Stakeholder engagement
EVRAZ places a strong emphasis on building honest and supportive relationships with our stakeholders on our path towards sustainable development. In all business processes we strive to accommodate the interests and concerns of stakeholders, be in compliance with Russian legislation, contractual obligations, and sector regulations, and uphold and respect human rights.
Our main stakeholders are persons or entities whose actions, interests, or safety may be affected by or have a potential impact on the Group’s activities.
Various departments of the Group are engaged in the stakeholder engagement process, according to their function.
Communication channels and mechanisms
In order to be sure that our stakeholder engagement approach covers all stakeholder groups and at the same time facilitates two-way communication and feedback, we make use of various communication channels. Despite the fact that our channels of communications vary, we promote a policy of having a unified information field, and strive to express our vision and values to a broad range of stakeholders.
In the reporting year EVRAZ continued our work to improve existing communication channels, both for external and internal stakeholders.
To ensure open communication for all stakeholders, EVRAZ has set up a whistleblowing hotline (8-800-555-88-88), as well as an e-mail address (vopros@EVRAZ.com) available on the official website of the Group. Using these channels any stakeholder can leave a message or call to discuss an area of concern.
Information regarding concerns raised in 2018 is available in the section Ethics and business conduct.
Feedback collection
In order to ensure the continuous improvement of the Group’s stakeholder engagement process, we also concentrate our efforts on collecting feedback from both internal and external stakeholders. We focus our attention on three main areas:
- An annual reputational survey of external stakeholders (reputational audit)
- Customer satisfaction surveys
- The We Are Together employee engagement survey
During the reporting period EVRAZ was actively developing the сustomer focus project, which is aimed at identifying and promoting new ideas to further enhance client services. As part of the project we launched in 2018 quarterly meetings between clients and EVRAZ senior management and the CEO, with a view to boosting the level of trust towards the Group, and to give clients an opportunity to have direct dialogue with EVRAZ top management.
Reputational audit
In order to get an accurate understanding of EVRAZ image and to plan activities and events in the sphere of stakeholder engagement, EVRAZ commissions an annual evaluation (a reputational audit conducted by a third-party), which involves seeking feedback from our main external stakeholders. Government authorities (both federal and regional), reporters, clients, counterparties, and industry associations are asked to provide feedback on a number of aspects, which we deem important for our image.
An individual level of importance is attached to each criteria. We actively track the results of the evaluation, in order to be able to constantly improve our performance and to satisfy the needs and expectations of our stakeholders. In addition, attaining positive evaluation results is a KPI for PR Department employees. Based on the results of the reputational audit, events and projects are planned, which must be approved by the Vice President and CEO of EVRAZ at a Management Committee meeting.
In 2018 the evaluation results demonstrated that EVRAZ corresponds to the level of 2017 year – 8.2 points.
Customer satisfaction survey
In order to maintain customer services at a high level, EVRAZ annually conducts a client satisfaction survey for the whole Group.
One of the largest metals trading companies in the Group, EVRAZ Metall Inprom (EMI), also conducted a 5th client satisfaction survey in 2018. Over 800 customers throughout Russia, with a combined share of 22% of EMI sales, took part in the survey, which was conducted by an independent agency through personal phone interviews. The overall result was a satisfaction level of 91% – a 7% increase on 2016. EMI did not conduct a survey in 2017, in order to concentrate on implementing and developing programmes to boost client satisfaction.
Employee engagement survey We Are Together
The Group also places special emphasis on the workplace environment, and with this in mind we conduct the annual staff engagement survey We Are Together. The survey is conducted by an independent agency anonymously, in order to obtain the most objective and honest results. One of the main survey goals is to identify development areas and plan initiatives and events accordingly for implementation in the following year. In 2018, over 43,000 (more than 60%) employees participated in the survey. In general, the survey results indicated that the engagement level is climbing and that we are moving in the right direction.
During the ongoing process of engaging with stakeholders we implement a variety of instruments aimed at meeting their expectations.
Based on the results of the 2018 survey, EVRAZ scores highly in client satisfaction: 9.01 points out of 10 compared to 8.98 points in 2017. EVRAZ will continue to work actively to increase client satisfaction. Improving clients’ personal webpages on the EVRAZ website and further developing the product range are key priorities in this area for 2019.
| Stakeholder groups | Expectations of stakeholders | Engagement instruments | Where to find out more about key projects/initiatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shareholders and investors |
|
| The section Corporate governance report |
| Employees |
|
| The sections Employees, Health and Safety |
| Customers |
|
| EVRAZ website (available only in Russian) |
| Suppliers and contractors |
|
| The section Supply Chain |
| Government and regulatory authorities |
|
| The section Communities |
| Local communities |
|
| The sections Supply Chain, Communities |
| Industry organisations |
|
| The section Memberships of associations and institutions |
| Media |
|
| EVRAZ website |