BP 2008 Annual Report Download - page 50

BP Annual Report and Accounts 2008
Performance review
Communications with employees include magazines, intranet sites,
DVDs, targeted emails and face-to-face communication. Team meetings
are the core of our employee consultation, complemented by formal
processes through works councils in parts of Europe. These
communications, along with training programmes, are designed to
contribute to employee development and motivation by raising
awareness of financial, economic, social and environmental factors
affecting our performance.
The group seeks to maintain constructive relationships with
labour unions.
‘Pulse’ surveys conducted in 2008 among samples of employees
indicated that BP’s safety culture is growing but that overall satisfaction
levels have fallen. The surveys also revealed that more work needs to be
done to ensure all employees fully understand what they need to do to
deliver sustainable high performance.
We continue to make significant efforts to communicate the
intent and progress of the forward agenda to reduce the potential
negative impacts of this change on the business. We have moved quickly,
but our management of change practices keep the focus on safety and
ensure that the changes are sustainable. These improvements are
expected to continue in 2009, but we have already delivered material
reductions in activity, cost and headcount.
The code of conduct
We have a code of conduct designed to ensure that all employees
comply with legal requirements and our own standards. The code defines
what BP expects of its people in key areas such as safety, workplace
behaviour, bribery and corruption and financial integrity. Our employee
concerns programme, OpenTalk, enables employees to seek guidance
on the code of conduct as well as to report suspected breaches of
compliance or other concerns. The number of cases raised through
OpenTalk in 2008 was 925, compared with 973 in 2007.
In the US, former US district court judge Stanley Sporkin acts
as an ombudsperson. Employees and contractors can contact him
confidentially to report any suspected breach of compliance, ethics
or the code of conduct, including safety concerns.
We take steps to identify and correct areas of non-compliance
and take disciplinary action where appropriate. In 2008, 765 dismissals
were reported by BP’s businesses for non-compliance or unethical
behaviour. This number excludes dismissals of staff employed at our
retail service station sites, for incidents such as thefts of small amounts
of money.
BP continues to apply a policy that the group will not participate
directly in party political activity or make any political contributions,
whether in cash or in kind. BP specifically made no donations to UK or
other EU political parties or organizations in 2008.
Social and community issues
Contributing to communities
We aim to make a difference in the communities where we operate in a
manner that brings benefits to BP as well as the local society. Investment
in education, for example, promotes sustainable development as well as
providing skilled workers for BP and other companies. Support for local
enterprise drives economic growth as well as helping local companies
qualify as our suppliers.
BP operates in a diverse range of locations with varying levels
of economic and national development. We contribute to communities
in ways that are relevant to local circumstances, and which offer
opportunities for mutual benefit to our business. Given the scale of our
business, our impact often reaches beyond the local community to the
national and, in some cases, the international level.
We support education because it creates opportunities for
communities, while at the same time providing skills that are critical
to BP business and the wider industry. Our interventions in education
are diverse and wide-ranging. We help fund a range of educational
programmes, from early years learning to advanced university research,
building skills and capability in communities as well advancing knowledge
on issues such as climate change and effective economic management
of natural resource rich countries. In further and higher education, a major
driver for our involvement is the need to encourage more people to
develop the particular skills needed for the energy industry. In supporting
school education, BP looks to develop children’s awareness of links
between energy and the environment as well as stimulating interest in
science and engineering. In addition to its investment in the formal
learning system, BP supports public education on specific pressing social
issues when there is a particular need within a local community.
Through training and financing programmes, BP seeks to support
the development of local suppliers by building their skills, sharing internal
standards and practice and stimulating business development. This
enables greater participation in the supply chain by local business and
greater competitiveness overall.
We support several initiatives designed to promote the
effectiveness of natural resource led national development. Through
the support of the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich
Economies, we seek to improve the understanding of the development
challenges and policy options available to emerging economies that are
rich in natural resources such as oil and gas. We remain a member of the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which supports the
creation of a standardized process for transparent reporting of company
payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining.
In the US, amongst various other initiatives in 2008, we
provided more than $17 million to assist with relief and recovery
efforts for the wider community following Hurricanes Ike and Gustav
in the Gulf of Mexico.
We make direct contributions to communities through community
programmes. Our total contribution in 2008 was $125.6 million. This
included $0.2 million contributed by BP to UK charities. The growing
focus of this is on education, the development of local enterprise and
providing access to energy in remote locations.
In 2008, we spent $59.5 million promoting education, with
investment in three broad areas: energy and the environment; business
leadership skills; and basic education in developing countries where we
operate large projects.
Essential contracts
BP has contractual and other arrangements with numerous third parties
in support of its business activities. This report does not contain
information about any of these third parties as none of our arrangements
with them are considered to be essential to the business of BP.
Property, plants and equipment
BP has freehold and leasehold interests in real estate in numerous
countries, but no individual property is significant to the group as a
whole. See Exploration and Production on page 17 for a description of
the group’s significant reserves and sources of crude oil and natural gas.
Significant plans to construct, expand or improve specific facilities are
described under each of the business headings within this section.
Organizational structure
The significant subsidiaries of the group at 31 December 2008 and to the
group percentage of ordinary share capital (to the nearest whole number)
are set out in Financial statements – Note 46 on page 175. See Financial
statements – Notes 26 and 27 on pages 140 and 141 respectively for
information on significant jointly controlled entities and associates of
the group.
Performance review
49