Human and Employee Rights
NKT has a long-standing tradition of respect for individual rights as well as extensive cooperation between management and employees
Being a global company it is also our obligation to assure these rights in areas of the world where they are not necessarily prioritized. This is especially important when NKT acquires companies in such areas. For NKT, consideration of these issues is now an integral part of M&A procedures. In addition, NKT also has a set of policies related to Human and Employee Rights. They are available on our corporate website: www.nkt.dk/uk/Menu/About+NKT/Policies.
Codes of ethics
All business areas have goals for manager information and acceptance of the UN Global Compact. Some business areas have elaborated on the NKT Ethics Statement with the aim to make their own version known, understood and accepted by all white collar employees. More initiatives will follow in the next reporting period.
Value chain adherence to UN Global Compact
One of our goals is to integrate Human and Employee Rights in our value chains. We therefore require that our suppliers also comply with the UN Global Compact. Our objective is that by the end of 2011 at least 80% of the Group’s suppliers (annual purchase value above 50,000 EUR) shall be contractually committed to the 10 principles, see the figure below.
While suppliers in EMEA/APAC countries show great willingness to adhere to the UN Global Compact, suppliers in other geographic areas remain reluctant. However, NKT continues to push this issue when negotiating new contracts.
Work accidents
The health and safety of our employees is a key NKT management concern. Absence caused by occupational injuries is reported in all our business units, and high targets for improvement are set. Although well on the way, status shows that in some business areas even more attention is needed in this area in order to be among the best. More business areas have set a zero occupational injury goal.
It's all about people
Attracting and retaining the right employees with unique competencies is alpha and omega for a specialized group such as NKT. Many business areas have special talent development programmes while others e.g. offer English courses to ensure that the employees can work across borders in a continuously growing global company.
COP 2011