Shire’s first ever stakeholder survey made interesting – if variable – reading, and gave a new priority to some key questions |
In the spring of 2007 Good Corporation ran a survey of Shire’s key stakeholder groups in the UK and US. Independent audit and assurance is becoming an increasingly important aspect of corporate sustainability, and this was the original idea behind the project. However, as we discussed the brief in more detail it became clear that with the time and resources available, and considering the stage Shire was at, a stakeholder survey would be the most useful and efficient way forward. Good Corporation impressed us not only with the rigour they apply to their research, but also for the ‘kitemark’ they award to companies scoring at least 75% in their surveys.
In the first quarter of 2007 over 500 questionnaires were sent out to a wide range of important groups in the UK and the US, including major shareholders, employees, doctors, business partners and community groups. The questions ranged from our record on health and safety, the environment, and the community, to employment policies, and the quality and content of our CR publications.
If we’re honest, the results were rather more mixed than we had expected. Some were particularly pleasing: we achieved a maximum 100% from UK customers on the clarity and accuracy of our product labeling for example, and the same high scores from US shareholders on corporate governance, and the access we offer them to senior management. 86% of US employees would rate our track record as a fair and responsible organization as ‘excellent or above average’, and 83% of UK suppliers said the same.
On the other hand, there were clear issues raised by UK shareholders, UK employees and US customers. In the first two groups the causes were to some extent related. As Shire grows into a genuinely global business, our twin presence in both the US and UK brings new challenges. One is the fact that UK shareholders are more demanding about face to face time with senior management versus those in the US who are more used to phone contact, and this was reflected in the questionnaire responses. Likewise, at the time the survey was carried out a number of UK employees had recently had their reporting lines transferred to managers in the US, which naturally took some time to get used to. That said, there were other wider issues raised by UK employees, and these covered subjects as diverse as equal opportunities, grievance procedures, and terms and conditions. As Louise Wright, HR Business Partners, says, “We’ve taken this feedback very much to heart, and we’re already taking action to address it. ”We’ve also stepped up our internal communications on Shire’s community work and volunteering opportunities in the UK – another area where we scored lower than we’d have liked, largely because of a lack of awareness about the extent of our work in this area.
The results from US customers were more complex to decipher. Some dissatisfaction was undoubtedly related to the withdrawal of a limited quantity of DAYTRANA™ patches from the market, which is discussed in more detail on page 11. The feedback we had about this from patients and doctors has been very appreciative, but it’s clear from the Good Corporation survey that we could have handled the customer side better. We’ve set up a new customer care program to tackle the more general issues this has highlighted – again, there’s more on this on page 11 of the Corporate Responsibility Report.
All in all, we learned a lot, and fully intend to run a follow-up survey in due course. As Jessica Mann, SVP of Global Corporate Communications, says, “It was disappointing to come so close to getting the 75% ‘kitemark’ score and not quite get there. But 71% is still a very good result, and falling just short means there’s no danger of us becoming complacent. It’s also ensured that the issues raised have been taken very seriously. I think we can already see evidence of this in the fact that in the BitC index – carried out only a few months later – we improved our ranking from Silver to Gold. That really was gratifying.”
CR Report 2007
