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Governance
At IHG, we recognise the importance of maintaining the highest standards of governance to support our culture, our values and our commitment to conducting business responsibly.
The Group Board has overall responsibility for and sets IHG’s strategic direction. The Board is supported by its other principal committees, the Audit, Corporate Responsibility, Nomination and Remuneration Committees, who assist the Board in carrying out its functions, overseeing the delivery of strategic objectives, driving sustainable value for shareholders, whilst ensuring the business is managed responsibly.
Our Corporate Responsibility Committee reviews and advises the Group Board on IHG’s corporate responsibility objectives and strategy, including its impact on: environmental, social, community and human rights issues; its approach to sustainable development and responsible procurement; and stakeholder engagement in relation to the Group’s approach to responsible business.
Our Responsible Business Governance Committee supports our Board and Executive Committee and is made up of Senior Leaders who oversee our key day-to-day responsible business activities in areas including: Cybersecurity and Information Security, Procurement, Global Risk. The committee meets quarterly to drive collaboration across the business, ensuring that we meet our ambitions, external commitments and targets.
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Risk management
Our growth ambition in a fast-moving and our innovative business environment means that we must consider risk as a central part of the definition and execution of our strategy.
Our risk management and internal control system is fully integrated with the way we run the business and how we create and protect value in pursuit of our strategic objectives.
Our culture, values and behaviours, establish authorities, capabilities and appropriate incentives for empowered and agile decision making across our portfolio of risks by teams across IHG, supported by functional expertise.
Formal and informal monitoring, reporting and assurance arrangements enable the Board and Executive Committee to maintain ongoing oversight of key areas of uncertainty and the effectiveness of our risk management and internal control arrangements.
Learn more about our approach to risk management.
Code of Conduct
We take steps to ensure that there is a culture of responsible business across our business and that our employees act with integrity.
The bedrock of our culture is our Code of Conduct, which sets out our commitment to operating honestly and with the highest ethical standards. The Code help us to act responsibly and sets out the value we place on being trusted by our employees and guests, those who do business with us, and the communities within which we work.
It is extremely important that our people feel comfortable reporting ethical concerns. To facilitate to this, we have a confidential reporting channel which provides colleagues with a means to share any ethical concerns they may have.
Human rights
We understand the importance of ensuring that the human rights of all those that work with us, whether directly or indirectly, are protected, and we passionately promote this on behalf of the industry as a whole.
Our commitment to respecting human rights is made clear to colleagues as soon as they start working for IHG through the Code of Conduct and Code of Conduct e-learning module. This is reinforced through our Human Rights Policy, which requires all IHG branded hotels to adopt our Human Rights Policy, or an equivalent policy.
In February 2020, we published our 2019 Modern Slavery Statement. To view our statement click here.
Diversity and inclusion
Our colleagues represent multiple nationalities, as well as the many cultures, religions, races, sexual orientations, backgrounds and beliefs that make the world such an interesting place. We celebrate difference and diverse thinking as part of our purpose to provide True Hospitality to everyone.
Our colleagues should feel included, valued and respected – not just because it’s the right thing to do, or the best way to behave – but because people are the best version of themselves when they feel these things. When that happens, employees are empowered to speak up with the diverse ideas, opinions and perspectives that spark the innovation IHG needs. This is important to the guest experiences we create, and to how we empower employees to go above and beyond for our owners and for IHG, as we embark on ambitious growth plans.
For more information on our our purpose and culture, click here. To read more about Diversity & Inclusion at IHG, click here.
UK Gender Pay Gap Report
UK legislation requires that all UK companies employing at least 250 people, publish differences in average hourly pay and bonus pay between their male and female employees; the proportion of men and women receiving bonuses; and the proportion of men and women in each quartile of the organisation’s pay structure. You can find our latest Gender Pay Gap Report here.
Safety and security
We take the safety and security of guests, colleagues and visitors to IHG branded hotels very seriously. We manage safety and security through a global management system that includes Brand Safety Standards and a suite of risk guidance, training and toolkits that are available to all hotels.
IHG employs a team of global risk specialists to coordinate and monitor a safety and security management system. This system is designed to provide an appropriate level of control to mitigate against a systematic issue with safety and security in our managed and franchised hotels.
Responsible procurement
The provision of goods and services by our suppliers is critical to our ongoing operations and we want to ensure we engage with suppliers who share the same commitment to responsible business as we do.
Our supply chain activities are split into two broad categories – corporate supply chains and hotel supply chains. Our corporate supply chains cover procurement for our corporate offices and mainly focus on items such as technology and professional services.
Procurement of goods and services at hotel level covers all items required for operating a hotel, such as food and beverage, furniture, cleaning products, linen and electrical goods.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct sets out the requirements, principles and values that IHG has adopted to promote ethical conduct in the workplace, safe working conditions in the supply chain, treatment of persons with respect and dignity, and environmentally responsible practices. We expect all our suppliers to adhere to these standards, both within their own business and across their own supply chains.
Privacy and information security
The privacy and security of personal data is very important to us. We want everyone including guests booking via our reservation channels, members of our loyalty programmes, colleagues, shareholders and others to trust that their information is appropriately managed. We have policies and procedures in place regarding how personal data can be used by our corporate offices and managed hotels, as well as information security standards.