Performance evaluation

The Board is responsible for undertaking a formal and rigorous annual evaluation of its own performance, that of its Committees and of individual Directors. In 2010 the annual evaluation process was undertaken by Egon Zehnder International, an external consultant, who presented their findings to the Board in August 2010 and also provided feedback to each individual Director relating to their respective performance and contribution to the Board and its Committees. In response to these findings, the Board developed an action plan, which has been included as a standing Board agenda item during 2010/11, to address the issues identified. A number of the issues addressed by the Board and its Committees (as applicable), during the course of the year surrounded enhancing the effectiveness of the Board and Committee processes and more generally senior succession planning.

For the 2010/11 financial year the Board decided to carry out its performance evaluation internally. Each Director was asked to complete separate confidential questionnaires on the effectiveness of the Board and each of the Committees of which they are a member. The Directors scored the performance of the Board and its Committees on various topics, including: contribution to strategy; risk management; financial and operating reporting; matters reserved for the Board; inter-relationships between the Board and its Committees; relations with advisers and regulators; and Board procedures. Responses were collated by the Group General Counsel and Company Secretary and a non-attributable report on the findings was formally presented to the Board in June 2011 for discussion. Thereafter the Chairman conducted one-to-one meetings with individual Directors in order to appraise the performance of each of them as Board members and explore the performance evaluation findings. Key outputs included the continued focus on succession planning at Board and senior management level together with a desire for an enhanced annual strategic review. As a result of the performance evaluation the Board and each of its Committees reviewed and updated their Terms of Reference as appropriate.

In accordance with the requirements of the Code, the Chairman met with the Non-Executive Directors independently of the Executive Directors. The Non-Executive Directors, led by the Senior Independent Director, met without the Chairman being present, to assess the performance of the Chairman and provided feedback from the process.

Employment policy and involvement
The Group is committed to developing the talents of its employees so that they can maximise their career potential and to providing rewarding careers in an atmosphere that ensures equal opportunities for all. Selection for employment and promotion is based on the objective assessment of ability and experience, giving full and fair consideration to all applications (including individuals with disabilities) for employment, and the Group is committed to ensuring that its workplaces are free from unlawful discrimination of any sort. The Group strives to ensure that its policies and practices provide equal opportunities in respect of issues such as training, career development and promotion for all existing or potential staff irrespective of gender, race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, physical disability, marital status, sexual orientation or age. Every effort is made to retain and support employees who become disabled whilst working within the Group.

The Board recognises that employee engagement is a key factor in the long-term success of the Group and has implemented a comprehensive employee engagement programme with the aim of creating a strong, shared culture. All employees are invited to take part in an engagement survey each year and the results of this survey are fed back to each operating division who use the results to formulate plans for maintaining or improving engagement in the following year.

A key part of effective employee engagement is communication. The Company seeks to ensure that all significant events, economic factors and financial updates and the impact of these on the performance of the Group are communicated to employees through email alerts, core briefings and regular newsletters. Additionally, the Group Chief Executive regularly briefs senior management via conference calls which gives them the opportunity to ask questions and enter into dialogue. Individually and collectively, the Board and the Executive Committee members visit operating divisions and sites frequently in order to assess operational performance, engage with employees on a one-to-one basis and gain first-hand experience of employees aspirations and concerns.

The Group runs a Graduate Recruitment and Development Programme consisting of a two-year multi-disciplinary programme of both on-job and off-job modules. The group currently have 29 graduates who are one year into their two-year programme.

The Group is committed to appropriate employee training and development at all levels of the organisation. It has introduced a suite of leadership and management development programmes aimed at all levels within the organisation from graduates to middle management and through to senior management. The programme is designed and delivered internally and is tailored to the needs of the business. The Group also offers the Barratt Academy, a staged programme to enable employee development from Apprentice to Site Manager, and also in the Technical and Commercial disciplines.  Succession planning is in place across the Group and the leadership development programmes assist with the development of individuals as part of the succession plan.

In February 2011 the Company invited all eligible employees to participate in the third grant under the Savings Related Share Option Scheme which was approved by shareholders at the Company’s 2008 AGM (the ‘SRSOS’). This gave those individuals who had participated in grants under the SRSOS, but not used up all of their entitlement, the opportunity to increase their savings and gave other employees the chance to participate in the SRSOS and become more involved in the Company’s performance.