16
PANDORA ETHICS REPORT
17
PEOPLE
jewellery andmaterial understanding to professional sales
psychology, skills and techniques – all of which helps to
enhance the costumer experience in stores and raise the
employability of our people.
In2013,more than200,000 e-learning trainingmodules
were completed on our e-learning portal, up from105,000
in2012. Ourmore than 50 highly skilled in-house trainers
provide coaching and face-to-face training sessions, which
also served as forums for sales personnel to raise ideas
and feedback from sales situations and provide valuable
feedback to designers, merchandisers, and other relevant
parts of PANDORA’s value chain.
In 2013we began developing a set of e-learning and
face-to-face trainingmodules to ensure that our colleagues
in stores are always informed and knowledgeable about
PANDORA’s ethical programmes and initiatives.The overall
goal of these tools is to enable us to communicate
PANDORA’s ethical aspirations and initiatives to our
customers and, in turn, to engage them in our company
values andbusiness conduct.
CRAFTING FACILITIES IN THAILAND
Our stakeholders often inquire how PANDORAmaintains
responsible business practices at our crafting facilities,
PANDORAProductionThailand (PPT). At PPT, we are com-
mitted to ensuring full compliancewithThai regulations
and applicable international conventions.We also strive to
honour our own commitment to providing soundworking
conditions, attractive employment terms and a range of
social andwelfare benefits for our approximately 6,000
Thai colleagues and their families. As stated earlier, our
production facilities are coveredby our group-wide certi-
fication issuedby the RJC. In 2013, our coremanagement
systemswere once again independently audited and
validated as compliant with ISO 9001 (quality), OHSAS
18001 (health and safety) and ISO14001 (environment).
SAFETY
At PPT, we operate an effective Safety, Health& Environ-
ment (SHE) Committee comprised of seniormanagement
and 15 employee representatives.The employee represen
tatives are offeredmodern, on-site facilities and receive
comprehensive training, both in-house and externally,
enabling them to effectively contribute in their role. In
2013, in addition to regular, on-the-job safety training, our
dedicated team of SHE experts delivered tailored training
courses tomore than3,500 colleagues and participated
inmorning talks across departments.
As a result of our on-going focus on improving our
safety andhealth standards, we saw as few as fivework-
related accidents at PPT in 2013 (resulting in altogether
12 lost working days).With a little fewer than 6,000peo-
ple by year-end – of which2,000 joined during 2013 –we
succeeded inmaintaining a remarkably low accident rate
comparedwith any industrial sector in any country.
Nonetheless, recognising that any accident is one too
many, wewill continuouslywork to improve our perfor-
mance in2014.
EMPLOYEEDEVELOPMENTANDBENEFITS
Our EmployeeWelfareCommittee operateswith three
sub-committees responsible for coordinating employee
interestswithin a) Compensation&Benefits, b)
EmployeeRelations and c) SocialActivities.As is the
case for the SHECommittee, the 15members of the
EmployeeWelfareCommittee alsodrawonmodern
facilities and extensive training. Confidence in the
committeewas demonstrated at the latest election,
where 89%of ourThai colleagues exercised their right
to elect their representatives by secret ballot voting.
In 2013, we continuedourmonthly RadarMeetings
– a concept we introduced tobring to light any issues,
concerns andopportunities existing inour daily opera-
tions. All employees can apply to participate and suggest
subjects for discussion. In direct response to suggestions
raised at RadarMeetings, we implemented a range of
changes in2013, including newuniform rules, improved
jewellery crafting tools and anon-site convenience store
offering everyday consumables at belowmarket prices.
PPT employees’ benefits include freemeals, maternity
classes, extensive professional andpersonal development
training, annual outings, scholarships, partly employee-
managed radio andTV channels, aswell as safe bus
transport to and fromwork. By year-end, more than 4,400
colleagues regularly took advantage of the last benefit,
which over the course of the year added up tomore than
19,000 trips.
Twice per week, our HR Services team sets up
consultation centres during lunch breaks to allow
employees to ask questions or seek assistancewith pay,
benefits or employee relations issues at a time andplace
convenient for the employees. In 2013, theHR Services
teamdealt with over 6,500 unique visits.
Recognising that access to education canbe a
challenge inThailand, we have established an Edutainment
Centre, which features an e-learning/Internet room and
library.This provides our colleagueswith a comfortable
environment to relax during breaks and before or after
work, and an inspiring space to learn and develop.
During 2013, the library hadmore than 43,300 visits,
andmore than 10,500 bookswere borrowed throughout
the year.
FINANCIAL LITERACY, SAVINGSCLUB
ANDCOOPERATIVE
Following the launch of our “HappyMoney” financial
literacy programme in2011 (whichwas recognisedwith
theThai PrimeMinister’sAward of Achievement), and the
“ManageDebt, ChangeYour Life” programme in 2012, we
continued in 2013 to focus on the education and support
of our employees’ financial literacy. Since the company
first facilitatedmonthly visits from theGovernment Savings
Bank to assist employeeswhowish tomake savings
deposits, more than 2,790 employees have utilised this
service. 2013 also saw the official creation of an employee-
managed, government-registeredCooperative Savings Club.
TheCooperative’s objectives are to allow for both savings
and loanswithin the cooperativemembership, topromote
the practice of long-term saving and self-reliance, to reduce
(or avoid) debt and to reduce or eliminate problems
associatedwith ‘loan shark’ debt.
HUMAN AND LABOUR RIGHTS
A key final element in PANDORA’s efforts to improve our
people performance is our commitment tohuman rights.
Potential human rights issues vary greatly across our
value chain depending onwhether we are dealingwith
the suppliers of jewellerymaterials, with subcontractors,
with our in-house jewellery craftspeople, with our sales
offices around theworld or with themore than 35,000
people engaged in selling our jewellery in approximately
10,300 stores.
PANDORA’sHumanRights Policy, publishedon
, stipulates our commitment
to complyingwith theUnitedNationsGuiding Principles
for Businesses andHumanRights, aswell aswith the core
conventions of the International LabourOrganisation (ILO).
The policy instructs us to advance human rightswithinour
sphere of influence.
Respecting all human and labour rights is essential to
PANDORA. It is also an integratedpart of the compliance
requirements for certifiedmembers of the Responsible
JewelleryCouncil (RJC). During PANDORA’s successful
certification process in2012, oneminor non-compliance
withRJC requirementswas identified, namely the
occasional levels of overtime exceeding 12hours per week
at our crafting facilities inThailand, PANDORA Production
Thailand (PPT). It is important tonote that overtime at
PPT remains compliant withThai law, and that it is always
voluntary, well compensated andwidely requested by our
colleagues.To cut down the amount of overtime at PPT, we
initiated a range of initiatives in 2013, including investing
in production capacity and productivity improvements,
introduced shift work and LEANproduction techniques
and, finally, recruited asmany as 2,000new colleagues.
Nonetheless, due to the considerable revenue growth
PANDORA experienced in 2013, overtime continued to
be a challenge throughout muchof the year.Thanks to the
above efforts, however, we are again in full compliance
with ILO andRJC standards going into2014.
To advance human rightswithin our sphere of influence,
PANDORA engaged in twonew initiatives in 2013 to share
our experiences in advancing human rightswith our
stakeholders – aswell as to learn from efforts initiated
by our peers. First, we accepted a seat in the Steering
Committee of theDanishBusinessNetwork for Human
Rights – a network comprised of a groupof the largest
Danish companies, all dedicated to continuously improving
their performancewithin human rights. Second, PANDORA
joined theHumanRights SteeringCommittee of the
Responsible JewelleryCouncil, a group responsible for
developing tailored tools and inspiration for advancing
respect for human rights throughout the jewellery industry.
