Corporate Social Responsibility Statement
The Board has overall responsibility for establishing the Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Statement and associated policies with Steve Cooke,
Group Finance Director, taking individual responsibility for the creation, operation and implementation of the Group’s CSR Statement and strategy.
LSL believes that it is necessary to support responsibly grounded business decision making, to consider the broad impact of corporate actions
on people, communities, and the environment. The growing awareness of and attention to social responsibility issues has many benefits for
corporations such as LSL and by way of this statement, LSL recognises that its employees are central to the Group meeting its CSR, Environmental and
Community Investment objectives. Guidelines, progress and achievements are communicated to employees at regular intervals through bulletins,
intranet sites and notice boards as appropriate.
LSL’s focus is on actions that the Group can take over and above its legal requirements to address its competitive interests in the wider society and
underpins all other internal policies that the Group adheres to. LSL actively ensures that its businesses are compliant and proactive in respect of
legislation, in accordance with the interests of its employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.
LSL believes that the objective of providing goods and services needed or desired by members of society while returning a profit to Shareholders
can be – and should be – fully compatible with addressing social responsibility concerns and vice versa. For example, LSL’s environmental policy
and performance demonstrates its commitment to the reduction of energy consumption and the positive impact that this has had both on the
environment and in terms of cost reduction to the Group’s businesses.
The Board recognises that it is important for Group companies to operate in a responsible way. LSL’s stakeholders expect LSL to take issues into
account and LSL in turn has a duty to demonstrate to them how it is living up to this expectation. This can often mean balancing competing demands
which are placed on LSL as a public company and as a property services group.
This section of the Report details how LSL seeks to manage these interests.
LSL’s objectives extend to its relationships with customers and suppliers, and all Group companies will seek to be honest and fair in these
relationships. Further, ethics, hospitality and conflicts policies are in place to govern these relationships.
The LSL Board takes account of the significance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters in its decision making. The Board has
identified the significant ESG risks to LSL’s short and long term value, as well as the opportunities to enhance value that may arise from an appropriate
response. The Board has ensured that LSL has in place effective systems for managing and mitigating significant risks, which, where relevant,
incorporate performance management systems and appropriate remuneration incentives.
1. our People
LSL recognises that its people are a valuable asset and are committed to providing a working environment in which employees can develop to achieve
their full potential with opportunities for both professional and personal development.
By creating such an environment, LSL believes it will enable the retention and recruitment of the right people to work at every level throughout
the Group. An essential part of this strategy is to encourage and promote effective communication with all employees which is achieved through
employee opinion surveys. This also ensures that LSL, in its decision making, takes into account its employees’ views.
During 2012 LSL’s Talent Team won a Chartered Institute of Personnel Development HR Award in recognition of its success in talent acquisition. The
team won the Talent Attraction and Management Award, following the creation of dedicated talent acquisition teams whose prime objective is to
attract the ‘best in the business’ to join the LSL Group.
Based in Southampton, Newcastle, Derby and London the teams, led by dedicated recruitment specialists, aim to promote the significant benefits
of working in LSL with each drawing on their expertise in recruitment, training, financial services and HR. The judges praised LSL’s creation of the
teams and also its investment in systems to streamline the recruitment process including the creation of an online talent management platform that
enables candidates to track the status of their application.
2. our Approach
LSL’s aim is to be recognised by existing and potential future employees as a responsible employer that values its people and the contribution they
make, both in the business and in the wider community. LSL recognises that its market leading positions in Estate Agency and Surveying are achieved
by the quality and service provided by LSL employees. Group employees are LSL’s key differentiator and it is this principle that guides LSL’s decision
making on how it approaches the management of its people.
50 ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012