A new report on what constitutes good workforce reporting and best practice has been published by several industry leaders.

The guidance, Worthwhile Workforce Reporting, was produced by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), Railpen, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the High Pay Centre and Board Intelligence, and aims to “assist companies looking to improve their reporting, and support investors in their engagements with portfolio companies".

The organisations clarified that the guidance is not intended to be prescriptive, explaining that such an approach is unlikely to be the most meaningful for either the companies or investors.

In particular, the guidance outlined eight general principles of good workforce reporting, including an appropriate mix of data and narrative, balance and a self-critical approach, and linked to corporate strategy and performance.

The guidance also suggested that companies should touch upon at least some data points or metrics within each of the report’s five themes: workforce cost and composition, employee relations and wellbeing, reward, worker voice, and skill, capabilities and recruitment.

However, the report clarified that it would not expect all companies to report on every data point, emphasising that "good reporting is not a question of quantity alone", and that companies should be considering what data is most relevant to their workforce and strategy.

In addition to this, the report suggested that there is "much that the investor community
can do to support companies to produce meaningful and useful workforce reporting".

For instance, the group suggested that investors should be ensuring they are targeted in their requests, pragmatic and ready to welcome better disclosures, and be open to an honest conversation, with the guidance expected to help contribute to this process.

PLSA head of defined benefit (DB), LGPS and investment, Tiffany Tsang, commented: “You often hear companies say that ‘people are our greatest assets’ and yet, in many cases, the reality fails to match the well-meaning words.

“The PLSA is a firm believer that high-quality workforce reporting is key to better outcomes for companies, investors and workers.

“The PLSA supports better quality reporting from companies on workforce issues through a number of initiatives and this new guidance that we’ve produced alongside our partners at the Railpen, CIPD, The High Pay Centre and Board Intelligence will help companies understand best practice the key themes that need addressing and investors’ expectations.

“With this as well as our own Stewardship and Voting Guidelines 2022 we must take this conversation forward into 2023.”

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