12. El diagnostico desde las diferentes perspectivas de los agentes: consumidor y
12.2. Nuevos actores para el desarrollo de nuevos negocios: problemas de la
success of the business.
planning, review and development, Spirent maintains a successful health and safety management programme and appropriate resources are made available for this purpose.
The Chief Financial Officer is the director nominated by the Board to have responsibility for the health and safety performance of the Group. No major health and safety issues were reported by the Chief Financial Officer to the Audit Committee and Board during the year.
The health and safety risk profile of the Group remained low during 2014. The main risks of the Group continue to be based around final test and assembly of products and working environment issues such as ergonomics and repetitive strain injury. The acquisitions made during 2014 had a similar risk profile to the existing Group.
The Group continued to have very low accident rates in 2014 and no incidents required any hospitalisation.
The Group Health and Safety Policy places responsibility for the management of health and safety on local management who are supported by local external advisers where necessary. It is the Group’s policy that each business unit should have a senior
individual designated as being responsible for ensuring the business unit conforms to local statutory health and safety regulations as well as the Group Policy. An annual questionnaire on health and safety performance is completed by our business units and any issues are addressed and resolved. Independent external reviews of the Company’s health and safety performance are conducted periodically at selected business units. Regular designated health and safety awareness training programmes are also carried out.
Environmental
Sustainability remains an important issue for the Group. The strategy was reviewed and updated in 2014 to ensure Spirent continues to manage all material sustainability issues and to direct the programme of action for the coming years. Whilst compliance with environmental legislation and our sustainability policy remain a key priority, our focus on opportunities and innovation has yielded good results, particularly at the Low Carbon Centre of Excellence at Paignton, and in innovation in product design and functionality in the Elevate Test Framework.
Growth in revenue and property estate in 2014 has seen a 5 per cent increase in our absolute carbon emissions from 2013 to 6,831 tonnes CO2e; however, the carbon intensity of our operations has continued to fall per m2 and $m revenue basis, down 9 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
Environmental policy and compliance
The Group Environmental Policy applies to the Company and to all subsidiaries worldwide. It commits the Group to prevention and control of pollution, minimising environmental impacts, to eco-efficiency, and to adopt responsible environmental practices.
The Group is also committed to compliance with all applicable environmental regulation in each of the jurisdictions in which it operates.
To meet these objectives, the Group endeavours to continuously improve environmental performance and to make robust environmental management integral to its overall strategy.
External consultants are periodically used to assist in this area.
The full policy can be found at http://corporate.spirent.com/
Corporate-Responsibility/Our_Policies Corporate responsibility is integral to the way Spirent
conducts its business and we are committed to advancing our policies and systems across the Group to ensure that we address all aspects of corporate social responsibility (“CSR”).
The Board takes ultimate responsibility for CSR with a fundamental commitment to create and sustain long term value for shareholders, recognising that acting responsibly and sustainably creates value. Spirent’s CSR strategy covers our accountability to all of our stakeholders, this includes striving for the highest ethical standards of business practice;
embedding a culture of health and safety; minimising our impact on the environment; supporting, developing and rewarding our employees; and supporting and engaging with the communities in which we operate.
Ethics and human rights
Spirent expects that all of its business is conducted in compliance with high ethical standards of business practice. We apply these standards to all dealings with employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders and expect high standards of respect and integrity in all our business dealings.
Spirent has continued to ensure that all its systems, controls and training comply with the anti-bribery and corruption legislation in all the countries where we operate and that a culture of prevention and detection of corruption is in place. This policy applies to Spirent’s subsidiaries and business partners.
The Group’s Ethics Policy, which has been approved by the Board, is available on our website at http://corporate.spirent.com.
Our Ethics Policy has been developed to ensure that the Group’s business is conducted in adherence with high ethical and legal principles and sets standards of professionalism and integrity for all employees and operations worldwide.
The following is a summary of the Ethics Policy:
–all employees have the right and responsibility to ensure that Spirent’s business is conducted with high ethical and legal principles;
–our policy is to operate within applicable laws;
–discrimination or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated;
–as a matter of policy, we do not make political donations;
–no bribes shall be given or received;
–conflicts of interest must be avoided;
–we aim to be a responsible partner within our local communities; and –employees are encouraged and supported to report, in
confidence, any suspected wrongdoings (“whistleblowing”).
Appropriate ethical behaviour is monitored as part of the Group’s internal control process.
Health and safety
Spirent recognises that it is important that health and safety is managed to high standards successfully throughout all levels of the organisation. Successful health and safety management contributes to Spirent’s overall success by preserving and developing staff and physical resources, thereby reducing costs and liabilities. It is an essential element of our corporate responsibility.
Spirent is committed to continually improving its health and safety performance and to employee wellbeing by encouraging the adoption of healthier lifestyles by its staff members.
Regulatory requirements and the outline of care form the basis upon which Spirent’s commitment is achieved. By realistic
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Work to incorporate sustainability thinking into our products has led to a revolutionised design for our new Elevate product, designed to help our customers measure and minimise energy use in mobile devices.
Products
Elevate Test Framework – sustainability improvements through innovative product design
The Elevate Test Framework represents a radical innovation in how Spirent products are designed. Elevate breaks the “box”
model by separating hardware from software, organising elements into a network of test resources that not only delivers faster and more efficient testing, but also significantly reduces energy use, heat, noise and product footprint.
Unit B200 Q100
% reduction from B200
Noise (dBA) 60 40 33
Power (watts) 650 200 69
Heat (watts) 650 200 69
Weight (kgs) 142 14 90
Size – volume (cm3) 1,077,736 20,353 98
Through network functions virtualization, it has been possible to develop a small, lightweight device with a market-leading footprint. The new Spirent WTS122 network emulator operates in standalone mode for R&D testing and is used as the main component of the new Spirent 8100 Q100 system for carrier acceptance testing. The Q100 has reduced energy use and heat output by 69 per cent compared with the previous B200 model, at 10 per cent of the weight and 2 per cent of the total size.
Further environmental performance improvements have been achieved in the Elevate solution for IMS/RCS/VoLTE as hardware can be scaled independently from software, allowing the Q100 series to support multiple handsets requiring fewer, smaller test devices.
The 200W Q100 system reduces the power per handset tested by 13 times compared with the four B200 units required to test 4 handsets.
Q100: 69% reduction in power from B200 Q100: 90% reduction in weight from B200 Q100: only 2% of the size (volume) of the B200
Compliance statements
The Group’s business units comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013, the Batteries Directive and the California Electronic Waste Recycling Programme. New products are designed to meet the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (“RoHS”), also known as Directive 2011/65/
EU, even though Spirent Communications’ hardware products are classified as Category Nine (Monitor and Control Equipment) and are therefore currently out of scope with the RoHS Directive.
Measures are in place to ensure Spirent Communications’
hardware products will be in compliance with the RoHS Directive at such time as they are brought in to scope.
The Group is not directly required to comply with or report under Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the US Conflict Minerals Law. However, it has robust procedures to ensure that it would be in compliance if it were brought in within the scope of this legislation.
Sustainability strategy
In 2014, the key update to the Group’s sustainability strategy is to expand from a programme of eco-efficiency and legal compliance, and to also understand and help address customers’
sustainability challenges.
Our work with external consultants led us to revise our sustainability strategy, which now has four key strands:
–Minimise our environmental impacts from our properties;
–Provide our people with the skills and resources to address sustainability issues effectively;
–Incorporate sustainability thinking into products, through;
–innovation in product design and manufacture; and –new products and services to address customers’
sustainability challenges; and
–Minimise sustainability impacts from the supply chain.
2014 performance and trends
During 2014 we have made progress across all areas of our sustainability strategy, in particular in the property and product design areas.
We have continued to drive sustainability into our property estate, installing further retrofit technologies at the Low Carbon Centre of Excellence in Paignton and incorporating best practice in the design and fit-out of our new site in Liberty Canyon, California.
We have also undertaken site energy audits at our Beijing sites.
Property
Paignton – Low Carbon Centre of Excellence
Since designating our Paignton site as the Group’s Low Carbon Centre of Excellence in 2012, we have made significant reductions in the site’s energy and carbon footprint through technology and behavioural change.
The majority of the site’s energy needs are met from grid electricity, and as such the focus has been on energy reduction programmes. From the 2011 baseline, purchased electricity has reduced by 27 per cent at Paignton. This has been achieved through a programme of staff awareness and technology investment.
In May 2014, voltage optimisation equipment was installed and ceiling insulation laid in the office areas. Although the labs, the key energy-using areas at Paignton, have been extended, there was an 11 per cent year-on-year reduction in total energy use, including a 44 per cent reduction in gas use from 2013.
The site Green Team has continued to run energy reduction and environmental awareness programmes as an integral part of the sites ISO 14001:2004 certified management system.
Although energy usage on-site decreased between 2013 and 2014, the site’s associated carbon emissions increased by around 8 per cent, from 171 tonnes CO2e to 184 tonnes CO2e. This was due to an increase in the carbon intensity of the UK national grid and a small increase in purchased electricity use this year. The long term trend remains downward, with total CO2e emissions down 18 per cent from the 2011 baseline.
27% reduction in purchased electricity, 2011 – 2014
13% of Paignton’s electricity generated from on-site solar PV in 2014
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The Group will be required to comply with the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (“ESOS”) Regulations 2014 and has put measures in place to meet its obligations in 2015.
Procurement
Almost all products continue to be produced by external contract manufacturers and the environmental performance of suppliers is monitored through audits and surveys. Our largest contract manufacturer was responsible for 66.4 per cent of our production in 2014 and they have an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system, alongside an extensive carbon reduction programme. The table below shows their emissions performance for the last two years for which data is available.
2013 2012
Change in greenhouse gas emissions in
CO2e (%) -4.3% +11%
Greenhouse gas emissions
Carbon emissions are a material sustainability issue for the Group and we remain committed to reporting emissions and taking action to combat climate change. The Group once again responded to the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2014, completing both the Climate Change and Supply Chain questionnaires for the calendar year 2013.
The greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions for 2013 and 2014 are set out in the table below.
Global GHG emissions data for the year ended 31 December 2014
2014
Combustion of fuel and operation of facilities 228 238 Electricity, heat, steam and cooling
purchased for own use 6,603 6,127
Total emissions 6,831 6,365
Company’s chosen intensity measurement:
Emissions reported above normalised to per m2 of gross internal
area of our facilities 0.14 0.15
Emissions reported above normalised
to per £ million of revenues 12.48 15.76
Methodology
We have reported on all of the emission sources required under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic report and Directors’
Report) Regulations 2013. These sources fall within our
consolidated financial statements. We do not have responsibility for any emission sources that are not included in our consolidated financial statements.
We have used the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition), data gathered to fulfil our requirements under these Regulations, and emission factors from the UK Government’s GHG Conversion Factors for Company Reporting 2015.
2015 programme
The work programme for 2015 will focus on the four strands of the Group’s sustainability strategy:
Property
A pilot programme to test automatic energy metering technology will be undertaken at Paignton in early 2015, which will be rolled out across major sites during the year. Continued efforts to incorporate energy efficiency technology and practices will be made across the Group’s estate, with particular consideration to new sites.
Products
Analysis of product sustainability will be undertaken and a programme to assess and improve performance will be examined. Opportunities to make sustainability improvements to existing and future products will also be explored.
Procurement
A programme to determine the key impact areas in the Group’s supply chain will be undertaken and initiatives to reduce pollution, energy and material use will be introduced.
People
A programme to further engage staff across the Group on sustainability issues will be undertaken, and opportunities to expand the participation in sustainability initiatives will be reviewed.
Targets and objectives
A target reduction of 5 per cent has been set for Group energy use, carbon emissions and an intensity metric of carbon emitted per million dollar of revenue. All three will be assessed against the baseline year of 2014.
Our employees
As a business which relies on our employees to drive the understanding development, and sales of complex technologies, Spirent understands that its future growth is directly tied to the motivation and drive of our people. Accordingly we strive to recruit, train, develop and retain the best talent in our industry.
It is imperative to our future success that Spirent is a company that people want to work for as well as do business with, and our employees lie at the heart of making that happen.
Our 1,700+ talented employees, working in 33 locations in 17 countries, provide a matchless competitive advantage for us, creating innovative products for our customers. To sustain our competitive advantage and bring together this culturally diverse group of employees, Spirent has built a global culture based on four values: being creative, competitive, customer focused and collaborative. These values form the foundation of Spirent’s ability to inspire innovation and drive a competitive spirit in our business.
To attract, keep and grow our people, we regularly review our benefits, retention, development programmes and career growth opportunities. Our efforts continue to bear positive fruit, with global voluntary turnover at 8 per cent compared to an industry average of 12.4 per cent (Radford Trends Report – Technology edition, Q4 2014).
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Rewarding our people
Our compensation and benefit schemes are aligned with performance and are regularly benchmarked to ensure that Spirent rewards employees competitively in each country in which we operate.
Spirent believes in sharing its success with its employees, with all employees participating in some form of variable compensation tied to the achievement of key goals such as revenue growth and profitability: Growth Sharing Plan for individual contributors through managers; Sales Commission Plan for sales employees;
and Management Incentive Plan for senior managers and above.
Another way in which we reward and recognise excellence is through our Global Recognition Programme, which provides Spot, Excellence and Executive Awards. These awards are one-time cash incentives as recognition for exemplary contributions that demonstrate one or more of our key values.
In addition, we provide project-based incentives to recognise and reward employees for extraordinary work on critical projects.
Growing our talent
We recognise that our competitive advantage can only be maintained by developing our own talent internally as well as recruiting the best skills from outside of our organisation.
In 2014 we continued to develop our Employee Value Proposition in order to clearly communicate our brand to current and prospective employees, and thereby retain and attract the best people. Spirent is large enough to provide a wide range of career possibilities, but small enough for individuals to be noticed and recognised; we offer an ideal environment for people to unleash their innovative spirits and collaborate to discover the future together.
Throughout 2014, we continued to support education by offering internships and work experience programmes that not only help students develop professional knowledge, but also to provide future talent for our entire organisation. In 2014 Spirent offered 36 internships in the United States, seven in Europe and 42 in Asia.
Our challenging work environment inspires innovation, with continuous learning as an essential part of our human resources philosophy.
In 2014 employees in all regions participated in courses designed to enhance our ability to service the customer and to create innovative, leading products. Leadership bench strength was developed through various programmes including 360 degree feedback, succession management, organisational and individual accountability, and financial acumen. Our career development emphasises tailored, flexible pathways that give employees the opportunity to explore their potential in the right direction and at the right speed.
Employee engagement
Spirent regularly canvasses its employees’ views on a range of matters related to their employment in both formal and informal ways. In 2014, Spirent conducted one of its regular all-employee surveys to gauge the level of employee satisfaction in the business. The participation rate was good at 77 per cent. We aim to identify the key drivers of increased employee engagement, and based on the survey results, drivers of employment engagement continued to be learning and development, leadership and direction, culture and collaboration. The feedback from the survey is distilled to actionable tasks, which we expect will enhance our employees’ experience. In addition to the more formal survey, informal meetings are regularly held between many of Spirent’s senior management team and small groups of employees, with the aim of sharing perspectives among a broad cross-section of our team members.
Diversity
Diversity means understanding and reflecting the community
Diversity means understanding and reflecting the community