|
Responsible Achievements
As V.Group continues to grow and diversify, pursuing a strategy of corporate and social responsibility (CSR) has become a business imperative.
Building Trust in our Company
Trust is increasingly important for influencing the way in which employees, customers, suppliers and the broader public judge a company. As such, building trust and credibility is central to V.Group’s future success and will result in part from the development of a corporate and social responsibility (CSR) policy.
CSR is about creating trust among the employees who work for us so that they recognise V.Group as a good company to work for. Customers and suppliers too trust us as a reputable organisation to do business with, while investors and financiers see us as a company worth backing. In the communities where we have an impact it is also important for us to be a company that cares about and responds to social issues.
The Path to CSR
We have begun our journey towards operating within a more formally defined framework for corporate and social responsibility by putting in place a number of programmes and an investment in resources dedicated to CSR.
Our V.Ships Training Report process promotes the concept of continuous professional development, setting training targets amongst sea staff and defining their objectives for the year ahead. We have also instituted a broader crewing strategy with a greater emphasis on crew welfare, training and development. Our Cadet Programme demonstrates a long-term commitment to ensuring we have the qualified and professional staff demanded by our clients.
A key element of any CSR policy is safety. We must conduct our operations in a safe and secure manner to protect our employees, the people they work alongside and the locations in which they work. We are compliant to ISO9000 which gives us a framework around which a quality management system can be operated. Our SafeShips policy incorporates a series of initiatives and education promoting on-board safety and environmental protection.
We continue to build relationships in the communities where we operate and make donations to local fundraising efforts as well as match funds raised by our individual employees. In 2006 we supported the Tour Pour La Mer, a 200km charity cycling event involving 300 riders from the maritime industry to raise £250,000 for The Mission to Seafarers and The Sea Alarm Foundation.
We are aware that being socially responsible benefits us all if we do it effectively. This means identifying the actions that will have most impact on our particular company, managing them in a professional way – and communicating what we are doing. And this is the essence of our CSR policy.
Responsible Business
Our clients demand products and services that are fit for purpose and good value, but in today’s more socially aware environment they are not prepared to source from companies that behave irresponsibly. As such, many large companies, including oil majors and blue-chip shipping companies, are now building socially responsible performance into the criteria they use for selecting suppliers.
In certain cases existing or prospective V.Group clients expect their suppliers and subcontractors to perform to their own high standards – particularly in the area of environmental performance, Health and Safety and on the issue of human rights. Because of the potential damage to the reputations of large companies that get it wrong, this trend is likely to become ever more widespread.
Our focus on CSR will enable us to meet these demands and ensure we are able to demonstrate our clear commitment to good business practice. At the same time the strengthening of our corporate governance will ensure that we have the clear and robust processes and procedures that are needed to operate our business as effi ciently as possible – an essential component in a competitive industry.
A Professional Workforce
The success of our business depends on attracting and retaining the best people – both shore-based and seabased. MORI research throughout the 1990s consistently found that the vast majority of people believed a company that supported society and the community was a good company to work for. As such our CSR policy will play a vital role in our recruitment of the very highest calibre employees.
Empirical research suggests that there is a direct correlation between the improvement of a company’s environmental performance and policies and its business results and staff retention. Our social responsibility, therefore, will help us to retain, develop and enhance the performance of employees keen to play a part in an organisation of which they can be proud.
We are currently developing a comprehensive set of CSR policies, practice and programmes that are integrated throughout our business operations and decision-making processes. These are fully supported by V.Group’s management. | 
