Man Group plc - Corporate Responsibility Report 2007

Looking In: Verification and assurance perspective
When we asked The Virtuous Circle to accredit this report, we anticipated we would gain added value from their experience of working with other clients in their development of corporate responsibility programmes. Their formal accreditation commentary is included below. Here we asked Tony Hoskins and Martin Batt about their observations on our processes in our development of Man Group’s corporate responsibility strategy and implementation.

When you started working on this project, what were your expectations?
TH: Last year’s report showed us that Man had made a good start in a number of important areas of corporate responsibility, particularly in the way they had documented the whole area in their very thorough Corporate Responsibility Manual, which in a very welcome move, they had placed on their website. We felt they still needed to put in place a number of activities such as engagement with stakeholders, and defining their key performance indicators.

What surprised you during the course of this project?
MB: I’ve been very impressed with the depth and quality of Man’s approach to their carbon programmes, particularly the way they have involved their employees. They have clearly prioritised their key corporate responsibility risks in the people and marketplace areas, and this year they have focused their data collection and reporting on these topics with a great deal of energy. They are starting to embed corporate responsibility across the business, within a very short timeframe.

What would you see as Man’s most significant achievements this year?
TH: From the People perspective, there’s no doubt that the biggest win has been the Global Employee Survey, undertaken for the first time in 2007. This produced a wealth of actionable data (together with a strong endorsement of the company). The challenge for management will be to show how they are responding to the main issues emerging. But very few companies go public with this sort of data, and Man’s decision to place the results on the website demonstrates their commitment to transparency, and their intentions to respond to their employees’ comments.

MB: In spite of the difficulties in gathering data from a global company with a range of different sized operations, the Corporate Responsibility team has been able to improve its corporate responsibility data collection significantly, especially in terms of energy consumption. This process will improve next year, as the PeopleSoft system becomes the dominant HR data source. There is a commitment to improve data gathering in the other areas, too.

What do you consider to be some of Man’s corporate responsibility strengths?
TH: As we reviewed the range of activities, including the underlying processes, we’ve both identified that the commitment from the top of the company (which is clear to everyone we have interviewed at Man) has been a significant strength in this past year.

MB: A major platform in ensuring this commitment from the top has been Man’s risk management programme, which demonstrates the relationship of corporate responsibility to the company’s position and reputation in the marketplace. We have gained the impression that, whilst for many companies in their field, this is compliance driven, Man has gone beyond this level to ensure it is an integrated part of their management process. The real corporate responsibility insight that Man has made is its appreciation of the way its reputation is so closely linked with the quality of its products and the professionalism of its employees, in the complex and sometimes impenetrable hedge fund business in which it is one of the global leaders.

TH: Man has a further strength in its approach towards philanthropy. In many respects, they have tended to underplay their activity in this area. As well as the extensive donations to good causes there have been a series of supportive and ongoing activities, building the relationship with each of the recipients.

In what areas do you think Man could improve its corporate responsibility approach, and why?
MB: In the companies I’ve worked with, corporate responsibility tends to take root gradually, and it often starts with an awareness of environmental aspects. By introducing better systems for global data collation on environmental impacts, for example, Man will ensure they become more visible and accountable within the management process. This would also have the benefit of freeing up the Corporate Responsibility team to focus more on embedding and developing initiatives. Improvements will come as Man starts to spread the corporate responsibility management load across the company, so that it becomes part of every manager’s business agenda for their teams.

How do you think Man will progress in corporate responsibility after the Initial Public Offering of MF Global?
TH: There’s no doubt that the management time involved in the demerger has placed additional pressures on the development of corporate responsibility within Man. But when it has been completed, we think that the new company will be more unified and focused from a corporate responsibility perspective. From what we have seen, Man Investments’ reporting systems (for HR for example) are very comprehensive. We would also expect to see that the improvements that Man has begun to make in the integration of corporate responsibility into its procurement processes will begin to pay off significantly after the demerger.

MB: There are clear long-term business advantages in a corporate responsibility approach to investment management, on which Man will now focus, and these will become even clearer as Man develops its Carbon Programmes, for example.

Are there any lessons that you believe Man has learned in its corporate responsibility development that could be usefully adopted by other companies?
MB: One lesson for me is that with a small Corporate Responsibility Team, it is important to focus on the core corporate responsibility risks and address these very thoroughly. By doing a few things well, particularly if by doing so you can start to engage employees, you will make faster progress. The challenge is to move corporate responsibility firmly on to the management agenda, at the levels below the senior team.

TH: Man is fortunate to have such a committed top management team, but more needs to be done to ensure corporate responsibility is seen to be relevant to day-today business. It’s been said before, but corporate responsibility really is a journey, and it’s only by making it part of the management agenda that you can start to make real progress.

---