Jotun: The Right Shade of Governance

Jotun: The Right Shade of Governance

Jotun is known around the world for its decorative paints, high-performance marine and protective products, and a wide range of other innovations.  Behind the scenes, work is powered by the Penguin Spirit, the company’s corporate culture. Despite having different organisations and operating in markets worldwide, Jotun’s commitment to governance means a common approach has been seamlessly integrated across its far-reaching value chain.

Implementing and maintaining corporate governance has become an increasingly important aspect of business operations. It serves as the roadmap for all stakeholders to follow regarding responsible and ethical business practices. Without these, efforts can become disjointed from market to market, lessening global effectiveness.

“The role of governance in Jotun’s business is essential; it guides us in how we conduct our business operations throughout the value chain,” Dr Anders W. B. Skilbred, Global Sustainability Manager, reports. “Jotun’s Business Principles and Group Integrity and Sustainability Policy outline Jotun’s commitment to conducting responsible and ethical business operations in line with Jotun’s values. It includes roles and responsibilities, tools and templates, and references to ensure compliance with the main principles and requirements.”

For businesses with a presence overseas, challenges are real and varied. Take Jotun, for instance. The company is now active in more than 100 countries. Maintaining a global approach to governance requires meticulous planning and flexibility. For Jotun, this means ensuring its Nordic mindset, which is more of a flat structure as opposed to being a top-down perspective, across continents and cultures.

“The Nordic approach is reflected in how Jotun works with governance in our global organisation. The corporate group level is responsible for owning and maintaining the corporate policies and procedures, and it is the local units’ responsibility to implement these into working practices,” Dr Skilbred shares. “In this way, we ensure ownership of these practices throughout our organisation. Local involvement and implementation are essential, and the corporate and group functions will strive to support local units as best as possible.”

He cites Jotun’s comprehensive whistle-blowing policy as an example of this. It is designed so that employees and external individuals at any level can report concerns regarding wrongdoings related to the company’s activities. It also details the processes for handling and investigating these issues.

“The corporate whistle-blowing channel is open to stakeholders who may wish to report on suspected violations of Jotun’s business principles, laws, regulations or any threats to their psychological safety, such as workplace bullying, harassment or intimidation,” Dr Skilbred notes. “Once a report is registered, it is investigated and resolved according to a structured process. Reports are handled confidentially, and individuals are protected and treated with respect according to applicable laws.”

A unified approach to governance and corporate culture means that no matter where a Jotun employee is based in the world, they adhere to the same values. This is something Jotun Thailand Managing Director, Ms Kristine Anvik Leach, has experienced firsthand.

“I have worked in four different Jotun organisations in four different countries and have seen how our corporate culture remains the same. It’s embedded in us as penguins, whether you are in Thailand, India, Norway or anywhere else,” Ms Anvik Leach explains. “We use our core values of loyalty, care, respect and boldness on a daily basis. These allow us to implement our governance and sustainability measures truthfully and honestly. Within our operations, we have dedicated resources focusing on continuous improvement, making sure we become a little bit better every single day.”

The Penguin Spirit

Jotun’s corporate culture is known as the Penguin Spirit and is deeply rooted in the company’s four core values. It also plays a massive role in the organisation’s governance. That’s because the ESG framework and the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive place corporate culture under governance activities.

“For us, this makes perfect sense as having a strong corporate culture is essential for a company’s governance. This culture guides actions and decisions, ensuring that Jotun conducts business with integrity and responsibility,” Dr Skilbred says.

He adds that those four core values were something Jotun has always followed. However, turning those words into more tangible practices was a challenge.

“First of all, defining loyalty, care, respect and boldness and incorporating them into the values that are the foundation of the corporate culture was essential,” Dr Skilbred points out. “We actively use these values, and this is reflected in our corporate governance practices.”

A notable instance is Jotun’s commitment to ethical business practices, something reflected in the company’s principles and related policies. These have been built upon transparency, accountability and sustainability.

“Jotun strives to create a safe, inclusive and diverse workplace where employees can thrive and contribute to the company’s long-term success,” Dr Skilbred notes. “By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, Jotun aims to build strong relationships with customers, employees and stakeholders, and positively impact the communities it serves.”

People & Policies

Multinational organisations face numerous questions when developing policies, given that different markets may have different standards. Jotun has approached this by opting to hold itself to the strictest requirement.

He highlights the comprehensive Anti-Corruption Policy at Jotun as an example of this. It is designed to ensure all employees and business partners adhere to high standards of integrity and ethical conduct. According to Dr Skilbred, the policy sets clear requirements for what is considered responsible behaviour to comply with anti-corruption legislation.

“While all employees are required to adhere to Jotun’s Anti-Corruption Policy, Jotun recognises that some employees face a greater risk of exposure to potentially corrupt scenarios,” Dr Skilbred states. “In addition to regular online training, these groups receive tailored training courses, including dilemma training. Jotun has certified anti-corruption trainers active in all regions.”

Regardless of where a Jotun employee is located, they are what make governance efforts tick. From day one, the company works hard to get every new hire up to speed.

“When anyone joins Jotun Thailand, they will have to go through mandatory anti-corruption training within the first few weeks, to ensure they know what is expected of them. Understanding and awareness are crucial to ensure the correct governance is kept,” Ms Anvik Leach explains. “Every Jotun unit will have business reviews twice every year to ensure the right focus and governance.”

Finding the balance between people and policies is critical for success. Strong policies are meaningless if employees don’t act with them in mind. Likewise, it can be difficult to measure and report governance efforts if no policies exist.

“People are essential for everything we do in Jotun, as well as how we work with governance. As a global company, Jotun acknowledges its responsibility to customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and local communities to maintain its integrity and align its business with high ethical standards. People’s involvement is the foundation of this,” Dr Skilbred says.

Even for organisations that do the right things, being able to convey this to employees and ultimately into policy should be the goal. However, it doesn’t mean this needs to happen all at once.

“At first, focus on transparency and accountability while ensuring clear communication with all stakeholders. You have to start somewhere, even if it doesn’t cover everything in the beginning. Consistency with what you are measuring at the start,” Ms Anvik Leach notes. “Then you can build from there by including more and more parameters.”

Fact Box

• The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive places corporate culture under Governance.
• A major challenge for multinational organisations when developing governance policies is that different markets may have different standards
• Jotun’s Penguin Spirit corporate culture is rooted in its four core values and helps drive governance efforts
• At Jotun, the corporate level is responsible for owning and maintaining policies and procedures with local units implementing these into working practices
• Transparency and accountability while ensuring clear communication with all stakeholders are among the first steps companies can take when building governance

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