Tragically, CLP had one fatal incident that resulted in the death of a subcontractor’s worker in Hong Kong in 2019. An internal panel completed an investigation into the incident in order to determine root causes and enable improvements in safety standards and procedures. Investigations into other incidents with the potential to cause serious injuries were also investigated.

The increase in the Group’s injury rates in 2019 was driven primarily by the construction of the additional gas-fired generation unit in Hong Kong. The commencement of other planned capital projects will affect the Group’s safety risk profile, and safety will continue to be prioritised. At the same time, the data also reflects an increase in the quality, frequency and consistency of incident reporting across the Group, as a result of the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) improvement strategy established in 2018.

The HSE improvement strategy aims to uplift the Group’s safety culture across all operating regions, promote more proactive risk management, and engage employees, contractors and other key stakeholders to collectively implement changes to improve safety performance.

CLP is committed to find new and better ways of working, by learning from investigations into incidents, as well as the adoption of best practices. For example, the Group implemented safety improvements in working at height and with other gravitational energies. In addition, Group-wide principles for a safety behavioural framework has been established which sets expectations for all levels of the organisation. CLP continues to support behavioural-safety observation programmes at key assets.

CLP continues to implement consistent standards across the Group for risk management, which includes identifying risks and opportunities.

At the end of 2019, CLP had 7,960 full-time and part-time employees across the Group compared with 7,843¹ in 2018. A total of 4,305 employees were engaged in the Hong Kong electricity and related businesses and 3,294 by the businesses in Mainland China, India, Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Australia, with the remaining 361 employed by CLP Holdings. Total remuneration for the year ended 31 December 2019 was HK$6,054 million compared with HK$5,935 million in 2018, including retirement benefit costs of HK$593 million compared with HK$584 million in 2018.

CLP continued to focus on increasing transparency over the broader workforce to ensure a responsible approach is taken to manage the associated costs and risks. CLP employed over 18,000 employees and contractors on a full-time equivalent basis as at the end of 2019. The reporting methodology was evolved after the first reporting year in 2018 to include part-time workers and to estimate the service contractor workforce in each region based on local weekly working norms.

Utilisation of contractors marginally increased in 2019, reflecting the ongoing work in the major construction projects in Hong Kong, and a refined calculation methodology commensurate with generally lower average local working hours in Australia.

Employees and contractors by region

Retaining the organisational knowledge within the Company, together with transferring skills to a new generation of managers and team members is essential to CLP’s long-term success, as is developing skills for a low-carbon, digitally-enabled future.

This year, CLP employees received on average 40 hours of internal and external training and development, compared with average 45 hours in 2018¹. The difference reflected lower training hours in the Paguthan plant in India, as well as in the Mainland China operations due to a lower turnover rate, and hence fewer hours in total of new hire training. A review of validity periods in Hong Kong resulted in longer validity periods being applied for some regular refresher training.

The development of future executives and high-potential Group engineering leaders continues, in partnership with the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). More than 50 employees participated in leadership and pipeline development programmes, in line with 2018.

Investing in building pipelines of skilled engineers and technicians in response to the energy transition and to address future skills shortages is a key priority. In 2019, CLP introduced new technician grade structures and technician trainee roles in Hong Kong to enhance progression and retention. A group of 22 high-potential engineering leaders participated in a cross-business engineering development programme. The Hong Kong-based Graduate Trainee programmes were reviewed and redesigned into a single programme focused on future leadership and technical capabilities, launching in 2020. In Mainland China, CLP conducted assessment for young local engineers, providing individual development plans and feedback. The Group continued to recruit high potential early- to mid-career engineers to supplement internal development efforts and facilitate international development assignments, as well as strengthen resourcing of innovation and energy transition-related activities and projects, recruiting 29 senior hires in 2019 into critical roles.

Employee training

CASE STUDY

CLP Power Academy widens career options for young people

Graduates celebrating at the CLP Power Academy graduation ceremony.

The training and development opportunities provided by CLP go beyond employees. Since its inception in 2017, CLP Power Academy has been offering a range of programmes designed for young people in Hong Kong.

These programmes are suitable for young people with varying academic achievements and work experience. From entry-level courses for secondary school leavers without relevant qualifications to advanced post-graduate degrees for more experienced industry practitioners, the high-quality vocational and professional education programmes at the Academy widen the career options of young people and promote access to opportunities for young people from different backgrounds including those from underprivileged homes and ethnic minorities. Students include individuals referred by CLP partners such as the Society for Community Organization and Youth Outreach, both of which support grassroot and disadvantaged young people.

The Academy continued to broaden its range of curricula in 2019, offering new courses in mechanical engineering as well as programmes focused on electrical engineering. In January 2019, the Academy celebrated the graduation of its first intake of students after they successfully completed the Professional Diploma in Power Engineering and the Certificate for Junior Electricians programmes. In September 2019, a new Dual Master’s Degree Programme in Future Energy and Power System Operation and Management has been launched, which is collaborated with The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and The University of Strathclyde (UoS). The Academy will continue to explore opportunities to launch more professional training programmes.

CLP Power Academy is a founding member of the Corporate Tech Academy Network (CTAN), an alliance formed by Hong Kong companies in May 2019 to promote vocational training and professional education and training for young people. Other members of CTAN are MTR Academy, Hong Kong Institute of Construction, Hong Kong International Aviation Academy, Towngas Engineering Academy, and the academy of the Hong Kong Productivity Council.

The work of the Academy is complemented by other CLP programmes, such as the Engineer in School programme. It collaborates with organisations including the Hong Kong Association of Career Masters and Guidance Masters, to promote power engineering as a profession. More importantly, it is hoped that the education and engagement provided by the Academy will empower young people, support their positive development and offer them an alternative career pathway.

Find out more about CLP Power Academy

Given the opportunity presented by increasing levels of female workforce participation, CLP has set several Group-wide gender diversity targets which support the UN SDGs, in particular the commitment to SDG 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth. CLP's Women in Leadership percentage increased to 24.2% while Women in Engineering increased to 11.4%. This progress reflects the Group’s continued commitment and efforts in attracting and developing female employees, and the focus on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.

CLP continues to undertake initiatives to encourage more women into the workforce. These included mentoring programmes for over 40 female engineering students to provide exposure to its operations and help them become more work-ready, together with holding the annual Female Engineer Networking event for the first time in India, with over 20 female engineers participating from across the Group. In Mainland China, hiring staff with ethnic-minority backgrounds continues.

Across the Group, the Company continued to enhance leave and flexible working policies, providing continuation of full medical and other benefits for employees working part-time or on unpaid leave. Recognising the diverse backgrounds and needs of employees, EnergyAustralia is piloting flexibility for employees to choose public holiday dates in 2020 to meet cultural and social obligations.

Following certification of the Hong Kong operations as a Fair Wage Employer in 2018, a follow-up assessment was conducted in 2019 and confirmed extended recognition for another year. In Australia, gender pay differentials were addressed in 2018. Analysis conducted on a job grade basis in 2019 showed that the gender pay gap issue has been addressed, with no further direct action required.

Female representation has increased across all levels in 2019 compared to the previous year, as shown in the charts.

CASE STUDY

Supporting Women in Engineering

Over 20 participants joined the Group-wide female engineer networking events in India in November 2019.

To transform the business into a Utility of Future, CLP needs talented, diverse engineers on board.

To achieve its goals as an organisation, CLP needs people from all backgrounds who want to make a difference and help transform the business. As part of this, the Company has committed to significantly increasing the number of female engineers in each of the businesses over time, and to developing a strong network of female engineers across the Group. A mentoring programme was launched in Hong Kong in 2015 to provide opportunities for female engineering students from local universities to better understand the engineering profession and the power industry, and to support them to pursue a career in engineering. Over 200 women have participated in the programme to date as mentees and mentors, with over 80% indicating an increased interest in an engineering career.

CLP recognises that isolation in the work environment is one of the key reasons for women leaving engineering careers and Group-wide female engineer networking events were organised annually to address this issue. This year, the networking event was held for the first time in India, with over 20 participants gaining insights into renewables technologies and business models, as well as training in career management and storytelling.

In response to these developments and trends, CLP is developing and implementing action plans across the business to simplify processes and ways of working to free its people from non-value adding tasks so they can focus on key priorities. The Company is also accelerating impact through new agile ways of working. Across the Group, the Company is piloting more agile team structures and working environments in the CLP Innovation Hub at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, CLPe Solutions and Customer teams to encourage collaboration and speed up decision-making and planned significant working environment changes for the China and EnergyAustralia teams for 2020 launch.

Over 900 Hong Kong employees have participated in Design Thinking training since its launch in early 2019. The programme is intended to nurture a people-centric innovation culture throughout the business, and to provide a practical problem-solving framework for product and service development with users’ needs in mind. To date, colleagues have applied Design Thinking in projects spanning across digital transformation, productivity, safety and customer services.

CASE STUDY

Applying design thinking on plant digitalisation

CLP employees have applied Design Thinking in projects spanning across digital transformation, productivity, safety and customer services.

Applying new ideas and technologies to make work more effective is critical to CLP’s future success. CLP Power has launched an organisation-wide initiative to promote Design Thinking at all levels, providing tailored training to teams.

Among many Design Thinking applications this year, a team of maintenance engineers worked together to apply their new skills to reduce risk in regular power station site inspections, many of which take place at height or in confined spaces. Through consultation, drone technology was identified as a potential solution. The team used low-cost materials and tools to simulate the user experience and prototype the solution, before successfully trialling a fully-functional drone model. Inspection safety has improved, and costs reduced. Further technology refinements have now been introduced based on user feedback and the team is working on extending the solution to other parts of the business.

Supporting its people to thrive in change means engaging and helping CLP's people to embrace change and strengthen their wellbeing and resilience, in addition to developing more inclusive workplaces, supporting increased gender, age and cultural diversity.

CLP was again voted Hong Kong’s Most Attractive Employer in the Randstad Employer Awards in 2019, the first company to win the award three times since the programme’s launch.

Two key programmes – the CLP Home Loan Scheme and the Boost Health and Wellbeing programme – were introduced in 2019 in Hong Kong. The CLP Home Loan Scheme provides additional financial support for employees seeking to buy a first home. The Company recognises that housing affordability is a significant issue for Hong Kong’s young people. At the same time, attracting and retaining staff in an increasingly competitive talent market is critical for CLP’s long-term sustainability. The Home Loan scheme is an important initiative to address both challenges. Since the scheme was launched, feedback from employees has been very positive and 40 employees have received assistance to date.

The Boost Health and Wellbeing programme aims to support Hong Kong-based employees to look after their physical health, mental wellness, social health and financial wellbeing. An online survey was launched to learn more about employees’ lifestyles and seek their ideas for the programme, achieving a very encouraging response rate of over 80%. Survey results will drive major initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of employees in 2020 and beyond.

The Company’s human resources policies and procedures are intended to ensure that it complies with all local laws and regulations in relation to compensation and dismissal, recruitment and promotion, working hours, rest periods, equal opportunity, diversity, non-discrimination, and those covering benefits and welfare in the markets where it operates. CLP takes immediate action to investigate and address any suspected breaches or issues that are brought to its attention and carries out independent audits to proactively identify any risks of legal non-compliance and to take remedial action if any risks are identified.

In addition to local legal compliance, CLP respects internationally-proclaimed human rights across its value chain. It is recognised that the responsibility to respect human rights extends to the network of suppliers and contractors. In 2019, the Company continued to focus on working practices across the extended workforce, including continuing to strengthen the reporting of labour supply and service contractors and exercising more control and oversight over labour supply in Hong Kong.

CLP prohibits the employment of child labour or forced labour in any of its operations. The Group did not identify any operation or supplier as having significant risk of child labour, young workers exposed to hazardous work, or forced or compulsory labour in 2019. There was no breach of laws and regulations in relation to child and forced labour across CLP in 2019.

The Group monitors pay carefully to ensure that it is competitive and rewards employees for individual and company performance. CLP complies fully with any local legal requirements with respect to minimum wage, and in practice, the remuneration and benefits often significantly exceed local legal requirements. The core benefits are also reviewed regularly to ensure they are fit for purpose and sustainable. In recognition of the high value placed on sustainable retirement benefits, in 2019, CLP received a Good Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Employer award and e-Contribution awards from the MPF Schemes Authority in Hong Kong, and an award for the Best ORSO (Occupational Retirement) Scheme from the publication Asia Asset Management.