Shaftesbury AR 2017 LR

STRATEGIC REPORT OVERVIEW SUSTAINABILITY AND STAKEHOLDERS Shaftesbury Annual Report 2017
Employees
Our employees play a vital role in implementing our strategy and
contributing to its evolution. The culture of the organisation and
our approach to employee training, development and employment
conditions has been an important part of our focus this year.
Diversity is important to ensure that we have a mix of views and
inputs into our business. This is not limited to gender diversity,
but includes a wide spectrum of attributes and backgrounds we
look for when recruiting new employees. We have increased our
employee numbers by three this year and in the recruitment
process, we implemented new procedures to ensure that we are
recruiting from the widest talent pool.
In the real estate sector, there is a concerted effort to ensure
gender is at the forefront of diversity initiatives. We are
committed to gender equality and employee development. This is
reflected in our membership of both Real Estate Balance and
the RICS Inclusive Employer Quality Mark. Our gender diversity is
set out below and in the Nomination Committee report. We have
been ranked first in the FTSE250 progress for Executive Committee
and Direct Reports in the Hampton-Alexander review on gender
diversity. Overall, the Group was ranked 37 in the FTSE250 for
combined Board and Executive Committee diversity.
We believe that investing in training and development is essential
and, this year, employees underwent an average of 16 hours
training. A number of new training initiatives have been introduced
including an e-learning training programme. We have also had
training on unconscious bias, time management and people
management skills. Employees receive personal development
reviews and annual appraisals. The Board and employees
undertook culture workshops to discuss and document the
corporate values and behaviours.
14% of employees have taken advantage of the flexible working
arrangements we offer.
We recognise the importance of community volunteering from
both an employee and a community perspective and are now
introducing volunteering leave.
There have been no instances of non-compliance with our
Anti-Bribery Policy during the financial year.
2017 2016
Percentage of female employees overall 59% 60%
Percentage of female employees in senior leadership team* 57% 50%
Percentage of female board members 30% 30%
Average training hours per employee 16 12
Percentage of employees receiving professional development review 100% 100%
Average length of service (years) 12 12
Employee turnover 1 1
Absentee rate (EPRA calculation) 0.96 0.75
Number of employees with flexible working 4 3
*The like-for-like comparator group changed in 2017 following the creation of the senior leadership team. Therefore the previous year figures are not
directly comparable.
See also page 81.
Real estate balance
An association of real estate leaders with
the objective to work with both men and
women in the real estate industry and with
corporate leaders to achieve a greater
gender balance at board and executive
management level across the real estate
sector.
RICS inclusive employer
quality mark
Aims to drive behaviour changes by
encouraging businesses in the real estate
sector to look carefully at their employment
practices and to ensure inclusivity is
embedded in their operations.
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