• At A Glance
• Vision and Strategy
• Culture and Values
• People
• Governance and Policy
  • Serco Management System
  • Our Ethics
  • Corporate Governance
  • Policy Statements
  • Corporate Responsibility
  • Risk Management
  • Quality Management
  • Corporate Assurance
  • Procurement
• Health Safety and Welfare
• Environment
• Social Responsibility
• Corporate Responsibility Reports

People

As our governing principles make clear, our success depends on enabling our people to excel.  We want to create, develop and lead highly motivated competent teams who have up to date skills and live Serco's values.  Within our management system we commit to:

• ensure equality of opportunity, honour the rights of the individual and foster partnership and trust, in every working relationship
• meet the requirements of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the implementation of appropriate policies and procedures
• identify and develop our leaders to reflect current and future business requirements and ensure continuity of capability
• understand and proactively manage the diversity of our workforce 
• define and regularly review individual and team roles, responsibilities and accountabilities
• select and recruit high quality people
• operate within a working environment that promotes work life balance
• reward and regularly review individual performance and develop appropriate skills and competence to address current and future business needs
• report, record and respond to disciplinary action and staff grievances in accordance with defined procedures.  There is a defined process for reporting and monitoring malpractice and improprietytreat staff leaving employment with the company sympathetically and in accordance with relevant employment legislation and company policy.      

We continue to develop our Human Resources processes to create opportunities to enable meet this commitment, to treat our people with respect and develop the diversity of employment in Serco.

Because of our distinctive business structure and global spread, we work with a variety of employment policies which reflect practice in different countries and sectors.  They cover issues such as equal opportunities, ethics, compliance with human rights, handling grievances and discipline, dealing with bullying and harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, volunteering and whistleblowing.  They've been summarised in our first global staff handbook, which has been distributed to all employees.

Committed employees and stable industrial relations are crucial to the consistent delivery of high quality services. They are a major factor in maintaining the confidence of customers and end-users, giving us a significant advantage in winning and renewing contracts.  We see trade unions as key stakeholders in our business. We work constructively with them to develop and maintain positive relationships, with an inclusive approach to joint problem solving.

To give coherence to our corporate responsibility initiatives across the group, we have adopted the theme of 'employability'.  This is inspiring initiatives inside the organisation as well as outside, because we have included our own people as one of the three principal target groups alongside the long term unemployed and people with disabilities.

Based on this theme, we launched our Enabling People to Excel initiative in September 2004. We gave every contract a toolkit outlining what employability means to Serco, the thinking behind our commitment to employee volunteering, a host of core initiatives centred on employability, and recommended organisations that can support would-be volunteers.

Serco were delighted to be awarded the Rentokil Initial Skills for Life Award 2005 as part of Business in the Community's Awards for Excellence.  This reflects the success of our initiative 'Skills For You'.

Developed in partnership with trade unions, government and training providers, the 'Skills for You' programme now runs in 15 of Serco's business units, in which 20% of staff have volunteered to learn.  The programme aims to improve literacy, numeracy and language skills by providing workplace development opportunities for all staff.  Pilot schemes at a number of sites demonstrated how essential skills development can be integrated into work-based learning to the benefit of the business and the individual.  The site-specific approach takes into account the needs of the particular contract, the individuals involved and the unions.

Without qualified, motivated and inspired employees, we wouldn't be able to make a success of our business.  

That's why we're committed to communicating with, supporting and developing everyone who works at Serco. We have a strong culture based on clear values - and we monitor how well we're putting them into practice. We're always in touch with customers to make sure they're happy - we believe that's the best way to safeguard jobs and develop new ones. And we make sure we work with customers who enable us to treat our people with dignity.   

We're passionate about communication. It is natural for us to share information about how we're doing with our staff - and we invest in technology to further enhance communications and bring people together across the world. We've established a Serco-wide approach to training and development in our core values and skills - and we offer these programmes to staff worldwide. We're always looking to equip and encourage staff to take on wider roles.   

At the heart of our approach is our People Strategy. It's designed to ensure we continue to have the people and expertise we need to face today's challenges and those ahead of us. It recognises that a good business depends on good people.