Group Corporate Responsibility
The Group Corporate Responsibility Department was created in 2001 to oversee and coordinate the implementation of the Group's Corporate Responsibility strategy. It is also responsible for centralizing relations with social and environmental rating agencies, investors and analysts. It has a dedicated intranet and newsletter discussing the Group's CR policies and actions.
The CR strategy and progress, both at Group and local levels, is formally reviewed twice a year by the Management Board and annually by the Board of Directors.
Network of local Chief Corporate Responsibility Officers
A network of Chief Corporate Responsibility Officers has been set up by the CEOs of AXA's local entities, responsible for coordinating the CR strategy and promoting best practices at local level. The CCROs are generally members of the entity's local Executive Community and have a broad CR mandate.
The CCRO network meets with the Group CR team during regularly scheduled seminars and meetings in order to take stock of projects for the current year and draw up action plans for the year ahead. The CCROs are supported by local CR teams.
Expertise from other Group teams
The CR team works closely with various senior executives in the Group's various divisions in connection with their projects (eg. finance, procurement, marketing, brand, distribution, risk management, human resources, legal affairs). These relations are formalised within the Group CR Committee, where the heads of AXA's "professional families" meet to discuss the CR components of their projects as well as how to better embed ESG issues in their day to day operations and longer term projects. The department also works closely with the Responsible Investment Research team at AXA IM.
Integration of CR into local and Group strategic planning processes
The Group has developed a CR key performance indicator which enables a precise annual tracking of local and Group CR performance. This indicator, which is included in annual management objectives, is derived from AXA's "CR self-assessment tool", which entities use annually to assess their maturity in the broad field of CR, benchmark their performance and identify appropriate steps to take towards developing an advanced CR strategy that has local relevance while remaining in line with the Group's CR strategy.
The self-assessment tool is a set of 70+ questions spanning the whole spectrum of CR issues: corporate governance, risk management, compliance, customer relationship management, environmental reporting, environmental management systems, environmental footprint, "Green products", social data, Health & Safety, human capital development, employee evaluation, remuneration & satisfaction, community involvement & philanthropy, microinsurance, CR screening of suppliers, etc.
Each question is scored on a level of 1 to 5 and an aggregate score is calculated on a 100 point scale.
AXA Stakeholder Advisory Panel
In 2014, AXA decided to launch a Stakeholder Advisory Panel, to advance the company's role as an insurer in building a stronger, safer and more sustainable society.
The Panel is designed to provide an informal forum for deep discussion of global trends shaping the world in which AXA operates; to identify ways that AXA can shape its vision and strategy consistent with these trends; and to enable AXA to maximize its positive impact on clients and the communities in which it operates.