People & Community

 
We, at the PLAKA Group, believe that continued sustainable business success depends on the excellent relationship we have with our stakeholders – our employees, customers, suppliers, neighbours, shareholders and all other stakeholders.

 

 

Social policy

Our group follows and supports CRH’s Social Policy, which is to:

• Comply, at a minimum, with all applicable legislation and to ensure that our social stewardship is consistent with industry best practice.
• Manage our businesses in a fair and equitable manner, meeting all our social responsibilities both as a direct and indirect employer.
• Support freedom of association and recognise the right to collective bargaining.
• Prohibit forced, compulsory and child labour.
• Apply the principle of equal opportunity, valuing diversity regardless of age, gender, disability, creed, ethnic origin or sexual orientation, while insisting that merit is the ultimate basis for recruitment and selection decisions.
• Ensure that we deal responsibly with our suppliers and customers in accordance with CRH's Code of Business Conduct and proper business practice.

Social performance management

The implementation of social policy and the monitoring of social performance is the responsibility of operating company management. They are supported by the HR structures within the Group in this role and in reporting through the divisional structure to Group headquarters.

Employee development

The PLAKA Groups’ objective is to remain the employer of choice for all employees, providing significant employment at its many locations worldwide. The PLAKA Group continues to commit significant resources to training and developing employees’ knowledge and skills throughout the organization, believing that this is essential to continued business success.

Employee satisfaction is monitored at operating company level. Low absenteeism rates and other metrics point to a high level of employee satisfaction throughout the Group. The continued growth of the Group regularly creates opportunities for talented, ambitious people.

Management development

Our Group recognizes that a key factor in the success of the Group is the quality of its business leaders. We, therefore, commit significant resources to training and developing high-potential employees throughout the organization to meet the leadership challenges of performance and growth. All of our operating companies run Leadership Development programs in conjunction with CRH Group HR, complementing the initiatives at company and product group levels. Succession planning tools, on-the-job development, coaching and mentoring are widely used to ensure there is a continuous availability of leadership talent to meet the Group's strategic objectives.

Human Rights

Our Group is fully committed to human rights and supports, in so far as they are applicable to Group companies, the principles as set out in the articles of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Core Labour Principles.

Responsible supply chain management

Due to the local nature of our businesses, most suppliers are local. Individual operating companies source raw materials and supplies externally and also internally from other CRH companies. Procurement standards are applied throughout the Group on a global basis with special attention paid to the protection of human and labour rights for purchases in developing regions.

Customer satisfaction

Due to the competitive nature of our markets, customer satisfaction and our business reputation are vitally important to our continuing success and growth.

Our neighbours and the community

Our companies form an integral part of the communities in which they operate and are sensitive to the impact Group operations may have on our neighbours, particularly those in the immediate vicinity of our businesses.

The PLAKA Group has a well-established practice of supporting well-focused initiatives in education, environmental protection and job creation at a corporate level. At company level, support is very much focused on local neighbour and community initiatives. All support initiatives are monitored centrally and reported annually to the CRH Board.

Read more in CRH’s Sustainability Report