The Economist Group's guiding principles
The Group operates in a clear and ethical context, and the Board reviews and approves a set of guiding principles every year, which are as follows:
- We aim to offer insight, analysis and services that are valued by our customers.
- Underpinning our ability to fulfil this objective is our commitment to independence, integrity and delivering high quality in everything we do. These values govern our relationships with readers, customers and clients, shareholders, colleagues, suppliers and the community at large.
- We believe in conducting business with common decency. We are opposed to bribery and do not engage in corrupt practices. We abide by strict guidelines governing the acceptance of gifts and the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.
- We are opposed to modern slavery and human trafficking, both in our business and in our supply chain. See our Modern Slavery Act statement on our website, www.economistgroup.com, for more information.
- As an international company, we conduct business in many different markets around the world. In the countries in which we operate, we abide by local laws and regulations.
- We make an active contribution to local charities by charitable giving. We encourage our people to participate in charitable and community activities and we permit them to take time off for this purpose. We match employee donations of time and money to charities.
- We respect environmental standards and comply with relevant local laws. We take environmental issues seriously. (The Economist and its sister publications, 1843 and The World In series, account for the majority of our annual spend on paper and printing. All suppliers of paper and print services used in producing these publications adhere to one or more of the following internationally recognised environmental standards: ISO 14001, FSC and PEFC.)
- We value our colleagues and treat each other fairly. The Group is committed to equality of opportunity in all employment practices and policies. We do not discriminate against employees or job applicants on the grounds of age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, religion, national origin or disability. We support colleagues who through disability or illness are unable to perform their duties, by adapting the work environment and hours of work to suit them as far as practicable. We provide employee assistance programmes and access to mental-health facilities.
- The Group is committed to increasing employee diversity. We particularly focus on ensuring that we recruit from the widest possible pool of talent. Data on the composition of our Group by gender, race and ethnicity can be found here. We are also keen that people feel comfortable and valued at work, regardless of their background. We recognise that it is essential to keep colleagues informed of the progress of the Group. We provide colleagues with information on the Group’s activities and its financial performance through regular meetings and communication through our intranet. We have a strong consultative culture and we follow legal and regulatory requirements to consult with colleagues on major issues affecting the company.
- The Group is committed to achieving gender parity. Our gender-pay-gap report (published on March 8th 2021) shows that we are making progress; however, we still need to increase the number of women at senior management levels through career progression and recruitment.
Gender pay gap report 2019 (published March 2020)
Gender pay gap report 2018 (published March 2019)