Stakeholder dialogue 2015 Snapshot report
Contents 3 Our approach 4 Key highlights this year Stakeholder assessment of our new Citizenship strategy Stakeholder feedback on our approach to integrated reporting Engaging stakeholders through debate Building coalitions: supporting entrepreneurs Financial inclusion in the UK Financial inclusion in Africa Connecting with clients 11 Engaging with our employees Barclays Lens Citizenship insights and learning sessions 14 What we are planning to do 2 Stakeholder dialogue
Our approach This past year has marked the culmination of Barclays 2012-2015 Citizenship Plan, our most bold and forward-looking strategy to date. Stakeholder dialogue has been a constant throughout the delivery of the Plan and has helped to lay firm foundations for the next chapter in our Citizenship ambitions. There is significant opportunity to embed Citizenship activities into our business. With this in mind, our dialogue over the past year with customers, clients, colleagues, shareholders and community stakeholders has focused on understanding what our stakeholders want us to achieve with our evolved strategy, from innovation in products and services, to employability and entrepreneurship programmes, to how we set and report against targets. This report is a summary of our stakeholder engagement activity in 2015, key feedback and our intended actions and responses. 3 Stakeholder dialogue
Key highlights this year Stakeholder assessment of our new Citizenship strategy Utilising our network of stakeholders with expertise in sustainability and citizenship, we presented our evolved Citizenship strategy, which will aim to deliver both commercial as well as societal value. Feedback from these stakeholders was considered and incorporated into the development of the evolved strategy, set to launch in 2016. Where necessary, experts were involved to review and provide feedback on specific commitments and focus areas. There was overarching approval of the approach and stakeholders emphasised the importance of aligning and integrating the Citizenship strategy with the core services of the bank. They made the following observations and recommendations: As well as embedding the Citizenship strategy within business units, there is a need (and opportunity) for business units to work together to leverage complementary capabilities, especially different strategies which impact overlapping user-groups There needs to be clarity on Barclays definition of society and societal growth. There should also be a consistent articulation of both the commercial ambition and positive social impacts of the overall approach There must be a focus on broad client base rather than specific niche groups Barclays must articulate how the Citizenship strategy is part of its strategic long-term thinking and core purpose Collaboration and partnering must play a key role in delivery against the ambition. Across the commitment areas, stakeholders suggested there are unique and valuable roles for Barclays to play through its own innovation but in many cases this will be through working with others. The launch of the new Citizenship strategy will by no means mark the completion of this type of dialogue. Rather, it will continue to play a central role in how we achieve our ambition to align our commercial success with societal and environmental benefits. 4 Stakeholder dialogue
Stakeholder feedback on our approach to integrated reporting This past year, we moved towards integrated reporting and as a result no longer publish a standalone Citizenship Report. Our reporting approach focuses on the Barclays PLC Strategic Report, with a supporting Citizenship Data Supplement for technical audiences. In 2014, we moved to further integrate our reporting and now provide key Citizenship performance disclosures within our Strategic Report, as part of the Annual Report. We have also reflected principles around integration of relevant Citizenship issues in the discussion on business purpose, value creation and business model in the Strategic Report. We are on a journey towards further integration both in terms of disclosures but also, more fundamentally, in strategy and performance. To assess how well these reports met our stakeholders information needs and reporting expectations, we commissioned an independent review among investors, NGOs, standard setters, academics, specialist media and other companies. Feedback following the 2014 Report clearly stated that we were moving in the right direction, with an understanding that it would take time to develop a truly integrated approach. Stakeholders are keen to continue to see this evolution in the depth and breadth of forthcoming reports. The broader approach should also aim to answer the question, what is the social utility of a bank? This will be key to helping stakeholders see it as the purpose that drives activity (responsibly and sustainably) and demonstrate the positive impact on society and the economy as a whole. The insights gained from the review informed decisionmaking for the 2015 reporting cycle. In particular, the findings served as a basis for developing the content of the 2015 Citizenship Supplement, including further disclosures on performance against Barclays strategic targets, initiatives in our business units and an updated materiality assessment. We will continue to refine our Citizenship and non-financial reporting against appropriate frameworks over the coming years. It takes a long time to build up the process and mechanisms to develop an integrated report, but Barclays has taken the first step. An integrated reporting stakeholder Stakeholders were pleased with the transparency shown in the 2014 Report, but wanted further context on key performance indicators and supported the continued publication of a data supplement. 5 Stakeholder dialogue
Engaging stakeholders through debate We continued to convene stakeholders through debates, bringing together diverse perspectives about complex social and economic issues. By facilitating such discussions we were able to bring issues to life, sharing understanding and sparking new ideas. Last year, we focused on youth employability in the UK and the future of CSR globally. Do what you love is a dangerous modern myth We convened panellists Toby Young, Co-founder of the West London Free School; Belinda Parmar, founder of Little Miss Geek; Beth Kempton, founder of Do What You Love and Bejay Mulenga, founder of Supa Tuck to ask them whether the familiar mantra do what you love is a help or a hindrance to young people starting their careers. Together they explored whether society is encouraging young people to follow their dreams at the expense of being prepared for the realities of working life. Despite strong points of difference, the panellists agreed on best practice for careers advice in the 21st century: Business and careers education need to come together to increase exposure to, and understanding of, the jobs that are out there and the skills required to get them Technology will be the enabler, allowing more ways to connect and share knowledge and experiences. These debates highlight the opportunity to bring shared value and sustainability thinking into the organisations we work with to help the organisations, and to help the world. Mark Kramer, Co-founder and Managing Director, FSG Is CSR dead? We asked two global leaders in sustainability: Mark Kramer, Co-founder and Managing Director of FSG and John Elkington, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Volans to share their very different views on the future of CSR. They were joined by Janet Voûte, Global Head of Public Affairs, Nestlé and Patrick Thomas, Chairman and CEO, Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience). The debate resulted in consensus that CSR is in need of a reboot if it s to become fit for purpose. This will involve combining a focus on responsibility with greater transparency, ultimately creating shared value, but this will require some fundamental systemic changes from changes in market incentives to how outcomes are measured. It was also agreed that a focus on outcomes is what matters most, and leading companies like Nestlé and Covestro are two examples of those pioneering this approach. To follow their example, Barclays should: Set truly ambitious objectives, including commercial ones Embrace occasional failure as proof that the ambition is challenging enough Engage directly with sceptics Keep responsibility and sustainability firmly on the agenda to give the strategy strong foundations. Learning from experts will continue to be fundamental to the way we review our strategy and push the boundaries of how we work to support the communities in which we operate. We are also continuing to find innovative ways to convene key stakeholders to have conversations on the topics that matter most to society. 6 Stakeholder dialogue
Building coalitions: supporting entrepreneurs The profound impact technology is having on the world of work is one of the key societal challenges faced around the world. Businesses need less human capital at a time when populations are rapidly increasing and youth unemployment remains stubbornly high. This is while we are all working and living longer. We have been expanding our work in both supporting entrepreneurship and youth employability with the input of stakeholders from government, academia, civil society and the private sector. At the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, we examined ways to work together to unlock entrepreneurship. Three key points which emerged were: The importance of education and entrepreneurship: More and more young people are interested and inspired by entrepreneurship. While not all of them will become an entrepreneur, entrepreneurial traits and skills developed throughout education can be character building. This is why universities across the world are working with industry to build an entrepreneurial culture throughout their institutions, to help young people better understand and have the confidence to engage with the business world. Start-up vs. scale-up: There is often an unrelenting focus on the number of start-ups created year-on-year. Yet, building a business is often harder than starting one. A significant impact on their long-term growth and success is identifying ways to connect them with businesses and investors. Silicon Valley, for example, is comprised of a cluster of pioneers, each committed to identifying ways to make products and processes better. This creates an environment in which entrepreneurial talent can learn and prosper. Clustering where you see a ripple effect can help companies to evolve and grow. And, ultimately, market forces drive big businesses to also support. Access to finance: Access to funding continues to be one of the most important issues for entrepreneurs, whether at the beginning of their business life cycle or as they look to scale. There are a number of challenges to address. For instance, how can, and should, banks fund businesses with great models but no equity or cash funds? Crowd sourcing is having an impact, but there is a much greater role for stakeholders to play in addressing funding gaps. Barclays would like to form a coalition of stakeholders to build a framework for an ecology of entrepreneurship. This group will work together to identify specific conditions and support networks that stakeholders across sectors and industries can create to support the current, and future generations of entrepreneurs. 7 Stakeholder dialogue
Financial inclusion in the UK Working with stakeholders to make banking better In 2015, we continued to work closely with UK consumer organisations and charities who advocate for older, vulnerable, socially excluded and disabled people s interests to inform the development of our products and services. This work included: Engaging our consumer group stakeholders while developing our core financial inclusion product: our new basic bank account Hosting a technology showcase to demonstrate and discuss the progress we re making on our digitisation journey and what future innovation will look like Seeking input from Age UK and Which? that heavily informed the branch closure impact assessments we produced to support the Access to Banking protocol Proactively engaging with Business Debtline to improve referral rates to the free debt advice for our selfemployed customers when they face financial difficulty, creating a better client experience and helping them to continue to trade Activating 740 branches across the North, London and the Midlands to engage with the StepChange Debt Charity s Debt Awareness Week campaign. Perhaps one of the best examples of this continued engagement was our work for vulnerable customers. We worked closely with key organisations to learn what these customers needed and how best to serve them before implementing our learnings with frontline colleagues. Customers in vulnerable circumstances With the publication of the FCA Occasional Paper in February 2015, there is increasing debate on the way to progress the customers in vulnerable circumstances agenda. Many organisations are grappling with the challenges of understanding what this means for them as well as developing their implementation plans. We hosted an event to help progress the debate and consider practical solutions for organisations both in financial services and other industries. The discussions throughout the day aimed to help organisations move the work forward. Embedding a strategic approach to vulnerability: We are developing clearer guidance for frontline colleagues on how best to record and share information from both third parties and customers. We will continue to develop and roll out targeted training across the bank, including working with external organisations to establish local relationships via our Community Driving Licence. Safeguarding customers from scams: We have established an internal working group to develop solutions to protect customers. We have also begun a data analytics trial focusing on customers over 70 who issue a high number of cheques, as this can often be an indicator that they are a victim of a scam. We ll also be working with the BBA to develop consistent, easy-to-implement consumer messaging. 8 Stakeholder dialogue
Financial inclusion in Africa Making it easier for individuals to participate in economic activity through basic financial services like bank accounts can spur growth, and technology can play a key role in unlocking this opportunity in a quick, easy and costeffective way. However, according to the World Bank, 66% of people in Africa still do not have a bank account. At the World Economic Forum Africa, Barclays held a number of events to convene leaders from financial services, government and NGOs to explore how to accelerate the positive impact of technology on financial inclusion. Our stakeholders identified a number of areas of focus, including: Finding the means to achieve mass adoption first and profit later Starting with the needs and realities of potential customers, which may be very different from existing customers Addressing challenges faced by women in order to reduce gender inequality Continuing to innovate around mobile technology Focusing on deposits as well as loans. The pace and scale of technological change presents us with an unprecedented opportunity both to spark economic growth and to reach new markets with our products and services. This relies on collaboration between many parties and we will continue to engage in this work with the aim of remaining at the forefront of this technological revolution. 9 Stakeholder dialogue
Connecting with clients Now in its ninth year, the Barclays Asia Forum is a programme, designed by our Investment Bank, which aims to link leading executives, investors, economists, public and strategic figures across the Asia Pacific region. It provides an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas on critical business issues with peers at a local and international level. The fourth Barclays Women s Leadership Forum was held after the Forum, bringing together senior female clients for a discussion covering a range of macroeconomic and market themes. The feedback from participants highlighted the importance of this event in helping them shape their understanding to inform investment decisions. Topics covered included an exploration of the real price of market values by Michael Sandel, Professor of Government, Harvard University, and insights into the future of energy, from Pulitzer Prize Winner Daniel Yergin, founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Planning is under way for the 2016 Barclays Asia Forum, which will take place in Singapore in October. 10 Stakeholder dialogue
Engaging with our employees Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) Through sustained and meaningful employee engagement, we aim to create an environment where our employees are motivated and energised. Our Employee Opinion Survey (now renamed Barclays Your View) is the tool we use to measure this globally on an annual basis. It covers all aspects of the colleague experience at Barclays and ensures that we focus on improving areas most important to our people. In 2015, the EOS found employee sustainable engagement improved from 72% to 75% (built from an index that identifies how enabled, energised and engaged our people feel). Other highlights from the survey include: The high level of understanding and commitment to our purpose and values Employees increasingly feeling a sense of personal accomplishment in their day-to-day work and belief in Barclays goals. We are continuing to drive levels of employee engagement with targeted action planning across Barclays. This includes ensuring our people have access to tools and resources required to deliver great results and continuing the work on our culture and values transformation. 11 Stakeholder dialogue
Barclays Lens Last year, we also continued the roll-out of the Barclays Lens: a decision-making tool launched in 2013 to help employees factor societal concerns into decisions to ensure we are doing business in the right way. In 2015 we focused on reaching key decision makers across the business, at Director and Managing Director levels. Using a Train the Trainer model, we have built up a network of trained trainers to help deliver the sessions globally. An online e-learning module was also developed to help drive awareness and adoption at every level. We have encouraged colleagues to use the Barclays Lens as their licence to challenge anything they feel wouldn t pass the Lens test. To date our training both face-to-face and online has reached over 50,000 colleagues. The development of the Barclays Lens Online has helped to scale the reach of the Barclays Lens. Further integration of the Barclays Lens into the Barclays Way, our code of conduct, has helped to reaffirm its importance to all employees and ensure it is part of the culture we want to see at Barclays. The Barclays Lens training will be continued, including running functional-specific sessions to ensure the content is relevant and real for all employees. Formal decisionmaking processes where the Lens could be embedded have been identified and the Lens will be used in these formal committees as part of the decision-making process. 12 Stakeholder dialogue
Citizenship insights and learning sessions We ran monthly sessions for employees interested in learning more about Citizenship. These covered a range of topics including case studies of successful partnerships and social innovation, the ambitions being set in the new Citizenship strategy and how to embed Citizenship into individual objective setting and personal development plans. The Employee Opinion Survey (now renamed Barclays Your View) demonstrated a keen interest in Citizenship, and a large percentage felt this was a key driver for their pride in working for Barclays. Regular opportunities for colleagues to learn more about Citizenship and how they can get involved were strongly desired. A new learning module has been developed for employees to bring to life the evolved Citizenship strategy. Its purpose is to demonstrate exciting opportunities that currently exist within the business, that deliver the greatest social impact and return for our business, and inspire employees into a new way of thinking. 13 Stakeholder dialogue
What we are planning to do On 1 March 2016 we reported the final outcomes of our 2012-2015 Citizenship Plan, ahead of launching and rolling out the new Citizenship strategy. Stakeholder engagement and partnership will be essential to achieving this evolved strategy, and in 2016 we will: Roll out a learning module for employees on the new strategy, focusing particularly on senior leadership Continue to drive the Barclays Lens as a key decision-making tool Encourage employees to get involved in achieving shared growth ambitions, for example in employability programmes as well as financial and digital literacy Continue to engage with external stakeholders about the journey Barclays is on, with examples of where the bank is already creating shared growth Convene stakeholders for focused discussion and debate on areas where we see breakthrough opportunities to create shared growth. To learn more about our approach and policies contact: Citizenship@barclays.com To find out more about Citizenship at Barclays, please visit home.barclays/citizenship Barclays Bank PLC. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered in England. Registered No. 1026167. Registered Office: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP. Barclays PLC 2016 14 Stakeholder dialogue