Philips 2009 Annual Report Download - page 77

Female executives
as a % of total
12
9
6
3
0
5
2005
6
2006
8
2007
10
2008
10
2009
Overall, the 593 Philips executives at year-end
represented more than 30 nationalities and the
percentage of executives with BRIC nationality stood at
5%.
Moreover, 23% of our top potentials and 29% of our high
potentials were female in 2009. The percentage of top
potentials with BRIC nationality stood at 10%, with high
potentials at 17%.
Developing our people
With nearly 5,500 employees participating in programs in
our Core Curriculum during 2009, enrollment decreased
compared with 10,000 the previous year. Functional Core
Curricula enrollment was some 11,000 in 2009, an
increase from 8,664 in 2008. The overall decrease is a
result of travel restrictions partly offset by intensified
web-based training courses and “virtual class-room”
trainings. Almost 43,000 employees participated in
‘Leading to Win’ training in 2009.
In 2009, our Inspire program for high potentials facilitated
the completion of 24 project assignments. Top potentials
in the Octagon program completed eight projects.
In the face of the economic downturn, participation in our
curriculum of internal and external programs for
executives reduced compared to 2008.
General Business Principles
The Philips General Business Principles (GBP) are central
to how we operate, enabling us to maintain an ethically
responsible attitude in all countries and cultures. To meet
challenges in a changing world, we update our policies and
directives as well as GBP training and communications
programs. The global One Philips Ethics hotline seeks to
ensure that alleged violations are registered and dealt with
consistently within one company-wide system.
From Whistleblower Policy to GBP Reporting Policy
The Philips Whistleblower Policy was updated in 2009
based on a benchmark study and advice from outside
experts. Our policy has been renamed the GBP Reporting
Policy to avoid any possible negative connotations related
to ‘whistleblowing’. Additional changes include:
• More clearly defined reporting channels for reporting:
our GBP Compliance Officers and One Philips Ethics
Line.
• Employees are more strongly encouraged to first
discuss issues with management.
• Indication of preference for more specific grievance
channels if available.
Updated global privacy framework
We added two additional sets of Privacy Rules to our
global privacy framework as part of the General Business
Principles: The Privacy Rules for Employee Data and the
Privacy Rules for Customer, Supplier and Business
Partner Data. These Rules specify the privacy principles
defined in the Philips Privacy Code by requiring certain
rules and procedures to be followed with regard to data
privacy in Philips, if necessary in addition to applicable legal
requirements. The Privacy Rules are intended to function
as ‘Binding Corporate Rules’ for Philips as defined by the
European data protection regulators, thus creating a ‘Safe
Haven’ for personal data in Philips globally. The roll-out of
the new Privacy Rules is coordinated by the Philips Global
Privacy Council, in which Consumer Lifestyle, Lighting and
Healthcare, as well as several corporate functions and
countries are represented.
Updated GBP Directives
The updated edition of the GBP Directives was adopted
by the Board of Management in December, for worldwide
launch as of January 2010.
Improving communication
In March 2009 we rolled out a GBP communication and
awareness toolkit to the Country Compliance Officers
and local communication staff. Materials can be further
localized and communicated with relevant cultural and
business/functional examples.
Ongoing training
In 2009 an updated and refreshed version of the global
web-based business ethics training tool was developed in
23 languages for Philips employees with an internet/
intranet account. Employees without internet access will
be provided with classroom training in their local
language. The first phase of implementation was
4 Our group performance 4.3.8 - 4.3.8
Philips Annual Report 2009 77