Corporate Responsibility Policy

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As the leading communications consultancy in Canada, NATIONAL brings a positive contribution to society from an economic, social and environmental perspective. We also believe that we have an important role to play in helping our clients to continuously improve the social and environmental impacts of their business activities and communications programs.

All offices across the NATIONAL network are required to comply with the Corporate Responsibility (CR) Policy and all employees are expected to put the Policy into practice through their daily work. The establishment of objectives, monitoring of performance and implementation of continuous improvement measures is the responsibility of the Human Resources and National Policy Committee.

Our CR Policy focuses on four key areas where we believe we can have the most impact: ethical conduct, social investment, environmental performance and human capital development. Each is supported by operational guidelines and, where appropriate, annual performance metrics.

Ethical Conduct

NATIONAL is committed to practicing public relations according to the highest professional standards. The Firm has strict policies and guidelines governing the conduct of its business, notably regarding confidentiality, ethics and conflicts of interest. We seek to provide collaborative and sustainable communications solutions to our clients.

Social Investment

We encourage employees to undertake pro bono work - the donation of communication counsel and services - for not-for-profit organizations on behalf of the Firm. We also make financial contributions to not-for-profit organizations in communities where we operate, and encourage employees to make financial contributions. We recognize employees for their pro bono work by incorporating this aspect into annual performance evaluations.

Environmental Performance

We work to minimize the Firm's environmental impact, specifically related to our direct paper and water consumption, recycling, energy use, and through our procurement of environmentally responsible goods and services. Local green committees are responsible for implementing environmental programs and monitoring our performance on an annual basis. NATIONAL encourages clients to integrate environmental concerns into their business and communications practices and counsels them to minimize their environmental impact in all their communications efforts.

Human Capital Development

We select, compensate and promote our employees on the basis of merit, without discrimination for race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age or disability. We offer an extensive range of professional development and training programs at the local, national and international levels for all categories of employees, we reward excellence nationally and locally and each office offers its employees specific programs and benefits to foster employee wellness and satisfaction.