G4S Annual Report and Accounts 2011

Governance Financial statements Shareholder information
6 Research and development expenditure
Research in connection with the development of new services and
products and the improvement of those currently provided by the group is
carried out continuously. Research and development written-off to the
income statement during the year amounted to £6m (2010: £5m).
7 Payment of suppliers
It is the company’s and the group’s policy to pay suppliers in accordance
with the payment terms negotiated with them. Thus, prompt payment
is normally made to those suppliers meeting their obligations. The
company and the group do not follow any formal code or standard on
payment practice.
As part of a reorganisation of the group’s UK holding company structure,
transactions with trade creditors are now processed through the company’s
wholly-owned subsidiary, G4S Corporate Services Limited. Therefore, at
31 December 2011 the trade creditors of the company represented nil days
(2010: 28 days) of annual purchases.
At 31 December 2011 the consolidated trade creditors of the group
represented 39 days (2010: 33 days) of annual purchases.
8 Employees
With over 657,000 employees worldwide, involvement and engagement
are key drivers of business success. Levels of engagement for each business
are monitored through monthly performance indicators such as employee
turnover and stability. In addition, in 2011 the second global employee
engagement survey was completed to gather feedback about how
employees around the world view G4S as an employer. The results were
excellent both in terms of improvements in the ratings from the 2009
survey, and also in response rates. Whereas in 2009, the survey was sent
to 596,000 employees and 169,000 responses were received, in 2011 the
survey was sent to 625,000 employees and 245,000 responses were
received. Considering many of our employees are based remotely at
customer sites and have limited access to technology, the number of
responses received demonstrates the extent to which employees feel
their views count and want to share feedback on their experiences of
working for G4S.
Effective employee communication with such a diverse workforce will
always be a challenge and businesses throughout the group seek to use a
wide variety of methods and media to achieve this. Such methods include
intranets, newsletters, and workplace briefings. With about a third of
employees covered by collective agreements, businesses also work with
employee representatives to share information and gather feedback on
decisions likely to affect their interests. This information exchange takes
place in both transnational settings such as the European Works Council
as well as local ones like employee consultation forums.
During 2011 the focus on talent management continued with the
completion of a comprehensive talent review. The review helped to clarify
requirements and assess the strength of the internal pipeline for succession
purposes. Where possible, internal development programmes across the
group are aligned to ensure any gaps identified from the talent reviews are
being met.
In support of achieving talent management objectives, the group launched a
diversity and inclusion strategy two years ago. Reaching out to the widest
talent pools to identify the best people and creating an environment where
everyone can achieve their full potential regardless of any disability, are
central themes in this strategy. It takes account of all aspects of diversity
including age, gender and disability. Using an assessment tool that looks
at key business processes such as recruitment, promotion and training,
businesses are required to produce a plan to show how they are
progressing against the strategy. To help them, case studies showcasing
internal excellence in recruiting and retaining diverse employees are shared
across the businesses.
Protecting and ensuring the health and safety of our employees is of
paramount importance, so monthly reporting and scrutiny by the board
and management teams at all levels occurs to drive constant improvements
in this area. Although the number of workplace fatalities due to attacks
reduced in 2011, the number of workplace fatalities caused by road traffic
incidents increased, so this is an area of focus for businesses in the next year.
At the end of 2011 the implementation of the Ethical Employment
Partnership (EEP) across G4S was completed. This partnership, which was
entered into in 2008 with the GMB and UNI, a Global Union Federation,
provides a framework for constructive labour relations. Where issues arise,
the strong foundations laid during the implementation phase are helping to
ensure that solutions are found that will both deliver benefits for employees
and help the long-term success of the business.
The continued focus on good employee relations and on embedding
talent management, diversity and inclusion and health and safety strategies,
undoubtedly contributed to the positive results in the global engagement
survey and have helped to maintain employee stability levels at a time of
change and uncertainty in many markets. Further information about the
group’s approach in these areas can be found in the group’s 2011
CSR report.
9 Political and charitable contributions
The group remains committed to the support of charities, the community,
job creation and training. Charitable contributions by the group during
the year amounted to £344,000 (2010: £375,000).
Charitable contributions made by the group in the UK, amounted to
£52,000. The purposes for which such contributions were made and the
amount donated to each purpose were: child welfare: £16,000; health
and medical: £17,000; local communities: £14,000; environment: £1,000;
and sports: £4,000.
In addition, G4S encourages businesses around the group to play their part
in engaging with and helping to improve their local communities. In 2011,
G4S completed its first comprehensive review of regional and country
managed community investment activity around the world. The review
has helped highlight the true level of G4S community investment, identifying
more than 550 community programmes across the globe supporting health,
education, welfare and development of children and young people. Further
details regarding community programmes can be found in the group’s 2011
CSR report.
The company and its subsidiaries have made no contributions during the
year to political parties carrying on activities, or to candidates seeking
election, within the EU.
One of the company’s subsidiaries in the US has however made
contributions totalling $6,400 in aggregate to a number of candidates
seeking election and organisations carrying on political activities in the
US. The practice of making any political donations in the US has now
ceased.
G4S plc
Annual Report and Accounts 2011
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