Publicly traded companies report their financial results using commonly accepted accounting principles. Increasingly, companies are being asked to report on their environmental and social performance as well. However, non-financial, or “sustainability” reporting is an emerging discipline, and there is still a great deal of debate about which performance indicators are the most relevant.

RBC has not formally adopted a single approach to non-financial reporting; rather, we pay attention to a number of guidelines, frameworks and best practices, and regularly consult with experts to help us understand emerging trends in non-financial reporting. We report on various indicators in a number of publications, such as our Annual Report, Proxy Statements, this annual Corporate Responsibility Report and our external websites.

In 2004, in an effort to make our sustainability information easier to find, we produced our first Sustainability Report and Index: an online, one-stop reference to detailed information (and quick access to already published information) on performance indicators that have been deemed significant by RBC stakeholders and by external sources such as:

  • the Canadian federal government’s Public Accountability Statement regulations;
  • the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI);
  • investment research organizations that produce investment indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the Jantzi Social Index.

We intend to update this online report on an ongoing basis, ensuring our corporate responsibility efforts are as transparent as possible while still respecting the privacy of our clients and preserving proprietary marketing information. These reporting efforts qualify RBC Financial Group as an incremental GRI reporter.

The list below shows just some of the more than 125 performance indicators reported online in our 2004 Sustainability Report and Index, and is cross-referenced to some of the external sources that call for reporting on each indicator.

Our online Sustainability Report and Index can be found on the Corporate Responsibility site at rbc.com.

General company information

  • vision, values, sustainability strategy, major brands, operational structure, countries of operation, nature of ownership, markets served d, g, p;
  • changes in size, structure, ownership, products and services g.

Economic indicators
Corporate governance

  • information on Board of Directors (number with executive functions, outside directors, independence, nationality, number of women, committee responsibilities) d, g;
  • corporate governance framework d, g;
  • percentage of non-audit related fees (e.g., for management consulting) paid to auditing firm d.

Analyst and investor relations and engagement d, g

Strategic planning d, g

Risk and crisis management (risk process and crisis management structure) d, g

Codes of Conduct (compliance, corruption and bribery, whistle-blowing, etc.) d, g

Code of Ethics and business principles for investing d

Stakeholder engagement overview d, g

  

Client relations and engagement (such as geographic breakdown of operations, privacy policy, complaint process) d, g

Financial products and services

  • access to financial services for seniors, Aboriginal Peoples, low-income people and people with disabilities d, p;
  • branch openings and closings (Canada) g, p;
  • support for small business and loans to small business (Canada) p.

Supplier relations and engagement
(responsible purchasing policy, cost of goods and services purchased, country of supplier origin) d, g

Human resource policies and practices

  • policies (compensation and benefits, diversity/employment equity, hours of work, human rights) d, g;
  • programs (employee share ownership and profit sharing, reward and recognition, tuition subsidy) d, g;
  • practices (layoffs and redeployment) d, g;
  • employee relations and engagement d, g;
  • number of employees g, p;
  • employee attraction and retention d, g;
  • organizational learning and development d, g;
  • diversity (policy, structure, training, goals and reporting) d, g;
  • health and safety (policy, structure, training) d, g.
  

Environmental Indicators

  • environmental policy/management d, g;
  • structure, partnerships and engagement d, g;
  • environmental performance: eco-efficiency d, g;
  • environmental performance: paper consumption/recycling d, g.

Social indicators

  • corporate citizenship/philanthropy policies and programs d, g, p;
  • community relations and engagement d, g, p;
  • social value added: financial inclusion/capacity building d, g;
  • political donations d, g;
  • taxes paid d, g, p;
  • awards received g.

Key
p – Public Accountability Statement requirements
d – Dow Jones Sustainability Index categories
g – Global Reporting Initiative performance indicators