What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2020-21 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail identified a range of material issues, such as climate change and emissions reduction, customer service, health, safety and wellbeing, community impacts. Among these, promoting sustainability across its supply chain stands out as a key material issue for Royal Mail.

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:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Royal Mail engages with:

Stakeholder Group

Customers

Investors

Unions

Communities

Suppliers

Governments

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Royal Mail engaged with its stakeholders through one-to-one interviews, surveys and an external stakeholder panel.

What actions were taken by Royal Mail to promote sustainability across its supply chain?

In its 2020-21 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainability across its supply chain:

• Implementing a Responsible Procurement Code of Conduct
• Royal Mail sets clear environmental, social and ethical expectations for its suppliers in its Responsible Procurement Code of Conduct, which requires suppliers to comply with internationally recognised standards, such as the UN Global Compact Principles on topics covering human and labour rights, anti-corruption and environmental protection. The GLS Supplier Code is based on the same UN framework. GLS expects suppliers to respect the standards laid out in the Code, implement them using appropriate measures, and adhere to them in their business activities. They must also take appropriate measures to ensure that the standards are met by their own supply chain.

• Assessing supply chain risks
• Engaging new suppliers poses potential reputational, financial or legal risks to Royal Mail. The level of risk is therefore assessed during the on-boarding of new suppliers using a number of factors. Royal Mail pre-screens all potential suppliers before asking them to participate in a tender. During invitation to tender it asks additional questions about their CR performance. Risks associated with the supplier are assessed based on the geography, size, business sector and scope, and recorded on the Procurement Risk Register. Risks are reviewed weekly to assess whether additional risk mitigation measures are required. Critical risks may be escalated to the Board or Board members for approval. Royal Mail’s Procurement Risk Register outlines its most critical supply chain risks as well as the risks most relevant to each of its supplier categories. The risks Royal Mail identified that are most prominent to ensuring responsible business operations are the following: reputation, probity, compliance (legal and regulatory), safety, environmental and materials provenance and equality, fairness and diversity. Royal Mail regularly reviews the Register to make sure that it is identifying new risks and setting out mitigating actions.

• Screening and auditing suppliers
• The large majority of new suppliers state their compliance with Royal Mail’s Responsible Procurement Code, which aligns to the UN Global Compact Principles. Where suppliers do not confirm compliance with Royal Mail’s code, Royal Mail undertakes additional screening by reviewing the supplier’s own policies and business standards where available, and undertakes additional screening through the GAN Integrity screening service. This service provides Royal Mail with information related to previous investigations that may have been conducted on a supplier as well as any convictions or adverse press. In some cases, Royal Mail may require third-party audits. During FY2020-21, a programme of on-site audits took place with 16 subcontractors. The results, including the remediation plans and evidence of completion were reported via the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) platform. Sedex allows Royal Mail to track its suppliers’ ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance as well as conduct third-party audits to ensure their accuracy of disclosure. In the event that a supplier fails to meet Royal Mail’s standards, it takes decisive action such as removing them from its supply chain. GLS expects the same high standards of ethical practice in its supply chain that it follows in its own business. Every GLS employee involved in selecting business partners and suppliers is responsible for ensuring that the appropriate processes are followed. All GLS suppliers are expected to comply with its Supplier Code of Conduct.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria

2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria

4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

 

Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.

Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
• Targets: 5.2
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Targets: 8.8
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Targets: 16.1

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.
References:

This case study is based on published information by Royal Mail, 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 following link:

https://www.royalmailgroup.com/media/11488/royal-mail-group-cr-report-2020-21-interactive-final.pdf

Note to Royal Mail: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail identified a range of material issues, such as community relations, customer service, employee relations, responsible procurement. Among these, combatting human trafficking stands out as a key material issue for Royal Mail.

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:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Royal Mail engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Customers	·      Royal Mail’s customer services engage in approximately 7.5 million customer conversations a year by phone, email and Twitter ·      www.royalmail.com website ·      Royal Mail’s postmen and women interact with customers daily ·      Sales team of account managers – field, desk, new business and specialists – interact with business customers on a daily basis
Colleagues	·      Weekly Work Time Listening and Learning sessions for frontline employees ·      Just Say It (an email link to Royal Mail’s CEO) ·      Royal Mail TV ·      Intranet and extranet (www.myroyalmail.com) ·       Town Hall forums and engagement with senior managers ·      Royal Mail’s monthly magazine, Courier
Unions	·      Weekly meetings between CWU representatives and frontline operational managers ·      Ad hoc meetings to support individuals ·      Operations directors, project managers and the Industrial Relations team engage with unions on all business-wide issues ·      Ongoing collaborative meetings to involve Royal Mail’s unions in efficiency improvements and growth opportunities
Investors	·      A comprehensive investor relations programme ·      Full year and half year results presentations and first and fourth quarter trading updates ·      Annual General Meeting ·      Publication of Annual Report and Financial Statements ·      The investors section of Royal Mail’s website ·      Internal communication channels for Royal Mail’s employee shareholders
Regulator – Ofcom	·      Royal Mail’s Regulation and Competition Policy team regularly engages through face-to-face meetings, reporting and consultation responses
Elected representatives and officials	·      Royal Mail’s Public Affairs and EU Policy teams engage regularly with elected representatives and Government officials through responses to formal consultations, briefings and Royal Mail’s outreach programme. This includes ‘Walking in your postie’s shoes’ and other operational visits
Local communities	·      Royal Mail’s CR and Community Investment team engages with charity partners and organisations to drive positive social impacts ·      Colleagues interact with communities daily
Suppliers	·      Group Procurement liaises with suppliers before sourcing, and monitors compliance with Royal Mail’s Responsible Procurement Code, which sets out the high standards of ethical, social and environmental conduct Royal Mail expect from its suppliers ·      Contract managers monitor suppliers’ contractual obligations and KPIs ·      GLS engages with transport providers in Germany to embed ethical principles through its Partner Code

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Royal Mail engaged with its stakeholders through surveys, interviews and a stakeholder panel. Participants were asked to rank various issues according to priority and included customers, consumers, employees, unions, shareholders, suppliers and environmental representatives.

What actions were taken by Royal Mail to combat human trafficking?

In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail reports that it took the following actions for combatting human trafficking:

• Tightening controls
• Royal Mail decided to take some additional steps to further tighten the controls it has in place for higher risk parts of its supply chain and operations:
  • Royal Mail’s on-boarding process for UK suppliers now includes a specific question on modern slavery and human trafficking. This requires potential suppliers to confirm their compliance with all applicable labour and employment laws, which include all anti-slavery and anti-trafficking legislation, the Modern Slavery Act, or equivalent national legislation.
  • In October 2016, Royal Mail introduced a new clause to the standard Royal Mail contract terms, which requires suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery Act and notify Royal Mail of any breaches. This applies to all new contracts and contract extensions and amendments with current suppliers.
  • In March 2017, Royal Mail created a risk map to identify higher risk supplier categories. The results of this risk mapping exercise will be used to develop and strengthen Royal Mail’s supply chain controls.
  • Royal Mail is developing a human rights risk assessment, which higher risk business units will be required to complete each year.

• Additionally, should any instances of modern slavery or human trafficking come to light, contracts with the relevant suppliers may be terminated. Royal Mail takes the necessary action when its Responsible Procurement Code is not complied with and, in 2016–17, terminated dealings with a supplier that failed an unannounced, independent factory audit, raising serious concerns about the supplier’s approach to worker safety.

• Providing training
• In 2016–17, Royal Mail’s UK Procurement team received training on the Modern Slavery Act and the new legal requirements, with further training planned for 2017–18. Through this training Royal Mail makes sure that relevant employees are aware of its procedures for identifying, managing and mitigating any risk of modern slavery and human trafficking taking place in its business and supply chain – including how to report any concerns. Royal Mail also developed an e-learning course on modern slavery and human trafficking, available to a wider group of employees.

• Encouraging employees to raise concerns
• Royal Mail’s whistleblowing helpline, ‘Speak Up’, allows employees (including contractors and temporary workers) to raise concerns about serious wrongdoing, anonymously. This includes any concerns about violations of human rights. Royal Mail’s General Logistics Systems (GLS) also operates a whistleblowing system to enable employees, business partners and third parties to report, in confidence, any concerns regarding criminal acts or other serious offences.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk

2) Disclosure 412-1 Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments

Disclosure 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Business theme: Freedom of association and collective bargaining

Disclosure 412-1 Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments does not correspond to any SDG.

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

 

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Royal Mail, 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 on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

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/

Note to Royal Mail: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail identified a range of material issues, such as community relations, customer service, employee relations, business integrity. Among these, reducing transport emissions stands out as a key material issue for Royal Mail.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Framework

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the principle of stakeholder inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Royal Mail engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Customers	·      Royal Mail’s customer services engage in approximately 7.5 million customer conversations a year by phone, email and Twitter ·      www.royalmail.com website ·      Royal Mail’s postmen and women interact with customers daily ·      Sales team of account managers – field, desk, new business and specialists – interact with business customers on a daily basis
Colleagues	·      Weekly Work Time Listening and Learning sessions for frontline employees ·      Just Say It (an email link to Royal Mail’s CEO) ·      Royal Mail TV ·      Intranet and extranet (www.myroyalmail.com) ·       Town Hall forums and engagement with senior managers ·      Royal Mail’s monthly magazine, Courier
Unions	·      Weekly meetings between CWU representatives and frontline operational managers ·      Ad hoc meetings to support individuals ·      Operations directors, project managers and the Industrial Relations team engage with unions on all business-wide issues ·      Ongoing collaborative meetings to involve Royal Mail’s unions in efficiency improvements and growth opportunities
Investors	·      A comprehensive investor relations programme ·      Full year and half year results presentations and first and fourth quarter trading updates ·      Annual General Meeting ·      Publication of Annual Report and Financial Statements ·      The investors section of Royal Mail’s website ·      Internal communication channels for Royal Mail’s employee shareholders
Regulator – Ofcom	·      Royal Mail’s Regulation and Competition Policy team regularly engages through face-to-face meetings, reporting and consultation responses
Elected representatives and officials	·      Royal Mail’s Public Affairs and EU Policy teams engage regularly with elected representatives and Government officials through responses to formal consultations, briefings and Royal Mail’s outreach programme. This includes ‘Walking in your postie’s shoes’ and other operational visits ·
Local communities	·      Royal Mail’s CR and Community Investment team engages with charity partners and organisations to drive positive social impacts ·      Colleagues interact with communities daily
Suppliers	·      Group Procurement liaises with suppliers before sourcing, and monitors compliance with Royal Mail’s Responsible Procurement Code, which sets out the high standards of ethical, social and environmental conduct Royal Mail expect from its suppliers ·      Contract managers monitor suppliers’ contractual obligations and KPIs ·      GLS engages with transport providers in Germany to embed ethical principles through its Partner Code

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics Royal Mail engaged stakeholders, including customers, consumers, employees, unions, shareholders, suppliers and environmental representatives, through surveys, interviews and a stakeholder panel. Participants were asked to rank a variety of social, financial and environmental issues in terms of their importance for Royal Mail.

What actions were taken by Royal Mail to reduce transport emissions?

In its 2016-17 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail reports that it took the following actions for reducing transport emissions:

• Changing driving styles
• Royal Mail uses telemetry and training to promote safer and more fuel efficient driving styles. Royal Mail’s telemetry system tracks drivers in real time, giving visible and audible warnings when they drive in a way that increases fuel consumption and emissions. In 2016-17, Royal Mail installed telemetry to around 2,900 vehicles and, today, 40 per cent of Royal Mail’s fleet is equipped with this technology. In 2016-17, telemetry saved Royal Mail approximately 1,751,105 litres of diesel, equating to 4,693 tonnes of CO2e. In addition, Royal Mail is collaborating with Pertemps, its driver training provider, on a new course that will help Royal Mail’s heavy fleet drivers use in-cab technology to improve safety and fuel efficiency.

• Investing in new vehicles
• In 2016-17 Royal Mail acquired 2,859 new vehicles, including 713 trucks and 2,146 smaller vans, which comply with the Euro 6 standard on commercial vehicle emissions. This standard aims to reduce levels of harmful exhaust emissions, such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and other pollutants. Additionally, Royal Mail replaced 233 single-deck trailers with 75 double-deck trailers that can transport more items per journey.

• Making Royal Mail’s transport network more efficient
• Royal Mail uses specialist technology to plan its transport networks for maximum efficiency, using a mix of road, rail and air. Royal Mail uses airmail only for First Class, Special Delivery and priority traffic obligations. Minimising the use of air transport, helps Royal Mail lower its CO2e emissions and reduce costs. In 2016-17, Royal Mail replaced air transport with road services on routes between Edinburgh and East Midlands, reducing associated CO2e emissions by approximately 2,000 tonnes annually.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization

2) Disclosure 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption

3) Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions

 

Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency, Renewable energy
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Business theme: Energy efficiency, Transport
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Business theme: Energy efficiency

Disclosure 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Business theme: Energy efficiency
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Business theme: Energy efficiency

Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions corresponds to:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• Business theme: GHG emissions
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Business theme: Ocean acidification
• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Business theme: Forest degradation

 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

 

References:

1) This case study is based on published information by Royal Mail, 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 on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

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/

Note to Royal Mail: With each case study we send out an email requesting a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.

What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail identified a range of material issues, such as customer service and relations, environmental protection, business integrity, community relations. Among these, as one of the UK’s largest employers, directly employing around 139,000 people, supporting diversity and equal opportunity in its workforce stands out as a key material issue for Royal Mail.

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:

“The organization should identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process 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 Royal Mail engages with:

Stakeholder Group	Method of engagement
Customers	·         Customer services interact with customer conversations through phone, email and twitter ·         Royal Mail’s postmen and women interact with customers daily ·         Sales teams interact with business customers
Colleagues	·         Weekly Work Time Listening and Learning sessions ·         Just Say It (an email link to CEO) ·         Town Hall forums and engagements with senior managers ·         Royal Mail’s monthly magazine, Courier
Unions	·         Weekly meetings between CWU representatives and frontline operational managers ·          Ad-hoc meetings to support individuals ·         Industrial Relations team engages with Unions on business-wide issues
Investors	·         Investor relations programme ·         Annual General Meeting (AGM) ·         Annual Report and Financial Statements ·         Investors section on Royal Mail’s website ·         Internal communication channels for employee shareholders
Regulator Ofcom	·         Royal Mail’s Regulation and Competition Policy team regularly engages through face-to-face meetings, reporting and consultation responses
Elected representatives and officials	·         Public Affairs and EU Policy teams engage regularly with elected representatives and government officials by responding to formal consultations, providing briefings and managing Royal Mail’s outreach programme to postal operations including “Walking in your postie’s shoes”
Local communities	·         Royal Mail’s CR Team engages with charity partners ·         Colleagues interact with communities daily
Suppliers	·         Group Procurement liaises with Royal Mail’s suppliers before sourcing, and then engages with contract managers

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

In 2015-16 Royal Mail conducted, through an independent consultancy, a materiality assessment, gathering stakeholder feedback through surveys and interviews and, also, through a stakeholder panel that included key stakeholders, in order to prioritize material issues.

What actions were taken by Royal Mail to support diversity and equal opportunity in its workforce?

In its 2015–16 Corporate Responsibility Report Royal Mail reports that it took the following actions for supporting diversity and equal opportunity in its workforce:

• Promoting diversity and inclusiveness through the Diversity Council, unconscious bias workshops and partnerships
• Royal Mail’s Diversity Council, responsible for fostering an inclusive culture, also supervises diversity steering groups and monitors KPIs relating to Royal Mail’s diversity performance.
• Employees with assessment responsibilities attend unconscious bias workshops and Royal Mail also created a new e-learning tool regarding unconscious bias, for managers.
• In order to ensure equal opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds, Royal Mail partners with relevant organisations.

• Supporting gender diversity
• 2015-16: Royal Mail adopted a balanced shortlist approach to recruitment that facilitated an increase in the number of women hired for frontline operational roles (from 28 to 32%).
• Royal Mail’s Spring Forward and Springboard programmes help junior female managers and female employees in non-management roles, respectively, grow and develop – during 2015-16, 269 female employees attended Springboard courses.
• Royal Mail created Connect, an online mentoring programme, to help women at Royal Mail develop through support from potential mentors.

• Employing disabled people and supporting employees with disabilities
• Royal Mail is a Disability Two Ticks employer, welcoming job applications from candidates with a disability and is also a national partner of disability charity Remploy, in order to provide jobs and placements for disabled people – Royal Mail  employed, through Remploy, more than 2,000 people with disabilities since 2006.
• Royal Mail supports disabled employees by making reasonable adjustments in the workplace and by providing additional training, when needed.

• Protecting dignity and respect in the workplace
• 2015: Royal Mail’s ‘We can sort it out’ anti-bullying and harassment campaign was launched, supported by a new mediation process regarding bullying and harassment incidents.

Which GRI indicators/Standards have been addressed?

The GRI indicators/Standards addressed in this case are:

1) G4-LA12: Composition of governance bodies and breakdown of employees per employee category according to gender, age group, minority group membership, and other indicators of diversity – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees

2) G4-LA13: Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men by employee category, by significant locations of operation – the updated GRI Standard is: Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men

Why diversity matters

• A diverse workforce drives both innovation and market growth for companies (Harvard Business Review)
• Employees from companies embracing diversity are 45 percent more likely to report that their company’s market share increased during the preceding year and 70 more likely to report that their company captured a new market (Harvard Business Review)
• Workplace diversity across a number of dimensions, like education or personality, improves a group’s performance and creativity (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
• Diversity enhances a group’s ability to manage conflict (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
• Gender-diverse teams are more productive compared to single-gender ones (MIT News)
• Switching from a single-sex office to a gender-diverse one could increase revenues by approximately 41% (MIT News)

 

References:

1) This case study was compiled using published information by Royal Mail which is located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but 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 following link:

http://www.royalmailgroup.com/sites/default/files/Royal%20Mail%20Group%20Corporate%20Responsibility%20Report%202015-16_0.pdf (June 2016)

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/

5) https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation

6) https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/diverse-backgrounds-personalities-can-strengthen-groups

7) http://news.mit.edu/2014/workplace-diversity-can-help-bottom-line-1007

Note to Royal Mail: With each case study we send out an email to your listed address in request for a comment on this case study. If you have not received such an email please contact us.