BP 2013 Annual Report Download - page 52

BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 201348
We aim to ensure equal opportunity in recruitment, career development,
promotion, training and reward for all employees, including women; ethnic
minorities and different nationalities; lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people; those with disabilities; and people of all ages. Where
existing employees become disabled, our policy is to provide continuing
employment and training wherever possible.
Employee engagement
Executive team members hold regular town hall style meetings and
webcasts to communicate with our employees around the world.
Team meetings and one-to-one meetings are complemented by formal
processes through works councils in parts of Europe. We seek to maintain
constructive relationships with labour unions.
We conduct an annual engagement survey among our employees. In
2013 approximately 37,000 employees in more than 70 countries gave
their views on a wide range of business topics and to identify areas where
we can improve.
We measure how engaged our employees are with our strategic priorities.
The group priorities index is derived from 12 questions about employee
perceptions of BP as a company and how it is managed in terms of
leadership and standards. We saw continued improvement in 2013 with a
score of 72% (2012 71%, 2011 67%).
Business leadership teams review the results of the survey and agree
actions to address identified issues. In 2013, safety scores remained
strong and there was an increase in employees’ understanding of the
operating management system, an area of focus identified in the previous
year. While the survey showed an increase in employee confidence in
BP’s leadership, work is needed to further strengthen this.
Increasing oil production in Azerbaijan
Installing our ninth offshore platform in Azerbaijan, and eighth in the
Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field, involved local construction and
transportation of the heaviest structure ever installed in the Caspian Sea.
Thousands of people, mostly from Azerbaijan, contributed to the start-up
of the West Chirag platform in January 2014. For the first time in the
country’s history, the platform fabrication work was fully constructed in
Azerbaijan, making use of local infrastructure, resources and skilled labour.
Meeting the scale of the challenge meant that many facilities, including
the construction yard and installation vessels, had to be upgraded to make
the enormous construction works possible.
The $6-billion Chirag oil project is designed to increase our production and
recovery from the ACG field, and West Chirag has the capacity to produce
an additional 183,000 barrels of oil per day. The project was executed
without any day away from work cases recorded, demonstrating
dedication from everyone involved to maintain high safety standards.
We seek efficient ways to deliver projects on time and on budget.
Share ownership
We encourage employee share ownership. For example, through our
ShareMatch plan, which operates in more than 50 countries, we match
BP shares purchased by our employees. We operate a single company-
wide equity plan, which allows employee participation at different levels
globally and is linked to the company’s performance.
The BP code of conduct
The BP code of conduct sets the standard that all BP employees are
required to work to. It is based on our values and it clarifies the ethics
and compliance expectations for everyone who works at BP. The code
defines what BP expects of its people in key areas such as safety,
workplace behaviour, bribery and corruption and financial integrity.
Employees, contractors or other third parties who have concerns that
laws, regulations or the code of conduct may be breached, can get help
through OpenTalk, a helpline operated by an independent company. The
number of cases raised through OpenTalk in 2013 was 1,121 (2012 1,295,
2011 796). The increase in OpenTalk cases over the past few years is due,
in part, to initiatives to promote our code of conduct and speak up culture.
This is supported by high scores in our employee engagement survey
relating to employee understanding of the importance of speaking up. The
most common issues raised in 2013 related to the people section of the
code. This includes treating people fairly, with dignity and giving everyone
equal opportunity; creating a respectful, harassment-free workplace; and
protecting privacy and confidentiality.
In the US, former 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 2013, 113 employee dismissals
were reported by BP’s businesses for non-adherence to the code of
conduct or unethical behaviour. This excludes dismissals of staff
employed at our retail service station sites, for incidents such as thefts of
small amounts of money.
Following legal settlements with the US government in 2012, BP agreed
to retain an ethics monitor for a term of up to four years from 2013. The
ethics monitor will review and provide recommendations concerning BP’s
ethics and compliance programme (see page 39).
Policy on political activity
BP has a policy of not participating directly in party political activity as a
group or making any contributions to political candidates, whether in cash
or in kind. Employees’ rights to participate in political activity are governed
by the applicable laws in the countries in which we operate. For example,
in the US, BP supports the operation of the BP employee political action
committee to facilitate employee involvement and to assess whether
contributions comply with the law and are publicly disclosed.
Global business services (GBS) supports BP’s business processes across
the globe. Here, members of the family day organizing committee in
Malaysia prepare the registration booth.