Our approach & governance

How do we ensure the effectiveness of our CR policies?

Performance.

The firm has performed well against its targets (see: Looking back and looking forward). Many offices are moving away from standalone bilateral activities and developing a broader range of strongly supported initiatives closely aligned with our overall CR strategy and its people, community and environmental goals.

Driving our CR.

The people of Clifford Chance are at the heart of our programme. Its future success relies on their talents and commitment, and on the ability of the firm’s management to provide a relevant framework of inspirational opportunities. We will also be providing incentives for involvement through changes to our appraisal system.

Governance.

There is a defined governance framework for managing the firm’s diversity, community and environmental initiatives. Specific committees dedicated to these areas guide management decisions, establish targets and co-ordinate the individual and collective efforts that are driving the firm’s CR programme forward. These groups have responsibility for achieving our CR objectives.

We have signed the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative, which is supported by many of our clients. It provides us with 10 simple working principles which all of our offices can work towards, helping us to turn our CR aims into more measurable successes in the future.

Globalisation.

As legal adviser to business, financial institutions and government, as the only law firm strategic partner to the World Economic Forum (WEF), and through our role with the UN on its assessment of the human rights records in international corporations, we discuss and influence key CR issues at state and supranational level. During 2008/09, members of the firm were involved in WEF initiatives focused on the environment, the Partnership Against Corruption, and the Rule of Law and Corporate Citizenship. The insights we gather inform our own policies and strategy.

Strategy.

We aim to develop the leading CR programme in the legal profession. We have established clear and defined goals to achieve that ambition, and will measure our progress against the targets detailed in the back of this report. Our CR strategy supports our Principles (ambition for success; thinking ahead; exceeding clients’ expectations; local excellence, global standards; investing in talent; an adaptable and approachable team; strength through diversity; and community).

Goals.

We have set a range of new targets across the people, community and environment pillars that demonstrate our commitment to raising the bar for CR at Clifford Chance.

These targets also reflect our desire to increase the extent to which we engage with our stakeholders in the future.

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