RWS Annual Report 2022 web - Flipbook - Page 67
STRATEGY
We have developed our Accelerated Growth Plan for the
next five years. It recognises our strong portfolio and
excellent market leadership. We are proud of our longterm partnerships with our impressive client list and our
deep, global linguistic and subject matter expertise. With
our talented, experienced and passionate colleagues, we
will strive to improve organic growth and so continue to be
a unique, world–leading provider of technology-enabled
language, content and IP services.
ENGAGEMENT
The Board appreciates that effective stakeholder
engagement is essential to ensuring the long-term
success of the Group. Establishing and maintaining good
relationships with all of our stakeholders is important
to us and we have focused on increasing the amount of
Group-wide stakeholder engagement.
The Group also undertook its second Group-wide
colleague engagement survey in September this year. We
had an excellent response rate of 85% (6,639 participants)
(2021: 81%), which gives us confidence that the feedback
we received through the survey is statistically valid and
fully representative. The questions covered 14 areas
to provide a comprehensive picture of our colleagues’
experience across areas such as strategy and values;
growth and development; performance and reward; trust
and respect; ESG; innovation and process; teamwork and
collaboration; health and well-being; communications
and change management; inclusion; engagement;
and intention to stay. The survey was translated into
12 languages by our in-house Language eXperience
Delivery teams. We also utilised our machine translation
technology, Language Weaver, to back translate
comments from two free-text questions into English.
The Group engagement score was 69%. This is 3% lower
than the global benchmark¹ for businesses of our type
and provides a helpful baseline from which to improve
(there was no overall engagement score for the 2021
survey, so we are not able to compare year-on-year
change). The survey data has given us helpful insights
into demographic differences across geography, tenure,
seniority and area of the business that colleagues work in.
This will enable us to ensure that actions are appropriately
targeted to drive meaningful improvements.
We were particularly encouraged by colleagues’ feedback
in respect of the positive team climate promoted by
strong team management. Our people trust their
managers, believe they care about their well-being,
and help to remove barriers to working effectively.
Collaboration within immediate teams is strong. These
elements scored above high-performing benchmark
levels and are key factors that colleagues value most at
1
RWS. People are clear about what is expected of them
and have opportunities to use their skills and abilities.
RWS’s diverse culture is appreciated and people feel
respected. It is also clear that colleagues feel safe while
working in RWS offices and are able to work productively
through agile and remote practices.
We have long-standing relationships with the majority
of our suppliers and subcontractors. Our ‘voice of the
customer’ and ‘voice of the vendor’ programmes ensure
a continuous and neutral approach to listening and
learning – turning client and supplier feedback into
actionable insight.
LEADERSHIP
At RWS, the Chairman and CEO roles are separate.
As Chairman, I lead the Board and have overall
responsibility for corporate governance and promoting
the values of the Group, both internally to colleagues
and externally to the broader stakeholder group. I
am involved in developing a strategy for the Group
and supporting investor relations and communication
between the Group and its shareholders. A key part
of the Board’s commitment to high standards of
governance is an active dialogue with its shareholders.
I am also involved in the evaluation of potential
acquisition targets that fit within prescribed selective
criteria, to further grow the Group. All of the day-to-day
operations of the Group are managed by the CEO.
As part of our commitment to high standards of
governance, the Board recognises the importance of
having non-executive directors who are independent in
character and judgement, and free from relationships
that may affect, or could appear to affect their
judgement.
As at 30 September 2022, the Board comprised myself
as Chairman, alongside two Executive Directors, Ian
El-Mokadem and Rod Day, and five Non-Executive
Directors, who are Lara Boro, David Clayton, Frances
Earl, Julie Southern and Gordon Stuart.
This past year has seen several leadership changes at
Board level.
In April 2022, Desmond Glass stood down from the
position of Chief Financial Officer to take up a position as
CFO of a privately held business in a different industry.
We thank Desmond for his strong contribution to the
business during his more than four years in the role of
CFO. Most recently, Desmond played a significant role
in the successful execution of the SDL acquisition and
integration, which is now complete and firmly positions
the Group for further growth and value creation. We
wish him well in his new role.
Qualtrics Global Benchmark
GOVERNANCE REPORT RWS — Annual Report 2022
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