RepoRt on - BNP Paribas

nP Paribas/london
the open-ended question concerning
the direction for change within the
organisation elicited 32,152 responses
(52% of respondents). in addition to expressing
satisfaction at being able to
participate in a worldwide survey, employees
also expressed a wide range
of expectations which were carefully
analysed in order to plan the direction
for future initiatives. the numerous suggestions
helped to enrich the content of
action plans for group entities.
despite the turbulent economic climate,
the survey results demonstrated the extent
of employees’ commitment to the
organisation and their confidence in the
strategic choices of its executive management.
employees consider that the
group is well positioned to meet future
challenges.
in relation to bnP Paribas’s commitment
to corporate social and environmental
responsibility, employee perceptions
were even more favourable in relation
to 2008 and their comments provided a
variety of suggestions for locally-based
initiatives.
the group’s csr policy was cited as the
second-most motivating factor for employees,
next to leadership. the emphasis
placed on the group’s commitment
to csr was consistent across the entire
group irrespective of the business line or
function in which employees operate,
age, hierarchical level, employment
status (managerial or line positions)
and regardless of whether staff belong
to special population groups.
in the current economic crisis, the survey
results underline the contrast between
employees’ perceptions of the
group’s responsibility and the negative
treatment of the banking industry in the
french media.
51 <strong>RepoRt</strong> on CoRpoRate SoCial and enviRonmental ReSponSibility
european committee
the group has had a european
committee since 1996, before having
such a committee became a legal
requirement. the committee monitors
the group’s development in europe.
its composition was adjusted after the
integration of italian bank bnl in 2006,
and it now consists of 25 members from
16 countries. it is chaired by the chief
executive officer of bnP Paribas. in
2009, the integration of bnP Paribas
fortis’ banking units in belgium and
luxembourg sharply increased the
group’s scale.
following this substantial change, talks
about the committee’s composition and
operating methods started in late 2009
and continued in early 2010. the group’s
new scale prompted an extraordinary
meeting of the european committee in
december 2009 in brussels.
the spirit of innovation
A major issue
banking is a highly innovative sector.
information technology is having an
increasing impact, accounting for
15-20% of banks’ operating expenses,
while financial services involve a large
amount of it expertise and customers
are very interested in innovation.
in the absence of patent protection,
intense competition in the banking
sector means that innovative services
quickly become standardised. as a
result, permanent innovation is needed
to create value-added products (product
innovation) and to offer mainstream
products efficiently and on an industrial
scale (process innovation).
financial innovation is therefore encouraged,
and made available to customers.
innovation can improve risk coverage,
investment returns, access to
transactions and unit costs.
innovation Awards
every year, our innovation awards reward
innovation in all its forms. there are nine
categories of awards, including sustainable
development. two prizes are awarded
in each category. the business innovation
prize acknowledges initiatives taken
by staff or teams tasked with innovating
in their areas of activity. the innov@ction
prize rewards individual initiatives taken
by one or more employees to improve
products, services or processes and to
increase customer satisfaction.