Corporate responsibility and governance
A holistic approach to good corporate citizenship
By adhering to ethical business principles, modelling good corporate behaviour and engaging
directly with local communities, Jotun delivers value to stakeholders and the societies where we
are active.
Jotun’s approach to Corporate Responsibility (CR) is grounded
in our corporate values of Loyalty, Care, Respect and Boldness.
Internally, these values define expectations for employees,
help build a resilient corporate culture and encourage a more
diverse and inclusive workforce. Externally, these values
enable Jotun to strengthen its reputation, attract and retain
skilled workers and promote ethical business practices that
hold suppliers, dealers and distributors to a higher standard.
BUILDING A STRONG CORPORATE CULTURE
With about 10 000 employees and activities in more than 100
countries, Jotun’s growing global presence requires that the
company builds its corporate culture so that all employees
share the same high standards and values. Jotun achieves this
goal by establishing, communicating and strengthening CR
and governance policies so that they are firmly embedded
throughout the organisation.
This effort starts at the top. Working closely with Jotun’s
Board of Directors, Group Management establishes, amends
and reinforces CR and governance policies that cascade down
through the organisation. Regional managers are tasked with
communicating these policies and modelling good behaviour
to local personnel, ensuring that the company operates with
one common standard.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Without the ability to measure and verify compliance with
Jotun’s CR policies, Jotun cannot identify areas where the
company can improve. Therefore, Jotun has established
systems, reviews and audits to make sure various Group
functions and our global network of companies perform in
line with expectations.
These include:
• Business reviews
• Financial audits
• Human Resources (HR) reviews
• Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) audits
• Supplier audits
• CR reports
These systems are continuously updated to reflect new
policies developed by relevant departments. For example, in
2020 Jotun required local businesses to establish HR diversity
and inclusion targets and report on steps taken to achieve
these targets during periodic business reviews.
DIGITAL TRAINING
Jotun has long recognised the value of using both live,
in-person training and digital tools to communicate CR
and governance policies to employees. For example, the
Jotun Management System and the company’s Leadership
Expectations programme include comprehensive and detailed
information on company policies. In addition, Jotun Academy,
the company’s internal competence development programme
and Jotun’s internal communications platform ‘Working
Together’ are also both important resources and training tools.
Jotun’s timely investments in digital training tools proved to
be critical in 2020, when managing the coronavirus pandemic
prohibited in-person classes. Thus, Jotun was able to organise
online training for a broad range of CR and governance related
topics. These included anti-corruption dilemma training and
diversity and inclusion leadership training.
Jotun’s Corporate Responsibility policies are consistent with
practices outlined by:
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
• International Labour Organization’s Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (ILO Convention)
• UN Global Compact principles
In 2020, Jotun decided to focus on the UN Sustainability Goals,
specifically Number 8 (Decent work and economic growth),
Number 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and
Number 14 (Life below water), in additon to the overarching
issue of climate change Number 13 (Climate action).
Jotun Group Report 2020 I 41