In this section, we report on the Staff Survey and attitude towards the Ethical Policy and Partnership Approach.

[ Existing commitment ]
The Co-operative Bank is committed to ensuring that all staff understand and operate within the operational framework set down by the Bank's Mission Statement, Ethical Policy, Ecological Mission Statement and Partnership Approach.

[ Performance ]
i) Ethical Policy
The Staff Survey found that almost a quarter of employees (23%) consider the ethical stance of the Bank to be amongst the three best things about working for the Bank. 1% of employees consider it to be amongst the worst things about working for the Bank. Almost all staff (97%) are satisfied with the Bank's decision to promote and implement the Ethical Policy. The vast majority say that it has had a positive effect on customer service (82%), customer recruitment (97%), and customer retention (89%). Whilst the majority (59%) said that it had a positive effect on the way the Bank manages its staff, 20% said that they did not know and 19% said that it had a negative effect.

ii) Partnership Approach
Three quarters of staff indicated that the Partnership Approach was a good idea for the Bank, 29% said that it shows that we care and are committed to our Partners and 13% believed that it enhances the Ethical Policy. However, 8% said that it was a poor idea and expressed views such as 'it was just words, the Bank doesn't really care' and 'it is a waste of money'.

With regard to the treatment of individual Partners, the Bank is perceived by its staff to perform well. For example, 88% say that we are a responsible member of Society and 87% say that we are mindful of the impact of our business on the environment.
 

[ Comment ]
The vast majority of staff (89%) say they feel proud to be an employee of the Bank, and the longer they have been employed, the stronger the feeling of pride. This sense of pride is considered to be heavily influenced by the Bank's ethical and ecological policies. The Bank's Ethical Policy has almost universal support amongst staff, not just from a moral angle, but also from a business perspective. This is to be expected as the Bank has devoted significant resources in recent years to aid staff comprehension of the Ethical Policy and its importance to the Bank's ongoing business success. In the section on "Past and Future Generations" we report on one particularly significant initiative in this regard, the 'Heritage, Culture and Values Training' that every member of staff should have undertaken in recent years.

Whilst the majority of staff support the Bank's Partnership Approach, there are still a small number who disagree. This is to be expected as the Partnership Approach was launched less than a year prior to the Staff Survey. We anticipate that this report, and its subsequent reception by Partners, will go some way to reassuring those concerned about the rationale behind the Partnership Approach.

[ Future objective ]
The Co-operative Bank will continue to stress the importance of the Bank's Ethical Policy and Partnership Approach to our ongoing business success. Consideration will be given to initiatives which support and help staff to understand the Partnership Approach and related matters.

JANET FROST Human Resources Manager 

CHRIS SMITH Group Public Affairs Manager