The standards cover all aspects of employee acquisition, engagement, development, organisation and reward. There are also standards related to creating and maintaining a safe working environment. 

Businesses are required to self-assess against the standards on an annual basis using our enterprise risk management system. The system provides a common platform for managing risk and streamlines the process for completing, monitoring and reporting compliance against the standards.

As well as completing a self-assessment to confirm levels of compliance with the standards, businesses are expected to proactively identify gaps and address areas of underperformance. The feedback from the self-assessments is consolidated to show year on year trends and highlight approaches where more guidance or support may be required. 

Further follow up and assurance of responses and any improvements required is also provided by regional and Group HR teams and through business audits.