People
Our global reach and diverse product range allows us to offer exciting career opportunities.
Schroders employs more than 2,800 people in 37 offices in 28 different countries worldwide. Our people have always been our most important asset, at the heart of everything we do. We have many talented people and it remains a priority for us to develop, manage and retain this talent in order to deliver our potential as an organisation. We want to be an employer of choice wherever we operate.
We work to ensure employee policies and procedures reflect best practice within each of the countries where we have a presence. For us, this means having policies and practices that make Schroders an attractive place to work and which encourage our employees to act ethically and to be aware of and participate in the wider community. It also means ensuring that our employees understand the strategic aims and objectives of the Group and are clear about their role in achieving them.
We seek to ensure that our workforce reflects, as far as practicable, the diversity of the many communities in which we are located. We also recognise the diverse needs of our employees in managing the responsibilities of their work and personal lives, and believe that achieving an effective balance in these areas is beneficial to both the Company and the individual. Wherever possible, we will look to offer a flexible approach to determine when, where and how work can be done.
Employees by Region
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Employees by Business Segment
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Recruitment
We want our people to recommend Schroders as a good place to work to help us attract the best candidates. To further encourage this, we operate an Employee Referral Scheme that is designed to attract the best candidates by providing a financial reward to current permanent employees for introducing new recruits to the Company.
We believe that we provide one of the most comprehensive training programmes in the fund management industry, offering a range of opportunities for graduates to join our Investment, Distribution, IT and Finance divisions. We offer structured in-house training combined with a wide range of external courses and study for professional qualifications. The result is a well-rounded scheme that will develop both professional skills and personal effectiveness, equipping our employees to play a key role in driving our future business success.
Communication
We communicate with all employees worldwide via email and the Group intranet, as well as through a quarterly magazine, 'Inside Schroders', and monthly newsletter, 'Success Inside Schroders'. We also use employee meetings to facilitate the exchange of views with senior management and discuss the progress made by the Group.
An Employee Consultation Forum was established in the UK in 2005, consisting of employees elected by their peers. Members of the Forum meet regularly with management as part of a Joint Consultative Group which discusses employee-related matters and provides feedback and recommendations to the senior management team.
High ethical standards
We actively promote high ethical standards. Concerns about behaviour or decisions that are perceived to be unethical can be raised by employees through our internal 'whistleblowing' process. Personal securities trading by employees is regulated and monitored to ensure this does not lead to conflicts of interest. Employees are not permitted to solicit or accept any inducements which are likely to conflict with their duties to clients. Training is provided in relation to these issues and in relation to compliance, money laundering, terrorist finance and data protection.
Remuneration
We recognise that individuals have different personal requirements dependent on where they are in both their life stage and career. In response to this, in July 2006, we introduced a flexible benefits scheme, 'Flex' in the UK, to complement our goals of attracting, retaining and developing the best people. 2007 saw the first full year of operation of this scheme, which allows UK employees to personalise the remuneration and benefits that they receive.
Benefits are categorised into 3 sections - money, work and life.
Money
| Defined contribution pension |
| Group life assurance |
| Personal accident insurance |
| Group income protection |
| Share incentive plan (SIP) |
| Give as you earn (GAYE) |
At the end of 2007, we announced that we would significantly enhance the defined pension contribution rates for UK employees from 1 March 2008, from 7 per cent. to a new core level of 14 per cent. of pensionable salaries. A further 3 per cent. matching component allows employees to receive a 20 per cent. contribution at a personal cost of 3 per cent. Pension arrangements in other locations will be reviewed during 2008.
Flex also offers the opportunity for employees to invest up to £125 per month in Partnership shares invested in Schroders plc with a matching contribution from Schroders of up to £50 per month.
The company also offers employees the opportunity to make charitable donations which Schroders will match up to a maximum of £200 each month.
Work
| Ride2work scheme |
| Eat@work |
The Ride2work scheme provides employees with the opportunity to hire a bicycle and associated safety equipment for 12 months, free of tax and National Insurance, provided that all the equipment is used mainly for journeys to work.
The Eat@work system provides healthy meals to our employees in a tax and National Insurance efficient way.
Life
| Holiday |
| Medical care scheme |
| Dental insurance |
| Childcare vouchers |
At Schroders, we recognise the importance of ensuring that the work/life balance of our employees is appropriate. Our people are therefore given the opportunity to buy or sell a maximum of 5 days holiday each year.
Medical care, dental care and childcare vouchers options are also available to provide our employees with the flexibility to match the composition of their total remuneration to their personal circumstances.
Employee Development
We believe that constructive performance management is an essential tool in the effective management of our people and our business. The performance management cycle comprises setting objectives and an annual performance appraisal against those agreed objectives and our core values. Output from this performance process is used to assist with decisions on remuneration, career development and progression.
In 2008, we introduced a new global performance management system through Oracle HR designed to support all employees and managers through all the key stages of the performance management cycle. The system provides a defined structure to ensure that career development is approached in a consistent and structured manner. Over the course of the year, we encourage constant review and tracking of the progression of objectives. Further use of this system enables employees and managers to easily apply for training courses to address their learning needs.
Progression and Recognition
Schroders is committed to internal progression of its employees to ensure that we retain our most talented people. We introduced a new global role-based title structure in April 2007 providing clearer career paths to help our people develop and progress. In addition to strengthening the performance culture of the Group, the new structure was also designed to ensure greater flexibility for employees to move into new roles, taking on more responsibility as opportunities arise, reinforcing our meritocratic approach. All role descriptions are readily accessible on the intranet so that employees can gain access to information regarding the skills and experience required to undertake all of the roles within the Company.
Within this role-based structure, title change is no longer the only way to acknowledge increased seniority or career progression. At Schroders, we now recognise an individual's progression or success through other means, such as individual recognition awards. This is an important part of motivating employees, allowing high performers to be publicly recognised. For this reason we continue to look at ways to promote and acknowledge success and achievement in Schroders. In 2007, we introduced 'Celebrating Success' e-cards to allow people to congratulate their colleagues for excellent work.
Learning & Development
We are dedicated to providing our employees with the opportunities and experiences they need to achieve their potential and grow their knowledge, skills and capabilities. Our aim is to provide products and services to support our employees in identifying their development needs and determining an action plan to meet them.
To assist in achieving this goal and promoting our core values, we have introduced the 'stages of development' framework which allows individuals to identify how they should be demonstrating our core values, within four key areas of competence and at each stage of their career. The 'core curriculum' learning schedule is also available to all employees, offering a wide range of opportunities to employees to assist in meeting their goals and development needs.
Schroders has partnered with Inmarkets to deliver online training via the Fincarta platform. The e-Learning platform offers a comprehensive library of online courses on finance, regulation and IT topics. Access to the e-Learning portal is given via the internet, meaning that content can be viewed from any terminal in the world - including from home computers.
Through our Educational Assistance Policy, we actively encourage all of our people to complete professional qualifications relevant to their role. In recognition of the employee investment in achieving such qualifications; we offer competitive educational assistance, which includes provision of financial support and study leave.
In total, we spent £3.0 million on training and development in 2007 (2006: £3.2 million).
Diversity
We are committed to providing equal opportunities and seek to ensure that our workforce reflects, as far as is practicable, the diversity of the many communities in which we operate.
Gender Breakdown
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It is the Group's policy to give appropriate consideration to applications for employment from disabled persons, having regard to their particular aptitudes and abilities. For the purposes of training, career development and progression, disabled employees (including those who become disabled during the course of their employment) are treated on equal terms with other employees. We operate a zero tolerance policy to harassment and bullying and have a formal policy that documents our commitment to ensuring our employees are treated with respect and dignity whilst at work.
A flexible working policy has been developed to recognise the diverse needs of employees in managing the responsibilities of their work and personal lives. We believe that achieving an effective balance in these areas is beneficial to both the Group and the individual. Our flexible working policy is open to all permanent employees with more than 12 months service. Flexible working arrangements offer broader scope to determine when, where and how work can be done. We do not believe that hours of attendance constitute the only measure of an employee's contribution. We know how important it is to measure outcomes and results. Whilst flexible arrangements are not suitable for all roles, rethinking the way work can be done and allowing employees to balance their multiple commitments can improve productivity, provide extended hours of service and help recruit and retain quality employees.
A sabbatical policy has been implemented to enable employees, with three or more years continuous service, to take an unpaid leave of absence of up to 12 months. Examples of where sabbaticals may be granted include educational leave, to take up a temporary post in public service (including a charity) or extended travel for two months or more.
Health and safety
The health and welfare of our people are very important to us. We promote high standards of health and safety at work and have a globally implemented health and safety policy, which we expect all employees to follow and which highlights our commitment to ensuring employees are provided with a safe and healthy working environment. Training on these issues is also given to all employees as part of the induction process.
In the UK, we operate an integrated healthcare approach whereby our private medical health provider and occupational health clinics work hand-in-hand to promote wellness amongst our employees. We offer the following facilities, without charge:
- VDU eye screening;
- Flu and business travel vaccinations;
- Well Woman & Well Man screening; and
- Private GP services.
Gym facilities are also provided at our head office in London to encourage employees to enjoy a healthier lifestyle.
Similar healthcare arrangements are also offered in many of our overseas offices.
We recognise that workplace stress is a particularly important health and safety issue. We are committed to identifying and reducing workplace stress and offer workplace counselling and occupational health doctors to provide specialist advice on stress management. We appreciate that individuals may, at different times in their lives, have various sensitive issues taking place that they may need help with. In order to give support where we can, Schroders offers a confidential counselling helpline. This provides employees and their dependants with access to a 24-hour, confidential helpline service for counselling in respect of a variety of issues including stress, marital, legal or finance-related problems. This service is strictly private and confidential and there is no individual case feedback to Schroders.