Corporate Social Responsibility Report - Ahold

Doing our partIn 2006, at the request of theDutch Minister of Social Affairs,the Albert Heijn Labor AffairsDepartment took part in agovernmental taskforce thatdiscussed equal pay issues forspecific groups of employees, suchas women and ethnic minorities,and developed a series ofrecommendations. Early in 2007the taskforce shared preliminaryrecommendations developed withthe assistance of Albert Heijn andother relevant groups. A reportproduced by the taskforce waspresented later in the year to theMinistry of Social Affairs.We also have specific programs in place at our operatingcompanies to promote employee health, which you can readabout in the Healthy Living section of this report.Practical and innovative people managementOur people management practices will support the company’score values, including the attainment of near time resultsthrough capacity building and long-term strategic resultsthrough the creation of an innovative mindset.Leadership and diversityOne of our most important challenges for the future will be toattract, retain and energize retail talent. In order to continue toimprove the way we leverage the talent in our organization andour knowledge base across both continents, and meet thechallenges of a changing industry, we are putting a focus onleadership and diversity across Ahold.We are working to build a strong team of leaders, who share acommon understanding of the business and a leadership stylealigned with Ahold’s core values. In 2007, we improved ourperformance management and talent management processesto help build the talent pools for the future. We are also providingformal opportunities for management across Ahold to interact,get to know each other better and learn to value the diversityof culture, knowledge and thought across our company. As themarkets we serve become increasingly diverse, fosteringan open attitude to differing perspectives will strengthenour business.Talent and knowledge exchangeWe seek business-driven opportunities to exchange employeesin and across our operations and Corporate Center. Thissupports the exchange of business knowledge and builds apipeline of candidates with international experience suitable tofill top executive positions over the long term. For example, welook for opportunities to bring people from our Corporate Centerto the operating companies on temporary assignments to workon projects in their functional areas.We have made knowledge sharing an integral part of how we dobusiness. In addition, we have several formal programs in placethat bring people together from all over the business.At the executive level, top managment from around the companymeets twice each year for a two-day Global LeadershipConference. Our 2007 conference focused on aligningexecutive management towards our strategic challenges,and the implementation of Ahold’s strategy for sustainableprofitable growth.Ahold CSR Report 2007 53