Integrity and Ethical Performance

Integrity is intrinsic to who we are: acting ethically is our primary aim. We operate globally in diverse cultural contexts and conduct business dealings with transparency, respecting laws and customs in our operations and work environments while adhering to our own standards as well.

We believe that integrity starts by setting a common set of expectations and by having an open and honest culture. We communicate our policies to our employees and business partners through the Global Code of Business Principles, the Compliance Integrity Management System and the Compliance Programme. Read more on our website.

Integrity and compliance in our operations

Our integrity policy is embedded throughout the company. Our Compliance Integrity Management System has been continuously audited and certified since 2010. We have a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and aim to meet and surpass international best practice standards in anti-corruption compliance and business ethics. To that end, we are compliant to international ISO standards and have been assessed and certified as meeting the ISO 37001 standard for our Anti Bribery Management System as well as meeting the ISO 37301 standard for our Compliance Integrity Management System.

We focus on a compliance topic for ethical behaviour via a mandatory e-learning. In 2022 this addressed respectful workplace behaviour and was attended by 93% of our employees during the year. The e-learning included the four stages of psychological safety. Other topics discussed grey areas (such as banter) and how to speak up. We believe that a psychologically safe working environment is key to ethical behaviour and to encourage speaking up when seeing behaviour that does not fit our values.

In 2022, we considered ethical dilemmas in dilemma sessions, focusing on real work situations which could happen to anyone. We organized 12 dilemma sessions throughout the year, one of which was offered directly to the members of the extended executive council. Colleagues explored possible options and why everyone might not respond in the same way. The interactive sessions stimulated awareness of integrity, openness and transparency through dilemmas covering topics such as equality, diversity and inclusion, speaking up, differences of opinion where there is an imbalance in power or seniority, and controversial projects.

All new clients are assessed by an internationally reputed information provider to give insight into our value chain. The third-party assessment includes, among other things, a review of the ultimate beneficial owners, directors and any media exposure.

Incidents 

In 2022, 169 integrity issues and concerns were registered, compared to 130 in 2021. As a company dedicated to integrity and transparency, we welcome the increase in the reported cases. For us this means that our employees are aware of the procedures and policies in our company, and they support our efforts to promote integrity in our operations. Out of the 169 cases in 2022, 5 cases were considered high-risk compliance issues. After investigation, 3 cases resulted in a breach of our Global Code of Business Principles. Characteristics of the reported issues and concerns included unwelcome workplace behaviour, discussions about working in controversial countries, human rights in a particular country, and involvement in publicly disputed projects. All issues were investigated, discussed and, when appropriate, mitigating measures were taken.

UN Global Compact  

In 2022 we continued supporting the 10 Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption developed by the UN Global Compact (UNGC). The UNGC asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. Royal HaskoningDHV has been a partner of the UNGC since 2008. The 10 Principles are an integral part of our daily operations, incorporated into the Global Code of Business Principles for our people, partners and suppliers. Furthermore, we show our commitment to the UNGC principles in tenders, offers and project selection processes and by communicating our progress in implementing the principles.