Case study: How Croda invests in its people to attract, develop and retain talented professionals
As a global leader in creating, making and selling speciality chemicals for a range of products, including, among others, health and beauty, engine lubricants and plastics, operating in 37 countries around the globe, Croda focuses on innovation and attaches special attention to attracting talented professionals Tweet This! and developing its people.
This case study is based on the 2017 Sustainability Report by Croda that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Abstract
Developing, training and enabling its 4,309 employees to reach their full potential, while also attracting talented individuals, is a top priority for Croda. In order to invest in its people to attract, retain and develop talented professionals Croda took action to:
- blend HR systems into one specialist system
- introduce a new leadership programme
- implement a graduate recruitment programme
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Croda has identified;
- How Croda proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Croda to invest in its people to attract, retain and develop talented professionals
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Croda identified a range of material issues, such as process safety, quality assurance, occupational health & safety, knowledge management, product stewardship. Among these, investing in its people to attract, retain and develop talented professionals stands out as a key material issue for Croda.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Croda engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement (in 2017) |
| Customers & Consumers | · Croda held 33,986 meetings with customers |
| Investors
| · Croda attended numerous investor conferences and roadshows in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia and regularly co-ordinated investor site visits |
| Suppliers
| · Croda held over 2000 face-to-face meetings with raw material suppliers |
| Employees | · Croda held face to face employee cascades across its operations throughout the year, with many locations meeting at least twice a year |
| Community | · Croda’s employees recorded 5,073 hours supporting the wider societies Croda is a part of through the company’s 1% club |
| Non-Government Organisations | · Croda continues to work closely with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, sitting on the RSPO Claims & Communications Standing Committee and frequently presenting at RSPO meetings |
| Governance & Regulatory | · Croda is an active member of over 190 national and international industry associations |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritize material topics Croda conducted, in 2014, an external stakeholder survey with employees, customers, suppliers and local communities, whose findings were supplemented with an internal survey in 2015.
What actions were taken by Croda to invest in its people to attract, retain and develop talented professionals?
In its 2017 Sustainability Report Croda reports that it took the following actions for investing in its people to attract, retain and develop talented professionals:
- Blending HR systems into one specialist system
- In 2017 Croda approved an important investment to combine the company’s core HR, talent, performance management, learning, recruitment and on-boarding systems into one specialist HR system. In addition, through its global Aspire performance management system Croda ensured that in 2017, 92% of employees received a formal appraisal that included development and career discussions.
- Introducing a new leadership programme
- To fill a gap in its suite of development programmes at the senior leader level, Croda launched a new leadership programme, called LEAD. The nine month programme’s aim is to improve leadership effectiveness by increasing self-awareness and understanding of being a leader in today’s business world. The programme was first introduced in the Asia Pacific region and uses residential, group coaching and a business project facilitated by the use of both internal and external trainers.
- Implementing a graduate recruitment programme
- Croda’s graduate recruitment programme serves as a source of new talent for the company. Croda hires graduates from a range of disciplines across the globe and makes sure it offers them fulfilling careers once they have left the graduate training scheme. As a result, Croda’s retention of graduates is better than the industry average.
Which GRI Standards have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover
2) Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
3) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Croda, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original at the link:
https://www.croda.com/en-gb/sustainability/sustainability-reports
2) http://www.fbrh.co.uk/en/global-reporting-initiative-gri-g4-guidelines-download-page
3) https://g4.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
4) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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