We continue to build an ethical, trusted company, where everyone impacted by our operations can feel confident that their rights are respected.
Electrolux will earn the trust of everyone impacted by our operations, demonstrating our commitment to ethics and human rights through our words and actions.
A strong culture of ethics is vital for stakeholder trust and long-term business success. Consumers are increasingly making purchasing choices based on whether a company is perceived as being trustworthy and how it contributes to society. Additionally, employees prefer to work for a company with values that match their own. Corruption also increases the cost of doing business globally by up to 10% on average, according to the World Economic Forum.
Our company is built on trust, which means everything we do and all decisions we make are governed by the principles of ethics, integrity, and respect for people and our planet – no matter where in the world we work.
Our Workplace Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics, and Policy on Corruption and Bribery are the foundation for our work with ethics, anti-corruption and human rights. The Code of Conduct constitutes our human rights policy, and guides our efforts to assess, manage and mitigate the risks of non-compliance. It also helps define our expectations throughout the value chain.
Accountability for the Ethics Program and oversight of Human Rights lies with the Ethics & Human Rights Steering Group, which comprises of representatives from Group Management. Human rights procedures engage many functions throughout our organization, from Sustainability Affairs and Human Resources to Purchasing, Industrial Operations and Compliance.
Bridging different countries, cultures and local practices in a global organization
Raising the bar on diversity: Identifying and addressing barriers to greater gender diversity
Electrolux will earn the trust of everyone impacted by our operations, demonstrating our commitment to ethics and human rights through our words and actions.
| The roadmap to 2020 | Next steps |
|---|---|
| Develop and implement a cohesive, group-wide approach to human rights. |
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| Provide guidance to employees on how to do the right thing by promoting the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics. |
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| Be responsive and respectful when dealing with issues of concern, building trust in our Ethics Program among employees. |
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| Develop and implement an effective global Anti-Corruption compliance program. |
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On track
Additional effort is required
Off track
Work has not yet begun
In 2017, we developed a framework for local human rights risk assessments, which was piloted in Egypt and Thailand. The framework focuses on identifying the risk of harming people, as a direct or indirect result of our operations, and includes corruption risks as well as opportunities to increase local positive impacts. Read more in Understanding and managing our human rights risks.
In 2017, approximately 1000 employees and line managers took part in our Code of Conduct e-learning training, corresponding to approximately 500 hours of training in total. Additionally, Electrolux has launched Group-wide e-learning courses on anti-corruption as well as a US local e-learning program. These initiatives complement the tailored training that certain functions such as sales, procurement and senior management receive (which are more exposed to corruption risks). Such face-to-face training sessions have been conducted locally throughout the organization by either in-house legal counsel or by external experts. Training requirements are continuously monitored and evaluated based on business needs, and the legal and risk context.
In the second half of 2017, a project to update our Group Policies began. The objective is to make our commitments and expectations clearer to all employees and other key stakeholders. In 2018, this project will deliver updated policies, and programs to educate all employees and managers.
Through the Ethics at Electrolux program, we encourage employees to report incidents to their manager, HR department or another relevant person in the organization. They can use our whistle-blowing system, the Ethics Helpline (Alertline in North America), where incidents can be reported in local languages. By the end of 2017, 99% of our employees had access to the whistle-blowing system.
In 2017, 186 (151) cases were reported through the whistle-blowing system. 118 (73) reports led to investigation, and 68 (78) cases were considered beyond the scope of the Helpline or lacking sufficient detail to enable investigation. The highest number of reports related to discrimination and harassment, such as the use of abusive language or disrespectful behavior. Typically, these cases resulted in warnings and retraining, but in some severe cases to dismissal. A proportion of the cases fell into the category 'Other' including practices related to compensation and promotion, as well as inappropriate behavior in the workplace. In 2017, 17 (four in 2016) people were dismissed from the company as a consequence of investigations into Helpline cases.
In 2017, we worked to build greater awareness and trust around ethics and the Helpline, with the objective to achieve a 74% level of trust in the Helpline in the next employee engagement survey planned for March 2018.
Sexual harassment and procedures for handling misconduct have been on the agenda of the Group Management meeting during the year, and plans including reinforced guidance and education for managers and HR were agreed. These activities were initiated in January 2017.
At Electrolux, we want to ensure that all employees are treated according to their abilities and qualifications in any employment decision. We have a particular focus on gender diversity, and aim to continuously improve the number of female leaders at all levels, and seek female applicants for every position as part of the recruitment process. Our overall gender split is 36% women and 64% men.
At the end of 2017, 28% (25) of Tier 2 managers and 32% (27) of Tier 3 managers were women - a great step forward and indication that we are on the right path. Following an increased focus on gender diversity by Group Management, we raised our goal to 35% women for Tier 2 and Tier 3 managers by 2020.
During 2017, several initiatives and networks were established to promote diversity and inclusion. The vision is to contribute to the company's business success by drawing on the full power of gender diversity, and the ambition is to build a network throughout the company.
Our partnership with AIESEC, an international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential, allows us to tap into a diverse talent pool by offering internships throughout our Global operations. At the year-end, Electrolux had 80 interns from 34 different countries. 55% were women, and the total global retention rate for interns was 68%. We will continue to raise awareness of our sustainability priorities and ambitions and focus on finding talent within the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics together with AIESEC (STEM pilot program).
Data included of the following:
The majority of the cases related to ‘discrimination and harassment’, involved the use of abusive language or disrespectful behavior. ‘Other’ includes cases that cannot easily be categorized into one area, and are often a mix of allegations of misconduct, such as practices linked to compensation, promotion, and inappropriate behavior in the workplace. ‘Business integrity’ includes cases relating to anti-corruption, fraud, theft and anti-trust.
| Survey statement | Proportion of non-production employees responding positively to the statement | Proportion of production employees responding positively to the statement | Proportion of total worforce responding positively to the statement |
|---|---|---|---|
| I understand how I am expected to act in order to follow the Code of Conduct | 94% | 80% | 85% |
| The concerns reported through the Ethics Helpline/Alertline are handled confidentially and fairly | 76% | 62% | 67% |
| At Electrolux, people with diverse backgrounds, styles and approaches have equal opportunities for development | 72% (68) | 72% (68) | |
| At Electrolux, equal treatment of employees is both supported and promoted | 72% (67) | 48% (37) | 57% |
The level of understanding of the Code of Conduct is high amongst employees, but the level of trust in the Ethics Helpline needs to be addressed in several regions. The questions on diversity and equal treatment indicate an improvement compared with last year, whereas production employees are less positive in this area.