The way we do business
Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements is vital. The maintenance and enhancement of a robust control environment is a key priority for Barclays, and we are committed to delivering this to the highest standards. We are allocating substantial resources, including investing in IT and people-driven solutions, to enhance our systems and processes.
Financial institutions are at the forefront of the fight against criminals who attempt to defraud, launder money or finance terrorism and against weapons proliferation. We have a legal, regulatory, moral and social responsibility to restrict the access of criminals to the financial services market.
Anti-money laundering
Money laundering is the process whereby the origins of the proceeds of crime are disguised to allow criminals to benefit, and the financial system is often used to this end.
The Barclays Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Policy is designed to ensure that all parts of our organisation, across all jurisdictions of operation, comply with the requirements and obligations set out in relevant legislation, rules and industry guidance for the financial services sector. This includes assisting in the prevention of organised crime and terrorism. The Policy also requires identifying whether customers, or related parties, are politically exposed.
Barclays is a founder member of the Wolfsberg Group, which aims to develop financial services industry standards relating to 'know your customer', AML and counterterrorist financing policies.
Sanctions
Sanctions are official restrictions on activity with targeted countries, individuals, entities and industries. Barclays is committed to complying with financial sanctions and export controls in order to comply with the law, help prevent weapons proliferation, organised crime and terrorism and protect the reputation of Barclays. We have a duty not to deal with individuals who are subject to financial sanctions.
Barclays Sanctions Policy sets out how we will adhere to sanctions law and places restrictions on:
- The individuals and entities with whom we can establish or maintain a business relationship; and
- All business activities that Barclays undertakes.
Failure to comply with AML and sanctions requirements can expose Barclays to civil and criminal liability, fines, loss of reputation, public reprimand, limitation on business, and other serious consequences. For our colleagues, failure to comply with AML and sanctions can result in personal liability such as fines and imprisonment. Colleagues who fail to comply with the Barclays AML Policy and the Sanctions Policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
As announced on 18 August 2010, Barclays reached settlements with the US Department of Justice, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in relation to their investigation into compliance with US sanctions and US Dollar payment practices.
We have taken significant steps to enhance our compliance programmes, including the further development and implementation of our Sanctions Policy, substantial investment in market-leading payment and customer screening technology, and the delivery of mandatory sanctions training for all of our employees around the world.
We take sanctions compliance very seriously and the subject has the attention of senior management at the highest levels in Barclays. We continue to commit substantial resources and expenditure to investing in IT and people-driven solutions to improve our systems and processes and ensure sanctions compliance.
Bribery and corruption prevention
Barclays has a zero tolerance approach to bribery and corruption. All Barclays colleagues must comply with the Barclays Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy and relevant laws and regulations, wherever in the world they are operating. Penalties for failure to comply with the Policy could be severe, including potentially unlimited fines to the bank and/or to individuals and/or imprisonment. Failure to comply with the Policy may also result in disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
The UK Bribery Act is anticipated to be brought into force in 2011 and is widely regarded as among the strongest anti-bribery legislation in the world. Under the Act, commercial organisations can be liable to prosecution if they fail to prevent bribery by any person associated with them, unless they have adequate procedures in place. Building on existing controls and procedures, Barclays has instigated a comprehensive Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption (ABC) project, to review existing policies and processes, in order to deliver an enhanced ABC control framework across Barclays. This project is endorsed at the highest levels of the organisation and progress is reported regularly to senior committees of the bank. In 2010, Barclays became a member of Transparency International UK, part of the leading international NGO dedicated to combating corruption.
Chandrashekhar Krishnan, Executive Director, Transparency International UK
Data protection
Barclays has been running a Group-wide privacy programme for the past three years to assess our compliance with international privacy laws and have established remediation plans to identify any areas for improvement. We have established a Group-wide operating model and now have over 20 roles dedicated to privacy and data protection. We have enhanced our incident management framework to ensure that we identify any issues that should arise when they occur and mitigate them quickly. To facilitate this, we have been running ongoing and award-winning privacy awareness campaigns across the organisation, and the metrics used have indicated improved awareness and changes in practices.
Fraud
Barclays operates a fraud risk control framework reflecting the importance given to managing the risks posed by fraud. The Group Fraud Management Committee meets monthly to review fraud levels and the effectiveness of our controls in preventing losses. This helps in the identification of emerging fraud risks and trends, so that timely action may be taken to refine our controls to protect Barclays and our customers.
The threat posed by fraud continually evolves as criminals seek new ways of attack; we therefore remain constantly aware of this threat and invest appropriately to enhance our fraud prevention capability on an ongoing basis.
The protection of our customers from fraud is a key priority and we therefore carefully manage the balance between the accessibility of our products and services against this, while ensuring our legal and regulatory obligations are complied with in full.
We will accept a wide range of identity documents when opening a new account which gives both colleagues and customers flexibility. However, if an applicant cannot provide proof of identity from this range of documents, we have procedures for authorised acceptance from a broader range of documents.
These measures ensure that applicants, including in particular someone who is financially excluded, are managed appropriately taking account of customer needs, alongside our regulatory obligations.
Preserving carbon market integrity by tackling fraud
During 2010, Barclays helped British customs and excise officers to combat value added tax (VAT) fraud in Europe's carbon trading markets.
Suspicious trading was first spotted by our Environmental Products Trading team. Having alerted the UK tax authorities, the team began to advise organisations involved with carbon trading on how to spot suspicious trading.
The team hosted a number of industry-wide meetings and presentations in partnership with British revenue officers, and offered other financial providers free use of Barclays carbon allowance tracking software.
We also provided an assessment of the magnitude of the fraud problem which proved instrumental in the zero rating of carbon trading for VAT purposes by the UK Government.
We have continued to monitor European Union Allowance trading and highlight what we consider to be suspicious activity on a regular basis. We are now utilising our expertise more widely in an attempt to combat VAT fraud as it spreads to other physical commodity markets.
Our priority is to make it easier for our customers to achieve their goals in life by continually enhancing the customer experience. We expect to make particular progress in 2011 by delivering new technology channels, transparent products and services and enhancing complaints management processes. To achieve this, we have committed £1bn in our Global Retail Banking business over the next four years to improving the customer experience.
Complaint resolution
Barclays is committed to delivering sustainable improvements to the service we provide to our customers. We recognise we do not always get things right and are committed to reducing the number of complaints. We have put greater focus on addressing the root causes and have increased senior level oversight.
We take customer complaints very seriously and always look to deliver fair outcomes. We aim to deal with them effectively and efficiently, and use our complaints process as a critical channel to listen to and better understand the needs of our customers. This helps us to continually improve the process and prevent issues from reoccurring.
Progress in 2010:
Global context
- Combined complaint volumes for Global Retail Banking, Barclays Corporate, Barclays Wealth and Absa were stable against 2009
- Levels of complaints within UK Retail Banking decreased as a result of improvements; however, overall reductions were offset by increased volumes in Absa following enhanced complaint capture processes.
UK context
- While there were improvements in the levels of referrals to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and with regard to Financial Services Authority (FSA) reportable complaints, levels of complaints remain unacceptable.
Governance:
- Increased senior level oversight of complaints, with accountability at executive level. For example, an Executive Steering Committee meeting led by Antony Jenkins, Chief Executive, Global Retail Banking, reviews UK complaints on a monthly basis
- Senior managers are members of our Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) forum and our UK Executive Complaints Steering Committee.
It is important to note that as our processes for capturing customer feedback mature, we may experience an increase in complaint volumes, particularly in our businesses outside of the UK. This is helping us to better understand the root causes of complaints in these markets and as a result we expect to see an improvement to the way we address these concerns in 2011.
Complaints received in 2010 compared with 2009
| Business Unit | % Change |
|---|---|
| Global Retail Banking | -1.45% |
| Barclays Corporate | -4.70% |
| Barclays Wealth | -23.33% |
| Absa* | 47.11% |
| Barclays Group | -0.01% |
More detail on UK complaints is available at www.barclays.com/citizenship.
| Complaints Received in 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Addressing root causes to enhance the customer experience
We have increased emphasis on addressing the root cause of complaints, including improving the customer experience. Examples of our progress include:
In the UK
- Improved the time it takes to receive a replacement debit card from five days to 48 hours
- Re-engineered the process for changing customer account details
- Made enhancements to our deposit machines, which now see cash deposits credited to customer's accounts immediately.
In Africa
- Decreased the time it takes to open a new bank account in Zambia to 20 minutes (down from three weeks).
Customer satisfaction
Barclays is committed to improving satisfaction and the overall customer experience across all of our businesses. Each business has adopted a bespoke approach to monitoring customer satisfaction through a programme of surveys. In Global Retail Banking, we have either maintained or improved customer satisfaction. We use the results to identify ways to improve customers' overall banking experience. In 2011, we will work towards improving the consistency of our measurement and reporting on satisfaction.
Below is an overview of progress on customer satisfaction in Global Retail Banking. Given markets and customers vary by Business Unit, survey methodologies differ slightly. In 2010, we:
- Improved satisfaction by three points in UK Retail Banking (using a mean indexed score)
- Improved satisfaction by two percentage points in the UK Barclaycard
- Maintained stable customer satisfaction levels across Western Europe, with incremental increases in Italy and Portugal
- Committed to commencing regular and consistent customer satisfaction surveys in Barclays Africa in 2011.
Innovative products and services
The way in which our customers access money and make payments is changing rapidly. Our focus has been on making it easier for our customers to manage their everyday banking needs through technology channels such as mobile, internet and contactless services.
Barclays was the first high street bank to offer customers the facility to make third party payments via their mobile phone through our Barclays.mobi service. We also lead the way on contactless technology and in 2006, launched the first credit and cashless payment card through incorporating Oyster card technology. There are currently over ten million Barclays debit and Barclaycard contactless cards in circulation with many new retailers adopting the technology due to its speed and convenience.
In Africa, our focus is on providing access to finance by introducing mobile banking in areas where traditional banking is more difficult. For example, in Kenya, we have two mobile banking initiatives, Hello Money and our money transfer initiative in partnership with M-PESA which both aim to extend access to mobile banking. In 2010, our focus was on improving the operational and channel capabilities of mobile banking, specifically in Kenya and Botswana.
We aim to help our customers keep track of their finances, choose the right financial products and plan ahead. In 2010, we introduced a new SMS alert service to notify customers when large transactions have been made on their accounts and when they are approaching their overdraft limit. In line with our focus on building financial capability, we also launched 56 Sage Street, an online game aimed at young people, which teaches financial know-how in a fun and interactive way.
In 2011, we plan to allocate specific resources to driving innovation within our core business by providing a dedicated online platform where our employees can post new ideas that contribute to the sustainable value of our products and services.
For more information on these areas, and how we are using innovation to address global challenges such as climate change and poverty, see Helping our clients invest in growth tomorrow.
Barclays approach to environmental and social risk management is based on a combination of policy and guidance. This enables us to adopt a robust approach, while maintaining the flexibility to consider potential clients and transactions on their respective merits.
The environmental and social risks associated with any transaction can be complex, and are based on a range of factors which include the sector, geography and transaction type. For example, the environmental risk considerations for a general corporate credit line to a mining company with operations in different regions around the world will be very different from those applied in assessing the risks associated with a loan to an individual South African wind farm project. Barclays uses a range of tools to assess these different risks.
Barclays has a dedicated environmental and social risk team in place to advise on transactions of all types where there are potential environmental or social sensitivities. The team is part of the Group Risk function and is supported by a network of Barclays representatives who help to maintain awareness of the local and regional risks associated with our lending activities, provide environmental and social risk information and guidance, and act as local support.
More information on our approach can be found at www.barclays.com/citizenship.
Policy and guidance
Our Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Policy (ESIA) applies to transactions where an ESIA is a legal requirement, to project finance proposals, or where funds are being raised for a specific asset which may give rise to environmental or social risks. It is also the mechanism by which we apply the Equator Principles (see Equator Principles section below).
Our policies are supported by a range of internal guidance documents, which include a categorisation screening tool and sample terms of reference to ensure impact assessments are Equator Principles-compliant. For information and a synopsis of the ESIA Policy applied, visit www.barclays.com/citizenship.
We have developed guidance notes addressing the environmental, social and human rights risks involved in developing business relationships with customers operating in environmentally and socially sensitive sectors. These guidance notes have also been adopted by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), which has made them available to all UNEP FI signatories. The notes cover:
- Agriculture and fisheries
- Chemicals and pharmaceuticals
- Forestry and logging
- Manufacturing
- Infrastructure
- Mining and metals
- Oil and gas
- Power generation
- Service industries including healthcare and telecommunications
- Utilities and waste management.
As part of our commitment to prudent risk management, all policy and supporting documentation is reviewed annually to ensure its ongoing relevance to the emerging issues associated with our clients' business activities. For example, in 2010, the increased focus on shale gas prompted a supplement to our risk guidance notes for oil and gas.
Project finance represents a relatively modest proportion of total transactions across Barclays lending book, and the consideration of environmental issues in other transaction types is a required part of our credit processes.
Climate change and nuclear power
The climate change agenda has revived interest in nuclear power as an alternative to more carbon-intensive energy sources. Our internal Nuclear Policy, which has been in place since 1996, recognises that for many, nuclear power may not be the energy source of choice, and identifies the sensitivities surrounding the nuclear fuel cycle. It covers all transactions involving companies where radioactive materials are a key component of their operations. The Policy outlines the risks involved in this sector and sets the minimum criteria expected if Barclays is to provide finance.
The Equator Principles
The Equator Principles (EP) form the framework by which the financial services industry manages environmental and social risks in project finance and are based on the industry-recognised International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards.
Barclays continues to participate in the Equator Principles' steering group and retains leading roles in the Climate Change and Social Risks Working Groups. In 2010, this included close participation in the IFC's consultation, supporting the review of its Performance Standards, around which the Principles are based. Acting on the results of that review, we will remain actively involved in refining the Equator Principles to ensure they continue to be viewed as the benchmark for environmental and social risk management for project finance.
Training and capacity building
Ongoing coaching and capacity building is important in raising awareness of the environmental and social impacts associated with our lending.
We continue to focus on raising awareness of these impacts among Barclays colleagues worldwide. Coaching client-facing colleagues helps ensure such risks are integrated alongside more traditional credit risk considerations when financing decisions are made. During 2010, members of our Environmental Risk Management team provided training and coaching for 74 colleagues across the organisation in key functions. In Absa, closer alignment of our business-wide environmental risk management approach has continued with secondments from Barclays colleagues working alongside environmental risk teams in Johannesburg.
Transaction screening
In 2010, a total of 289 transactions were referred to the Environmental Risk Management team. Of these, 45 were project finance transactions, an increase of 11 project finance transactions compared with 2009. In part, the increase is the result of business teams applying the Equator Principles more broadly, reflecting its value as a risk management tool.
Transactions screened by industry sector (2010)
| Sector | Project Finance transactions | Other transactions |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and logging | 0 | 8 |
| Manufacturing | 0 | 10 |
| Chemicals and pharmaceuticals | 1 | 10 |
| Mining and metals | 15 | 55 |
| Power, excluding nuclear | 7 | 54 |
| Renewable power | 7 | 8 |
| Oil and gas | 4 | 48 |
| Utilities and waste management | 2 | 5 |
| Infrastructure | 7 | 39 |
| Service industry, including healthcare and telecommunications | 2 | 7 |
| 45 | 244 |
Project finance transactions by geography
| 2010 % |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | European union | 16 |
| 2 | Africa | 16 | |
| 3 | Asia-Pacific | 2 | |
| 4 | Americas | 9 | |
| 5 | Middle East | 1 | |
| 6 | Russia and FSU | 1 | |
Project finance transactions by risk category
| 2010 % |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | Category A - higher risk | 8 |
| 2 | Category B - medium risk | 21 | |
| 3 | Category C - lower risk | 16 | |
Focus for 2011
In 2011, we believe issues that will continue to grow in importance include:
- The impact of changing weather patterns on our clients' activities
- Biodiversity, including the growing appreciation of the value of ecosystem services
- The social and community impact of our clients' operations in different parts of the world.
We aim to develop a greater understanding of the associated risk implications through investigation and research and, where appropriate, through engagement with relevant industry, regulatory bodies and academia.
More case studies are available at www.barclays.com/citizenship
Poor implementation of local social and environmental regulation, particularly when operating in developing countries, has forced companies to address issues that have traditionally been seen to lie outside of their core competencies and responsibilities.
We are working with our suppliers to effectively integrate sustainability principles into their existing programmes and operations. Through such partnerships we are building capacity and addressing challenges to ensure that sustainability considerations are embedded within all sourcing processes. Part of this effort involves participating in working groups and industry indices including:
- The Carbon Disclosure Project supply chain initiative
- Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions working group as part of our involvement with the Financial Services Corporate Responsibility (FSCR) forum.
Governance and control
Barclays applies a risk-based approach to calculating the level of risk associated with a supplier, taking into account potential social, ethical and environmental risks.
In 2010, we:
- Strengthened our supplier controls assurance framework to identify more effectively trends in behaviour and prioritised our approach to supporting sustainable business practices in our supply chain
- Launched new third party sustainability control requirements across our global supply chain, which required certification from our high-risk suppliers to compliance across areas of health and safety, diversity and inclusion, human rights and environmental management
- Continued working with TNT and Lloyds Banking Group, using TNT's vans to share branch deliveries. Through this initiative, we were able to cut delivery miles and subsequently reduce carbon emissions and energy costs
- Encouraged two of our card manufacturers, TSYS® and Firstdata, to achieve accreditation to UK environmental management system ISO 14001.
Moving forward, we will begin to extend these sustainability control requirements to medium-risk suppliers and will define control requirements for those categories of spend which may have the greatest sustainability impacts.
Assurance
To identify and address areas for development and track the performance of our high-risk suppliers, in 2010, we re-launched our sustainability questionnaire. Analysis of the responses helps us to work with our suppliers to identify and address areas for development and track performance over time.
In 2010:
- 333 suppliers completed our sustainability questionnaire, more than double the number in 2009
- We introduced an independent on-site assurance programme targeting our high-risk suppliers, conducting 41 on-site sustainability audits.
To ensure the continued sustainability of our supply chain, high-risk suppliers will now be audited on-site every three years, and by 2015, we will aim to have assessed 100 per cent of our high-risk suppliers for compliance to our sustainability control requirements.
Starting in 2011, the annual completion of our sustainability questionnaire will become mandatory.
2010 citizenship priorities |
Status |
How we performed |
|---|---|---|
|
Undertake 10 on-site supplier sustainability reviews of the activities and impacts on health and safety, diversity and inclusion, environmental impact and labour standards |
 Complete |
41 on-site supplier sustainability reviews were undertaken of the activities and impacts on health and safety, diversity and inclusion, environmental impact and labour standards |
As a global business, Barclays has a clear responsibility to support governments and civil society in protecting and upholding human rights.
This issue has gained prominence through the work of John Ruggie, the United Nations (UN) Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, whose Protect, Respect and Remedy framework was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) in 2008. His final report to the UN recommends Guiding Principles for states and businesses, highlighting the need for appropriate due diligence, monitoring and reporting on performance.
Barclays has participated in this initiative through our membership of the Business Leaders' Initiative on Human Rights and through consultation meetings. We have also engaged via the Equator group of banks' Social Risks Working Group and through the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).
As a result of this involvement, we updated our Group Statement on Human Rights to reference the framework, which will be reviewed again following confirmation that the UN HRC has accepted the Guiding Principles.
In the UK, Barclays is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Human Rights and Business Working Group, which is reviewing the implications of human rights and the Protect, Respect and Remedy framework for British businesses. In 2011, we will take forward this framework in our policies and processes and benchmark what we do against them.
2010 citizenship priorities |
Status |
How we performed |
|---|---|---|
|
Launch the global online human rights training module for Barclays employees |
Complete |
Developed and launched global online human rights employee training module |
|
Review content of our Group Statement on Human Rights |
Complete |
Reviewed and updated our Group Statement on Human Rights |
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration which was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.
While Barclays has been contributing over the years towards these goals, the MDGs serve as a useful framework for us to evaluate our contribution to reducing world poverty.
The table below provides examples from a wide range of activities we undertake in developing countries that fit into the MDGs.
UN MDG Goal |
Examples of Barclays activity |
|---|---|
| Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
|
| Achieve universal primary education |
|
| Promote gender quality and empower women |
|
| Reduce child mortality |
|
| Improve maternal health |
|
| Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
|
| Ensure environmental sustainability |
|
| Develop a global partnership for development |
|
Banking on change project/MDGs
The Business Call to Action (BCTA) is a global initiative that promotes achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by challenging companies to develop innovative business models that provide both commercial success and development impact.
Barclays responded with a three-year, £10m Banking on Change (BoC) initiative. BoC promotes access to basic financial services across 11 countries in Africa, Asia and South America through savings-led community finance projects undertaken in partnership with the NGOs CARE International and Plan UK.
The programme leverages Barclays core business expertise and the experience of our NGO partners. Villagers who depend on traditional, rural village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) for banking services by linking them to the formal financial sector are the primary beneficiary. Through the BCTA commitments, Barclays will support around 60,000 low-income customers to access banking products and services designed to serve their particular needs.
Chen Wong, Banking on Change Manager, Barclays
Natalie Africa, Programme Manager, Business Call to Action
Across our global business, we aim to ensure that all our colleagues have the opportunity to develop and reach their full potential, regardless of gender, race, nationality, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or background.
While we have made progress on this agenda in 2010, we continue to recognise that there is more to be done to build a more inclusive and diverse workforce at Barclays - one which better reflects the communities in which we do business.
Our diversity and inclusion programme is overseen by the Executive Diversity Group which has been mandated by our Group Executive Committee to monitor and manage this agenda for Barclays.
Our programme covers gender, sexual orientation, race and cultural awareness, disability, age, and religion and belief.
In South Africa, Absa established an Employment Equity consultation forum, chaired by Absa Chief Executive Maria Ramos, where our employees are consulted through their representatives on transformation matters. Transformation is the key theme underpinning workplace change in the country's post-apartheid era and Absa monitors Employment Equity targets as a legislative requirement, in the recruitment, promotion and development of designated groups, particularly Black employees as part of this requirement. In 2010, representation of employees from designated groups in our Absa Development Initiative and Absa Leadership Development programmes was above 80 per cent. For more information, see the Absa Report.
Gender
Gender is the main focus of our diversity programme globally and developing our strategy on gender was a key area of activity in 2010, sponsored by the Executive Diversity Group.
An intensive programme of interviews with internal and external stakeholders helped to shape the strategy, resulting in some clear actions for our Business Unit Diversity teams. These included developing diversity metrics, enhancing HR processes, improving our communications on diversity issues and successes, and building on our external sponsorships to raise awareness.
We want to see more women represented in senior roles. We recognise that this challenge is one for the whole finance sector, not just Barclays, that it will take time to achieve, and require continued sponsorship from the very top of the organisation. We aim to increase female representation in senior roles across Barclays through pursuing our Group-wide gender strategy, including development of a strong talent pipeline, enhancement of Group-wide best practice sharing and visibility of role models via our internal women's networks.
Recruiting
In 2010, we took steps to enhance the proactive approach to gender diversity of our recruitment campaigns. As well creating a 'virtual bench' of potential successors for our most senior roles through our talent-spotting initiative, we have implemented diverse slates - shortlists of male and female candidates - as standard for senior management positions. We also hosted an event for our external recruitment suppliers who support our technology functions in October 2010, to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and explain that we expect our suppliers to partner with us in attracting and shortlisting diverse candidates.
Barclays Wealth's Embark career change programme, which trains skilled people from outside the financial sector to become private bankers, has encouraged 25 women to join Barclays since the programme started in 2007, representing 30 per cent of all those hired through the programme.
At universities, Barclays Capital continued to hold women-only events in 2010 to highlight how women can flourish in the traditionally male-dominated investment banking profession. Graduate recruitment teams across the organisation stress the support and opportunities that are offered to women at Barclays and women directors are encouraged to give talks about their own career progression to undergraduates and junior level professionals. Absa Capital is planning to hold a Pioneering Young Women Conference in 2011 and invite 50 high-performing South African female students to attend. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with entrepreneurs and successful business leaders in the financial, information technology and legal sectors, to gain insight into the industry and sharpen their leadership skills.
Developing talent
In many parts of the business, women are offered specific in-house training such as networking, self promotion and one-to-one career coaching sessions. In addition, executive coaching consultants provide senior women with advice on successfully navigating the work environment. Similar sessions are available to female colleagues at less senior levels through events held by our Women's initiatives Networks (WiNs).
In 2010, we launched a series of female leadership initiatives across Africa and Europe, ensuring that women who want to pursue international careers can expect consistent levels of support throughout the business. For example, in Spain, female colleagues can take part in postgraduate degree programmes designed for women, working with leading business schools and public bodies, with the support of grants and scholarships.
In Mauritius, Barclays Diversity and Inclusion Forum has linked up with an external Women's Network to create a Women's Leadership Programme which 25 women will go through in 2011. Barclays Capital has run a Women's Leadership Programme in Asia to assist in the retention and advancement of senior-level women across the region.
Role models
To encourage more women into senior roles at Barclays, we have a number of initiatives and programmes to highlight female role models. Our Women of the Year Awards programme, attracted a record number of nominations from more countries than ever before. The event was attended by several members of our Executive Committee as well as our Group Chairman, Chief Executive and President. Winners attended the prestigious Women of the Year Lunch in London where Barclays sponsors an external award. Other major external sponsorships highlighting our approach to gender diversity are the Women's Forum for the Economy & Society, a global conference held annually in Deauville, France, and the Female FTSE 100 Report, published by the UK's Cranfield University to lead the debate on the proportion of women at the very top of the UK's largest companies.
Across Barclays, Women's Initiative Networks (WiNs) are growing or forming. In 2010, the WiN in Barclays Wealth topped 1,600 members, and in Barclays Capital grew to almost 3,000 members, while new WiNs were formed in Group Centre and in some of our African operations, such as Tanzania and Kenya. A UK Retail Banking WiN formed in late 2010, with a cross-Group WiN teleconference and ongoing communications helping these networks to learn from each other's successes.
Another initiative, which helps women who find it difficult to join a WiN because they are based in smaller or more remote offices or branches, is a dedicated mailbox for female colleagues' queries. This has been set up in Absa allowing questions to be asked on the Women's Forum about personal development, wellness, networking opportunities and so on.
We also launched a maternity coaching programme and new fathers programme in Barclays Wealth, including a version for line managers, to help our colleagues in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man to transition between work life and new parenting. A pilot programme has also been launched in Barclays Capital in both the US and UK.
Customers and clients
Our commitment to supporting women extends to our customers and clients. In 2010, UK Retail Banking published four editions of its Smart Living magazine and e-zine. Smart Living was targeted at mass affluent women in their 40s and 50s, as research demonstrates that this customer group is making a number of significant but challenging decisions where money plays a key role, such as starting a new career, paying for education and planning for retirement. The publication aimed to increase the levels of trust and engagement our female customers have in Barclays. The magazine was distributed directly to over 65,000 customers and was also available for customers to take away from selected branches.
In 2010, Barclays Stockbrokers launched SmartWoman, a publication which targets female investors. This came about after we conducted research which told us that women:
- Approach investing differently to men
- Are very under-represented when it comes to investing
- Are often turned off by financial literature
We want to engage with women in a new way, building on our established innovative ecommerce business. SmartWoman magazine and SmartWoman magazine website provide insight from our experts and advice for experts and novices.
Disability
We do our utmost to ensure that colleagues and customers with disabilities do not feel disadvantaged in Barclays. We are also committed to ensuring our customers with disabilities get appropriate support from our products and services.
In Barclays Wealth, our Disability Solutions service helps colleagues navigate barriers in the workplace that can be overcome by adjustments to their work environment. Disability Listening Groups are also held by senior executives who are keen to hear how Barclays can do more to enable colleagues with disabilities to fulfil their potential.
In Absa, we have a coaching/mentorship programme for people with disabilities, a Disability Hotline used by employees to field disability related questions and problems and a Disability Support Fund offering support to people with disabilities and their dependants.
Barclaycard has also worked with external disability consultants to ensure that the design of new payment terminals is both accessible and user-friendly for all customers. For example, in Zambia, ATM machines are being lowered to give wheelchair users easier access, Braille Tariff Guides are planned for 2011 to help visually impaired and blind customers, and branch-based personal bankers are learning basic signing to enhance our service to deaf customers.
In 2010, we sponsored the refresh of the Employers Forum on Disability's Disability Communication Guide, a reference guide which offers practical advice on how to recognise and avoid attitudes and behaviour which can create misunderstandings and barriers.
Disability Listening Groups are also held by senior executives who are keen to hear how Barclays can do more to enable colleagues with disabilities to fulfil their potential and actions prompted by Reach, our UK employee network for disabled colleagues, resulted in the incorporation of Text Relay into Barclays identification and verification systems so that deaf colleagues could change their internal passwords without relying on the help of their colleagues. Additionally, all events in Barclays aim to use closed-captioning technology when available, or other assistance such as interpreters for the deaf, to ensure accessibility and opportunity for all employees to participate.
Spectrum
Our Spectrum network for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) colleagues and supporters was named Employee Network of the Year at the annual Stonewall Awards announced in January 2011. The network offers colleagues support on career development and has more than 400 members across Barclays. It also raises awareness on being LGBT through a series of seminars open to all colleagues.
In the annual Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, Barclays was named one of the top 10 UK employers for LGBT people. The index assessed organisations on a number of measures, including how they implement equality policies and their performance on recruitment and mentoring. The ranking was an improvement on the previous year's performance when Barclays finished 22nd overall.
Antony Jenkins, Global Retail Banking Chief Executive and Chair of the Executive Diversity Group, said: "This is a fantastic achievement and shows the commitment from all levels of the organisation to help Barclays become truly inclusive and reflect the communities in which we operate."
In the US, Spectrum collaborated on a policy change where Barclays employees in the US who cover their same-sex domestic partner under the Barclays Medical, Dental or Vision plans will be eligible to receive a reimbursement at the end of each plan year to offset the additional US federal tax paid by the employee for covering their same-sex domestic partner. In addition, Spectrum in the UK also co-sponsored the production of a video campaign to increase awareness of the plight of young LGBT people in the care of the Albert Kennedy Trust. We also won the award for Corporate Sponsor of the year in 2010 for our partnership with the trust.
Cultural Awareness
Barclays runs Cultural Diversity Networks which are open to colleagues who are interested in race equality issues. These groups give members an opportunity to work with external organisations on a range of events and initiatives as well as raise awareness internally and promote the recruitment and development of ethnic minorities.
Pension education
Vantage, Barclays online retirement education programme, was launched in January 2010 in response to feedback from colleagues about their lack of understanding of pensions during the Barclays Pension Review 2009. The programme was designed to help colleagues with their retirement education needs through all stages of their career, providing comprehensive guidance on planning for retirement and on maximising all the benefits offered by Barclays.
Since its launch, more than 5,000 visits have been made to the Vantage website, and 4,600 colleagues have attended retirement planning sessions.
The Vantage programme consists of four sections:
- New joiners - Information on making the most of the pension schemes Barclays offers
- Throughout career planning - Helping colleagues to review and make decisions about their financial future
- Pre-retirement - Designed for members 10 years or less from their retirement, focused on understanding retirement options and purchasing annuities
- Non-members - Aimed at colleagues who are not members of a UK Barclays pension scheme setting out the benefits of company pension scheme membership
Performance and goals
2010 Performance |
|---|
|
2010 citizenship priorities |
Status |
How we performed |
|---|---|---|
|
Increase development opportunities to current disabled colleagues so they can reach their full potential (Global Retail Banking) |
 In progress |
We spent more than £1m making adjustments to help improve the working environment for colleagues with disabilities and our REACH employee network influenced helpful changes to processes. |
|
Improve the level of service we provide to disabled customers (Global Retail Banking) |
In progress |
In France and Portugal, we built accessibility for disabled customers and colleagues into the redesign of our branches and Barclaycard in the UK worked with disability consultants to design accessible and user-friendly payment machines. |
|
Obtain at least 500 Disability declarations by the end of 2010 (Absa) |
 Incomplete |
The number of disability declarations fell short of the target as a clean up of our data found that some of those people recorded as disabled did not in fact meet the definition criteria as defined in South Africa's labour laws. The December 2010 figure was 350. |
|
Increase percentage of Black senior and middle manager hires (80 per cent) and promotions (70 per cent) (Absa) |
In progress |
The percentage of Black senior and middle manager hires reached 81% and the promotions figure reached 66%. |
|
Increase female representation within senior roles (Group) |
In progress |
The number of females at senior management levels has remained flat (24 per cent) demonstrating that there is still work to be done to increase the number of women reaching and retaining roles at this level of management. There was a very slight increase in senior executives who are female from 15.3 per cent to 16.1 per cent. Two women non-executive directors also joined our Board. |
|
Increase focus on internal women's networks (Group) |
In progress |
There has been a lot of focus on promoting internal women's networks across Barclays resulting in WiNs building stronger ties and even the establishment of some new networks. |
|
Enhance the diversity objective for managers in the Performance Management system (CIB&WM) |
In progress |
All Barclays Wealth employees globally have the following objectives:
|
|
Establish and roll out core diversity metrics (CIB&WM) |
In progress |
This goal has been rolled up into a Group-wide exercise and is still in the early stages of development, including establishing accuracy of data. |
|
Introduce Annual Diversity Plans to the business in order to track measurable progress against goals (Barclays Capital & Wealth Management). |
In progress |
Barclays Wealth and Barclays Capital have been been working on this through 2010 and will be ready to fully implement in 2011. In Barclays Capital, the Diversity Business Plans were implemented in early 2011. All business heads will be held accountable to their plan will be reviewed at year end by the CEOs and the Global Diversity Champion. |
| Become and employer of choice among the disabled community (GRB) |
In progress |
Across our businesses in the UK, Europe and Africa we've initiated programmes and services enhancing our offering to disabled people including a confidential helpline and sign language courses for branch colleagues. |
Barclays is committed to maintaining and improving our high standards of Health, Safety and Well-being (HSW). Our aim is to create a working environment around the world that is safe and enhances well-being.
Governance
Our vision for HSW is outlined in our Statement of Commitment, signed by the Chief Executive on behalf of the Board. This is reviewed annually as part of our focus on continuous improvement.
Our Health and Safety Global Standard is reviewed on an annual basis and sets out the Group's expectations for each of our businesses. In 2011, this Standard will be complemented by a new Employee Feedback Global Standard which seeks to introduce more rigorous reporting around feedback from our employees on the issues that matter to them most and on how we can work with them to improve our approach.
Barclays Capital and Barclays Wealth maintain Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) 18001 accreditations across its operations in the UK, Europe, UAE, Singapore and our New York/New Jersey campus. In 2010, we started to roll out OHSAS 18001 compliant solutions to Portugal, Absa and our investment banking operations in North America. Moving forward, we will continue to review our programme of roll-out to our remaining locations.
In 2010, Global Retail Banking introduced an auditable Health and Safety (H&S) management tool to increase rigour around H&S due diligence and compliance when we acquire a new business or move into a new market. Within Barclays Capital and Barclays Wealth, a similar trigger is built into the acquisitions process.
Ensuring compliance
Responsibility for compliance to our standards is assigned to local subject matter experts to achieve a balance between Group goals and local requirements.
In each location, compliance with our standards is regularly monitored through a range of risk assessment, testing, reporting and escalation mechanisms as part of our Group-wide Risk and Control framework. Where applicable, this supports local requirements to report H&S matters to external authorities. For example, in the UK businesses, H&S-related incidents have to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). These include incidents where a major injury has occurred or where an employee has been absent from their normal work activities for more than three days. As demonstrated by the below chart, reportable injuries to staff have declined year on year since 2008.
| 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| *UK only | |||
| Reportable injuries to staff* | 124 | 130 | 147 |
| Accident rate/100,000 staff* | 181 | 215 | 232 |
In 2009, a Group H&S Steering Committee was established to promote knowledge sharing across the Group. The addition of this collaborative working approach across our operations is delivering greater efficiency in identifying and acting upon strategic H&S matters. This will be further developed in 2011.
Training
In 2010, a H&S curriculum was developed and endorsed by the H&S Steering Committee. This will be rolled out to our businesses in 2011 and compliance statistics will form part of a monitoring tool for H&S performance. Bespoke training is equally important and is needed to meet the specific requirements of individual roles, defined risks or local legislative requirements.
Responsibility for H&S lies with each and every employee. To ensure all employees are aware of how to protect themselves and exercise reasonable care for the health and safety of others, a range of training materials are delivered on an annual basis through the channel most appropriate to each region. For example, we use classroom-based training in more remote regions of Africa and online training in the UK.
Trade unions and employee participation
Barclays recognises and engages constructively with over 30 employee representative organisations throughout the world, in addition to work councils in France and Germany. In many locations and businesses, we have collective bargaining arrangements in place, covering various aspects of employment. Where unions are not recognised, we liaise with work councils and employee associations and engage directly with our employees.
On a regional level, Barclays facilitates the Barclays Group European Forum and Barclays African Consultation Forums, which encourage constructive and productive dialogue between colleagues and management from countries where we have a significant business presence, creating a shared agenda to ensure future success for the business.
In the UK, Barclays works in partnership with Unite, the union which represents many of our colleagues. Our five-year partnership agreement builds upon the past 10 years of Barclays and Unite working together, incorporating a focus on diversity and inclusion, learning, and colleague well-being. The partnership has delivered consecutive multi-year pay deals which have provided stability in our industrial relations, even during challenging economic times, and has also delivered a robust agreement on workplace representatives including seconded H&S representatives.
Well-being
Barclays colleagues all over the world enjoy a range of benefits, including private healthcare and flexible working, which vary depending on the region in which they are based.
For example, in the UK, we offer a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme to all of our employees and their dependants. This is a combination of free counselling services and life management services to support colleagues. The Absa Employee Wellness Programme offers services such as telephone and face-to-face counselling and life management and physical wellness services.
We also offer many of our colleagues medical expenses schemes and access to medical treatment. For example, colleagues in Mauritius receive free medical screening where they can be tested for both diabetes and hypertension, two of the country's most common diseases. In Ghana, colleagues receive free annual medical examinations and are also offered HIV tests.
We recognise the link between volunteering and well-being and encourage all our colleagues to give their time and skills to projects in their local community by supporting them with financial grants and time away from work. We also host an annual Chairman's Awards event, which honours employees from across the business who have shown an outstanding commitment to the communities in which they work - whether through fundraising or volunteering activities. For more information on our community investment programme, see Investing in our communities.
Performance Data
| 2010 | 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| *excludes Barclays Capital | |||
| Sickness absence rate* (%) | 3.0 | 2.3 | |
| Turnover rate (%) | 16.9 | 16.9 | |
| Resignation rate (%) | 10.5 | 9.9 | |
| Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements in the UK (%) | 78 | Not available | |
| Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements globally (%) | 57 | Not available | |
| Employee trade union members - global (%) | 35 | Not available | |
| Employee trade union members - UK (%) | 35 | Not available | |
