We have robust systems and procedures to identify, prioritise and address the needs and concerns of all our key stakeholders, across all businesses and units as well as at the corporate level. The stakeholder engagement process has evolved over 100 years of the organisation’s existence, based on mutual trust and respect developed over the years.
Almost all our Units have been operating from the same premises over several decades now and our relationships with almost all our major suppliers and contract manufacturers go back several decades. These engagement processes are now being formalised and recorded.
The key stakeholders identified in this section are expected to be the primary users of this Report. They are Shareholders, Customers, Employees, Farmers, Suppliers, Community and Government.
Shareholders
As trustees of shareholders, we believe it is our responsibility to protect and enhance their wealth. Their primary expectations remain centered around continued profitability and growth, communication and investor servicing.
As one of India's foremost private sector companies, we have performed consistently for a century now and since the inception of the Company, have rewarded our shareholders with uninterrupted dividends and issue of bonus shares from time to time.
Our Chairman addresses and provides clarifications to the shareholders at least once a year at the Annual General Meeting, the principal forum for face-to-face interaction, in the presence of the entire Board. The Board encourages open dialogue with all the shareholders - individuals, corporates or foreign investors.
In the Shareholder Satisfaction Survey conducted during the year, investors expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the services provided by the Company.
Our corporate website www.itcportal.com provides comprehensive information and an exclusive section on 'Shareholder Value' serves to inform and service shareholders; an exclusive e-mail ID isc@itc.in has also been provided to the shareholders for direct interaction.
Customers
Understanding customer’s needs and aspirations and achieving consumer delight by creating products and services of a high quality along with cost competitiveness and on time delivery thereby developing a strong long-term customer relationship is the prime focus of all our businesses.
Each business has various mechanisms to capture the needs and expectations of the customer such as market surveys, personal contacts/ visits, events, customer satisfaction surveys, joint development & improvement projects, key account management, multi-level interfaces at dealer-customer-end user, personalised lifestyle privilege programmes, etc.
Product/service quality, availability, visibility & on time delivery, cost competitiveness, continuous product/ process innovation, demand for ‘green’ products and value added services are the major topics/ issues discussed during the customer engagement process.
Robust Quality Assurance systems supported with process innovations, adoption of green technology, lean management, six sigma, and TPM help us achieve benchmarks in product and service quality in accordance with customer expectations.
We continue to invest significantly in R & D to develop newer products/ variants.
Employees
We continued to build on our strategic agenda of remaining globally competitive and creating engines for sustainable growth by nurturing quality talent and blending proven skills and capabilities drawn from different parts of the ITC Group. Each business focuses on engaging with employees through communication meetings, workplace interactions, mentoring and suggestion schemes, employees/manager surveys and talent recognition programmes.
We strive to attract and retain talent through various initiatives that focus on providing personal development and growth, a work culture that ensures high levels of performance, world-class learning and a conducive work environment.
We have further strengthened the organisational vitality and competitiveness through various efforts including:
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Developing agility and creativity to speedily embrace change. |
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Developing leaders from a pool of talented, passionate and diverse individuals. |
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Creating an environment where employees are inspired, engaged and aligned with the Company’s Vision, Mission and Core Values. |
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