues and changing social expectations. We seek to listen without prejudice, actively and genuinely considering other viewpoints.
Freedom through Responsibility describes how we make decisions - as close to the consumer as possible – and affirms our belief that decision-makers should accept responsibility for their own decisions.
Enterprising Spirit has been a characteristic of our business for over a century. It is reflected in our ability to grow our business and its value within challenging environments, with the confidence to seek out opportunities for success, to strive for innovation and to accept considered risk-taking as part of doing business.
We take our corporate values very seriously. On an ongoing basis, we workshop these within our teams, to define the behaviours that we believe we should exhibit to best reflect our value
Employment principles
Like all major international companies, we take our employment policies and procedures very seriously. Our Employment Principles cover topics such as:
- Equality of opportunity and non-discrimination;
- Internal communications and the free flow of ideas;
- Worker representation and freedom of association;
- Fairness at work and the unacceptability of harassment and bullying;
- That we do not condone or employ child labour;
- That forced or bonded labour is completely unacceptable;
- Performance responsibility;
- Health, safety and environmental responsibility;
- Community contributions and skills development for employees and communities in markets where our companies operate;
- Personal development and learning;
- Reasonable working hours and family friendly policies;
- Fair, clear and competitive remuneration and benefits.
While each of our Group companies must take account of local labour law and practice and their local political, economic and cultural context, they are all committed to these Employment Principles and are required to demonstrate that they are embedding them in the workplace.
Our audit process also monitors that our companies are encouraging their key suppliers to meet similar standards
