People are material to Reed Elsevier because they are the driving force of our business; community is a material issue because local and global communities provide our ‘licence to operate.’ Because we impact them, we must be accountable and give something back.

One of our five corporate values is “Valuing our People”. To us that means being an employer of choice known for doing the right things to recruit and retain the best staff. If we fail to attract or keep good people, our business will suffer and we will not achieve our objectives or meet the expectations of our stakeholders. Community is an integral part of how Reed Elsevier does business. Contributing to our global communities is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It helps us inspire employees, positively aid beneficiaries, improve our reputation, and meet our obligations as one of the world’s largest media companies.

Objectives

Developing our people and providing them with a great place to work is a priority. As a large global company, operating in many countries around the world, we strive to work together as one, connected organisation to make real our value “boundarylessness”. We encourage open and honest communication.  The mission of our global community programme, RE Cares, is “to play a positive role in our local and global communities, primarily through employee involvement.” We focus on education for disadvantaged young people which furthers:

• universal, sustainable access to information
• advancement of science and health
• the rule of law and access to justice
• the protection of society

RE Cares activities range from reading support programmes and charity fundraising initiatives, to donations of time and services. A key component of Reed Elsevier Cares is Two Days, which gives all employees two days off per year for volunteer work of their own choosing.

Results

Our 32,000 people are our strength. In 2009, we conducted a global Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) with 72% of staff taking part. Overall, employees rate Reed Elsevier as a good place to work with improved scores since the last survey in 2006 in valuing our people, being receptive to their ideas, and encouraging teamwork and collaboration. There was an 81% composite favourable rating for CR-related questions, with nearly 90% of employees agreeing that Reed Elsevier supports community involvement. We are prioritising areas identified in the EOS as needing attention, including additional ways to support work/life balance.

Through our Reed Elsevier Cares programme we promote education for disadvantaged young people. We saw an 11% rise in volunteering and donated £2.5 million in cash donations (including matching gift programmes) and the equivalent of £4.4 million in gifts of products, services and staff time in 2009. Our Two Days programme allows all staff up to two days off per year for their own community work.

Diversity

The Reed Elsevier Diversity and Inclusion statement articulates our commitment to a diverse workforce and a work environment that respects individuals and their contributions, regardless of their gender, race or other characteristic. To better communicate on the issues we created a diversity and inclusion intranet site. Our cross-divisional Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, which draws on internal and external expertise, promoted best practice in areas ranging from training to recruitment. Growing numbers of affinity groups, like women’s forums, focused on support, mentoring and community involvement, allow diversity to be expressed in meaningful ways across Reed Elsevier.

We actively seek to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers and the communities in which we work. In 2009, our workforce was 54% female, based on a sampling of greater than 90% of our employees; 43% of women are managers. In the last year, there were two female members of the RE boards: Lisa Hook, non-executive director of Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV and Dien de Boer-Kruyt, non-executive director of Reed Elsevier NV. Our senior management group comprised 16 nationalities.

We recognise employees of different ages contribute unique perspectives to our endeavours. In 2009, 20% of our employees were 30 years of age or younger, 62% were between 31 and 50 years of age, and 18% are 51 and older. Our oldest employee, aged 88, and our youngest, aged 17, work in our US Risk Solutions business.

RE World

Our intranet, RE World, allows managers and staff to share news and information across the group.  It includes the latest company and industry news, provides access to images, job openings, competitions and forums.  It also provides information on customers, strategy, ventures, pensions and our CR activities.

RE Cares Month

RE Cares Month spotlighting our global community involvement takes place each September. We held our third global book drive with 5,704 employees donating almost 14,000 books for local and developing world readers. We offered $1,000 to the office donating the largest relative number of books for the charity of their choice. The winning office was LexisNexis El Paso, who collected 26 books per person. Their books and cash prize were given to the Assistance League of El Paso.

We also held our second global fundraising drive raising £37,000 for Save the Children’s Rewrite the Future campaign, which furthers education for children living in conflict affected countries. We supported essential educational projects in Afghanistan.

RE Cares Month 2009 touched thousands of employees with creative volunteering and fundraising. For example, Elsevier Tokyo held a volunteer day at a centre supporting handicapped children; LexisNexis Chicago contributed their skills to the Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse; Reed Business Information Doetinchem held a clothing and book fair to benefit Noah’s Ark Children’s Home in Kenya; and Reed Exhibitions London held a volunteer day at a local Welcare family support centre.

Community impact

In accordance with the London Benchmarking Group model, we monitor the short and long term benefits of the projects with which we are involved. As part of our giving, we ask beneficiaries to report on their progress and achievements. We share the reports with colleagues on the RE Cares section of RE World to increase transparency and staff awareness.

2010 Objectives

• Advance divisional EOS action plan
• Develop a diversity and inclusion strategy for key locations
• Closer alignment of RE Cares donations with corporate responsibility focus areas
• Increase in-kind contributions